What are 2-hour shoes? They are shoes you wear for 2 hours and then you take them off. Some shoes are so uncomfortable they can’t even be worn that long. Look at the floor of the choir loft on a Sunday morning and there is probably a pair or two of heels lying there while their owner is standing and singing praises to the Lord – that their shoes are off their feet for the time being.
Many women believe they must wear certain shoes, such as pumps, heels, pointed toes or strappy flat sandals to be properly dressed, even if wearing them is painful. And, there are men who wear boat shoes or loafers that have thin soles and are too soft in the heel counter because they are casual “comfortable” shoes, even though some have to admit their feet really hurt in them. If you plead guilty, let’s talk about how and why it’s good to limit the time you spend in certain shoes.
Here are some obvious 2 hour shoes:
- Pumps and heels
- Shoes with very thin soles
- Strappy sandals, even flat ones
- Very pointy shoes
- Shoes that are too narrow, short, wide or long for your foot.
Pumps and high heels change your center of gravity. All of your weight comes down on the forefoot in an area the size of a quarter. This is why women just have to get these shoes off when discomfort and pain reach critical mass! This affects the forefoot, of course, but the effect on the knees is perhaps more important. Studies have show that even very low heels detrimentally affect the knees. See our article Females Have More Knee Pathology than Males for more on this.
Although it seems obvious, it is important to remember that instability is a big issue with heels and pumps. Even supermodels fall in them. Limiting time in heels reduces the probability of falling.
Shoes with very thin soles don’t protect the foot enough. Most shoes today, even dress shoes, are being made with thicker polyurethane based soles because they are a softer material than leather. Arch supports can help make these kind of shoes more comfortable but it is still not ideal to wear very thin sole shoes a lot.
Strappy flat sandals fall under the same category of not protecting the foot enough at the sole. With no back or front to the sandal, the toes have to grab with each step just to keep it on the foot, and this stresses the feet, ankles, knees, hips and back.
Very pointy shoes severely press the toes together. These shoes also tend to have a very low toe box that causes the toes to be pressed from the top as well as the sides. The heat and friction created is what causes calluses and corns, and can cause Mortons Neuroma.
Shoes that are too narrow, short, wide or long for your foot cause the joints to jam, create shearing, create corns, hammertoes and foot pain.
Are you diabetic? When a shoe doesn’t fit quite right, even slight swelling in the foot can lead to cuts in the skin. It is very important that the shoe fit around a diabetics foot, regardless of whether it is a regular shoe or a 2-hour shoe.
Here are some basic guidelines for safely wearing “cute” and fashionable shoes:
- Wear the correct length, width and shape for your foot
- Pointy toes are a matter of degree – keep the toe shape as rounded as as your fashion sense will allow.
- Keep heels as low as possible and wear them as 2 hour shoes as much as possible
- Use a halter or toe tap at the forefoot in pumps and heels if your foot moves forward in the shoe (which most do because of gravity)
- Wear thin arch supports in all 2-hour shoes so your feet don’t move forward or sheer across the bottom of the shoe. If your shoe is too shallow for even a thin arch support, put a metatarsal pad directly in the shoe bed to take the most extreme pressure off the forefoot
- If you have a formal event in the evening (or any other time, actually), patent leather flat dress shoes are good. Patent leather is, by definition, a dress leather. Many of us believe a dress shoe must be a pump or high heel. That is a belief, not a necessity
- If you must wear 2 hour shoes and your feet have a tendency to swell, you need two different kinds of shoes in your wardrobe: 1) Those that fit better in the morning and 2) those that fit better later in the day when swelling increases. Shop for shoes in the morning that you will wear in the morning hours and shop late afternoon for shoes you will wear later in the day or evening
Text: Carole Romig Copyright 2011 Image: