Nursing Trends
What Is a Toe Box?
There is a toe box present in every shoe, which is one of the most important parts of your shoe. The toe box is that part that is very important for making the shoe comfortable. It has a very important function for protecting, surrounding, and covering toes.
Hence, other than having an important role in making the shoe comfortable, it even protects our foot along with the bones behind the toes. Mostly every manufacturer would want to produce such designs that have a toe box and a modern design to make the shoe look fashionable based on the current market trend.
Importance of Toe Box
Now you must be wondering why is “toe box” that important? Well, a wide toe box is vitally very important because it will provide your foot some space. Allowing your toes to wiggle and move around while protecting them against any impact. The best quality shoes would already have a greater width span of the toes shoe’s toe box.
They should be either accommodative or should be wider than the ball of your foot. This concept of considering the toe box can get a little confusing because for every shoe, as the style and shape differs, such as the toe box would look different for a running shoe as compared to a coat shoe. Mostly every podiatrist would recommend using rounded boxes. They are associated with higher levels of comfort and the best protection as they provide a lot of breathing room.
You might ignore it when you hear the technical term “toe box” that is the reason why buying shoes online is becoming so common nowadays. That is because most people would buy based on their shoe size and not considering whether it would fit you or not. You might get yourself a pair of shoes, and they would be exactly of your size. However, it won’t feel like it is fitting properly. And it might even hurt you from some parts, such as the ends or toenails.
Should You Buy Shoes Online?
That is why it is important to be physically present while buying a shoe because then you will buy it according to its comfortability and not just the stated size. Sometimes even the salesperson would want to convince you to get a particular shoe, and they will say that the shoe will expand with time. Even though yes, it is true for some shoes but it doesn’t apply to the length at all.
Personally, I remember getting myself a shoe from a store. Since I wear size 7, they gave me a shoe of my size, and still, that shoe did not fit right. But the salesperson kept stressing that it would work out for me, which wasn’t true certainly. It was so uncomfortable from the end that it gave me so many wounds.
Human feet are in the best condition when they are nearer to their natural form state, such as being barefoot. This is supported by evidence, too, as those societies that are shoe-less have better foot conditions. And they have had fewer foot problems as compared to those societies that frequently wear uncomfortable, ill-fitting shoes.
Biomechanics of Human Feet
It is proven with scientific studies that claim that according to the biomechanics of the human foot, our feet must be closed towards the ground. The shoes must give a barefoot feeling, such as having a wider base for our feet to move freely and allowing proper walking with comfort. So such shoes that are made keeping human foot anatomy in mind, that person can benefit natural proprioception. Your brain would be able to receive all important signals from the muscles, tendons of your foot.
With such shoes that have a wider toe box, they will eliminate mostly all foot problems. It allows you to be closer with nature; your whole body stays in a better alignment. Because we get so used to wearing the same conventional shoes, it makes us rely on the same shoes because it changes their alignment
With more dependency on cheap quality conventional shoes, we will train our feet to get used to the improper alignment, and they get deformed. This can result in major injuries and discomfort, and because it will change our alignment, we might have to continue relying on the same shoes. Shoes that fit badly can result in so many health problems, such as ingrown toenails, bunions, plantar fasciitis, and so many more problems like circulatory problems. Lesser toe box will cause so many cramps and could even result in black toenails.
Do Not Do Everything Because of Fashion
For the sake of fashion, when you are forcefully squishing your toes into unnatural conventional shoes, that leads to hammertoes. Such aesthetics and fashion are evolving shoes in such a way that now they protect less and lead to loss. Because they force our feet into unnatural positions. Regular use of narrow-toed shoes like high heels is extremely bad for our feet. Even our body, because then mobility becomes difficult and they cause because of calves, knees and back pain. That is why some doctors call such conventional shoes “toe box torture chamber.”
Our feet allow us to walk, so we need our feet for everything, and if they are weak, then it makes us more injury-prone such as shin splints, tendonitis, neuromas, and the list goes on. That is why it is very important to switch your unhealthy shoes to better-quality shoes that have a wider toe box. Soon your feet will return back to their natural shape as your muscles will get repaired and rebuilt. It will improve our alignment, so that means we will have an improved balance and more ankle strength.
