How improving foot function can have benefits throughout the body

The human foot has 26 bines and 33 joints, along with over a hundred muscles, tendons and ligaments. these all work together to support the weight of the body, to enable movement and to transmit force. The foot is an engineering marvel of nature - and what do we do? Squash them, restrict their movement and generally punish them!

Many people are aware of some of the disadvantages of wearing high heels. But the general shape of most modern footwear is little better when it comes to free-ing the movement and function of the feet.

I have suffered with foot pain since I was a teenager. I first noticed it with the Saturday jobs that I worked - on my feet all day, by which time my feet, lower back and hips would be aching. As an adult, the first sensation I was aware of every morning was pain in the arches of my feet, and this would result in me hobbling like an old lady for the first 30seconds or so on getting out of bed. During the day the foot pain would fade away, but by the time I sat down in the evening, it had returned.

About 2 years ago, I was introduced to barefoot shoes and so began my journey to freedom from pain.

Barefoot shoes have three criteria - no heel lift, a flexible sole (so bendy that you can actually roll up the shoe) and a wide toe box (that is, enough space so that your toes can naturally splay out). This was particularly important for me as I have very wide feet, shaped a bit like a wedge!

I began by ditching my favourite, spring to autumn footwear, Birkenstocks. These have been my main shoe for probably the past 15 years or so. I was super-impressed that I once bought a new pair and walked all round the Chelsea flower show without any pain. However, the shaped foot bed of these shoes, whilst creating support making walking comfortable, also weakens the foot. Our feet should not need any support - the arch and integral structure of the foot is enough. However after wearing supportive shoes for so long, my feet were weak.

The next step was to build some strength and flexibility into my feet. I used some of the exercises from the Foot Collective who have lots of really quick, simple and fun exercises to try. I also built myself a balance beam, using a wooden hand rail on low supports. This allows me to improve balance and also foot function (again there are videos here )

I also began using a toe separator to improve toe splay - the natural spread of toes that is so often lost by the 'squishing' effect of most modern footwear. I bought these here and this brand is also popular.

For shoes, I had to find very wide toe boxes. I began with some sandals from Xero and later bought some boots for winter. This year I also bought a pair of handmade shoes, made to fit my size. There is a wide selection of trainer style barefoot shoes, but I prefer the look of more handmade leather shoes.

I have found this website a useful resource, although it is American, some brands ship worldwide. If you look at her blogs, there are guides to finding out which foot shape you have and which shoe brands are likely to be a good fit. For shoes in the UK, this stockist is useful, plus they also have lots of info on foot health and barefoot shoes.

As I improved my foot function, I have also worked on my glute strength, which was very weak. The glutes and the big toe should work together - flexibility in the big toe enables us to take long strides when walking. Without big toe flexibility, our hips cannot fully extend which in turn weakens the glutes, increasing pelvic instability. Weak glutes can cause low back pain, knee pain, ankle sprains, plantar fasciitis and over pronation. Strengthening the foot reduces over pronation, however our feet are only as strong as our pelvic floor! There is lots more info on the Naboso website

Now I've made the switch I will never go back to narrow toe box, rigid shoes and every day I relish having time barefoot!