Lace Your Shoes for Walking Comfort
The University of Texas Lifetime Health
Letter, January 1995 provided this insight into how to lace your shoes. Now, most of us thought we had this mastered by first or second grade, but it's time to rethink it!
This information is not intended to provide medical advice
on personal health matters. Such advice
should be obtained directly from a
physician.
Just having a comfy pair of shoes doesn't ensure foot comfort for walking. The way you lace your shoe can increase your foot comfort or relieve foot pain while walking. Proper lacing can also increast the lifespan of your shoes, according do the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society. (I will admit that I just sort of quickly cram my foot into the shoes without mercy. Nike and Avia love me!)
Tips for lacing:
- Loosen laces as you slip shoes on to
reduce stess on eyelets and backs of
shoes.
- Beginning at the toe end, tighten laces
one pair of eyelets at a time to reduce eyelet
stress and ensure uniform pressure.
- When buying new shoes, keep in mind
that shoes with more eyelets make for
easier adjustment (many better athletic
shoes have two sets).
- Conventional crisscross lacing works best
for most people. Alternative lacing patterns
may be appropriate for specific types of feet
or to ease some foot problems.
Carol Fray, M.D.. associate professor of
orthopaedic surgery at the University of
Southern California, offers these
suggestions (letter in parenthesis indicates
illustration):
- Narrow feet: Consider using wide-set
eyelets that bring the sides of the shoe more
snugly across the top of the foot (a).
- Wide feet: Eyelets set closer to the tongue
and set closer together add width to the
lacing area (b).
- Narrow heel, wide forefoot: Consider
using two laces for a custom fit (c). The
wide-set eyelets help snug up the heel, and
the closer-set eyelets help adjust shoe width
to the forefoot.
- Feet pain: For pain in specific areas of the
foot, try skipping eyelets in the vicinity of the
pain and tightening laces above and below
the skipped eyelets (d).
- High arches: Lacing straight across
between eyelets (instead of crisscrossing)
can reduce or eliminate pressure points (e).
- Toe problems: For toe problems, including
hammertoes, corns and painful toenails,
insert laces so that one lace traverses
diagonally across the length of the tongue,
from toe to top (f). Pulling on the lace will
raise the toe box to reduce pressure.
- Heel fit: The lacing pattern shown in
illustration (g) can help prevent your heel
from moving in the shoe and rubbing
blisters. Laces are looped through each
other before being tied.
