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What does warmer weather mean for your feet?

As this long and snowy winter finally comes to an end, everyone cannot wait to get out of their boots and into slippers, sandals and flip flops. But are sandals bad for your feet and what can you do to wear open toe shoes in the summer without any problems?

In the summer most people, including myself, like to expose their feet in some sort of open type of shoe, but before doing this think of the risks that this may involve. If you are a diabetic or have peripheral vascular disease, wearing an open type of shoe can be a disaster. If you are a diabetic with neuropathy (see earlier blog for definition) and you are wearing open toe shoes and get a cut on your foot, it can get infected and by the time you notice it there can be an infected wound. Therefore, it is highly recommended for diabetic and people with PAD to wear closed toe shoes throughout the entire year.

Another problem with wearing open toe shoes is that many sandals and flip flops that are sold in the summertime have no support built into the shoe. Therefore, many people in the summer tend to spend long hours outdoors exercising, walking and doing leisurely activities. This means that people spend more time on their feet with less support than during the winter. If someone wears a shoe with no support for hours at a time they are more than likely to begin to get achy, sore feet. Many patients actually spend weeks of the summer suffering with painful feet and by the time they seek help it is the beginning of fall and they are returning to supportive shoe gear. At the Foot and Ankle Center in Egg Harbor Township, NJ, we have a solution to this problem. We sell Spenco sandals/flip flops. Spenco’s are a sandal orthotic; the orthotic is built into the sandal. This is a great solution because this way you can still enjoy wearing a sandal during the warm months, but you can have support at the same time.

One more thing to consider when wearing open toe shoes in the summer is applying sun screen to your feet. Many people forget to do that and skin cancer can form on the feet. So don’t forget to apply sunscreen before leaving the house.

For more information, please visit our website at www.footnj.com.

For more information on how to purchase Spenco sandals please call the office at 609-272-1450