Lucy's Story (24c)
Posted by Lucy on September 12, 2003, 0:27:21
Hi Everyone!
I am writing this on 12th September '03. Before I move on with my main story, I've just though of a few more tips on footcare that I ought to include:
STRETCHING SHOES Having warned of the dangers of tight, pinching shoes, in the Instalment 24b I recommended getting a shoe-stretcher. I should have added that the stretching applies to leather (not various synthetic) shoes, and that the leather needs to be softened before the stretcher is used. Softening can be done by:
1) The traditional cobblers' trick that I used in the 1960s. They would fill all or part of the shoe with new, moist potato peelings, and leave for a while until the leather is moist and pliable.
or 2) Simply moisten the leather by inserting a wet sponge instead of the potato peelings.
or 3) These days most shoe shops sell a spray canister of stretching fluid. Whether this is any better than potato peelings or a wet sponge I don't know.
You can stop either 1), 2) or 3) from evaporating and re-drying too quickly by wrapping the whole moistening shoe in a waterproof polythene bag until the leather is fully soft and ready for stretching.
BUNIONS As well as ensuring that the shoe's toe-box is adequately wide, pressure on the ball of the foot can be relieved if you choose shoes that have an inbuilt cushioned insole. Further relief can be obtained by buying your own cushioned insoles and fitting them into the pair of shoes. However, check that the shoe is sufficiently roomy to allow the insole to be inserted without constricting the foot.
Also, various localised bunion-guards, braces and regulators are available on the Net from such suppliers as FootSmart:
http://www.footsmart.com/ProductReco...Bunions/Toes/C...
"TOE-BURN" Virtually everyone suffers painful pressure-burn under the toes and ball of the foot in the early weeks (or even months) of first wearing high heels. Because the height of the heel throws far more than usual of your body-weight on to your tip-toes, your foot-soles in the toe-box becomes sore. Also the pressure impedes the blood circulation in the front part of your feet so that those tissues are not rejuvenated nor is the lactic acid carried away and you get gout-like pain which increases the longer you stand in the heels. Always try to walk around rather than to stand in one spot, as this helps the foot circultion.
Sadly, this toe-burn causes many first-time teenage girls to give up high heels for good withing days of starting! However, assuming that the toe-box is sufficiently wide and cushioned, it is amazing how the human body adapts itself to cope during a decent spell of regular heel-wearing. It takes for first to or three weeks of stubborn persistance in heels for the initial pressure-pains to begin to lessen, and after a number of further weeks of daily heel-wearing, the teething pains usually disappear altogether, opening the way for all-day happy heeling! One word of warning though; if you go back to heels after a few months in flatties, the pressure pain will return and will need to be worked-off once more by regular heel-wearing.
SORES AND BLISTERS Slightly loose-fitting shoes can cause WORSE sores and blisters than over-tight shoes because they slip around and rub areas of skin at every step.
Very loose-fitting shoes that slop off-and-on each foot completely are usually OK because they have little or no contact against the sides or back of the foot.
There remedy for slightly loose shoes is to fit an internal insole and/or heelgrip to make them fit snugly.
DEFORMED TOES The late 1950s ultra pointed "Winklepicker" toes were potentially ruinous to the footshape, forcing the toes inwards into a point, and the big toe joint to project, inviting a bunion. This fashion, amongst others, is with us again now.
Luckily these days, there are also many very stylish fashion shoes available with broader, rounder or squarer toe-shapes. Firstly, choose a sufficiently wide fit for your feet, if necessary widening the toebox with a shoe-stretcher. Then, if the toe is pointed, pack-in sufficient cotton wool (Arno suggests lambswool that ballet dancers use) or my later invention of papier mache to prevent the toes from sliding forward into the pointed front-end of the shoe. To ensure the preservation of parallel, straight toes, perhaps sleep each night with soft rubbery toe-spacers between each toe.
Happy high-heel-wearing, Love Lucy