How to choose orthopedic shoes?

Recently, orthopedic shoes have gained immense popularity. There are salons with orthopedic shoes in almost every city, and people who are eager to buy it are in every village. Is it really necessary, and if so, in what cases?

Selection criteria for shoes

Orthopedic shoes are of three types:

  • preventive;
  • uncomplicated;
  • complex.

As the name implies, the first view serves to prevent possible foot deformities and related problems. Shoes in this category can be worn by anyone who has no problems with their legs, as well as people with the first signs of beginning changes . Uncomplicated shoes are designed for people with slight deformity of the foot, which is reversible and does not require serious external intervention. Sophisticated orthopedic shoes are made only to order by the prescription of a doctor and only by individual standards.

When choosing orthopedic shoes, follow these tips:

  • buy shoes only in specialized orthopedic salons, ask for the help of a consultant, check the availability of quality certificates for the selected pair;
  • Choose shoes that are exact in size, especially for children. The heel must be securely fixed by the back, the toe should not press, and for the fingers in length, free space of 1-1.5 cm for adults and 0.5-1 cm for children is necessary;
  • the sole of the boots should be firm, flexible and non-slip. Try to put pressure on the sole from the toe side, it should bend with effort;
  • a small heel is allowed, for children under 6 years old no more than 1.5 cm.

Important! Shoes should not be carried after another person, since shoes and insoles adapt over time to the shape of the owner’s legs and can, in the best case, simply cause inconvenience to the new owner, and in the worst lead to serious changes in the foot.

When is it needed?

The design of orthopedic shoes is quite complicated, it involves the use of materials with different properties and can ease the course of some diseases, as well as prevent the development of problems with the spine or deformation of the foot, such as:

  • flat feet, clubfoot;
  • different lengths of legs;
  • valgus deformity of the foot;
  • scoliosis and other problems with the spine;
  • varicose veins in the early stages;
  • heel spur;
  • overweight, high loads in sports, etc.

Important! Orthopedic shoes are not a panacea. If any of the described problems occurs, you should contact a specialist who will prescribe the necessary treatment.

Contraindications to wearing

For all its benefits, orthopedic shoes are contraindicated in the following cases:

  • the presence of purulent inflammation on the feet;
  • foot tissue necrosis, trophic ulcers;
  • varicose veins in severe stages;
  • disorders of the musculoskeletal system.

How to measure the leg and choose the size?

Three dimensional nets of shoes are distributed around the world, depending on the units:

  1. Metric - foot size is equal to the length of the foot, measured in centimeters. This measurement system is developed mainly in Japan;
  2. Shtikhmasovaya - the size of the foot is equal to the length of the foot, measured in shtikhah (old French measure of length, equal to 6.67 mm, or 2/3 cm.). Such a system is used in European countries, including Russia.
  3. Inch - foot length is measured in barlicorn (1/3 inch) of the specified minimum size. This dimensional grid is common in America and the UK.

To find out your size in any of these systems, just measure the foot in centimeters, and then use the special correspondence tables . To do this, take a blank sheet of paper and place it on a flat surface of the floor. Put a foot on a sheet and transfer body weight to it, and then outline along the contour, holding a pencil or pen strictly vertically. Connect the extreme point of the heel and the most protruding point of the thumb with a straight line and measure it in centimeters. The resulting value will give you the metric size of your shoes. Find the compliance of European and American sizes according to the table:

The fullness of the legs can also be calculated independently. To do this, take a measuring tape and measure the girth of the foot in the widest place, as shown in the figure:

Then calculate the completeness using the formula: W = 0.25B - 0.15C - A, where B is the girth of the foot, C is the length of the foot, A is a constant, for men’s shoes is 17, for women’s 16, for children’s 16.5 (preschoolers) and 13.5 (adolescents). The resulting completeness will be relevant only for domestic manufacturers, but this way you can find out if your foot is wide or narrow, and use this knowledge when buying foreign shoes . So, the average value of completeness calculated by this formula is 6, if the figure obtained is greater, then the leg is wider than the average, with a result of less than 6 it is worth talking about a narrow foot.

Remember, buying any shoes, including orthopedic ones, first of all pay attention to convenience . Listen to your body, and it will tell you what it needs, and then wearing shoes or shoes will bring you only pleasure and benefit!