Choosing the right shoe for exercise can prevent injury

From staff and wire reports

Sports shoes now come with cute lights, fancy color combinations, celebrity names and other enticements to get you to buy.

"Forget flashing lights and fancy logos," says Dr. Christopher Hubbard. "Selecting the right athletic footwear will allow recreational athletes to work out and compete with increased comfort, heighten performance levels and lessen the occurrence of injury."

Hubbard, sports medicine-foot and ankle orthopedic surgeon at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City, notes that better footwear choices could have prevented some of the estimated 4.8 million visits each year to doctors' offices by people suffering from foot and ankle complaints.

And your shoes -- whether athletic or for dress -- should fit your feet, not the other way around, advises the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, which estimates that one in every six people have foot problems, often from poorly fitting shoes.

Christina McWilliams, manager of Lady Footlocker at Westfield Shoppingtown West Park in Cape Girardeau, said people need to be know whether they turn their foot inward or outward when walking because that can help them get a better fitting shoe.

"When you go to the doctor for a physical, it's a good time to look at your foot to see what shoes he'd recommend," she said. "If they know whether they have a narrow or medium foot or how they walk, then we know what to recommend. It's better than just guessing."

Knowing the activities a person participates in while wearing the shoe is critical when shopping, she said. Walking shoes are designed for forward movement while shoes for aerobics have more grooves in the sole for better traction.

Some of the bad news for people who force their feet into stylish but ill-fitting shoes comes in the form of bunions, corns, calluses, hammertoes and other disabling foot ailments.

Hubbard has some advice on the athletic shoe front:

For running, choose a shoe that fits your foot type, whether flat, arched, or something in-between. Runners need a shoe with more cushioning for shock absorption. Also look for flexibility, control and stability in the heel, lightness, and good traction.

Walkers need shock absorption in the heel and under the ball of the foot. A lightweight shoe with a slightly rounded-up toe can help the walker smoothly roll his weight from heel to toes while decreasing pressure across the foot.

Aerobic exercises call for a lightweight shoe to prevent foot fatigue. The shoes should have shock absorption in the sole beneath the ball of the foot, where most stress occurs.

Cleats, studs or spikes are appropriate for field sports such as soccer, football and baseball. The spike and stud formations vary with the sport, but generally, they are replacement or detachable spikes, studs or cleats attached to nylon soles.

The body moves forward, backward and side-to-side quickly in court sports like tennis, basketball or volleyball, so the shoe you choose should support these quick shifts of position and weight. Flexibility in the sole beneath the ball of the foot lets you make fast forward movements. For basketball, a thick sole helps the player when running on the court.

Shoes for people who participate in several types of sports, usually called cross-trainers, will combine some of the features of the other shoes. Look for flexibility in the forefoot area for running, combined with the lateral control needed for aerobics or tennis.

From AAOS comes this advice for choosing the right shoes:

Have both feet measured every time you shop for new shoes. Your foot size increases as you grow older.

Women should not wear shoes with heels higher than 2 1/4 inches. High-heeled shoes often have pointed, narrow toeboxes that crowd the toes and force them into an unnatural triangular shape. As heel height increases, so does the pressure under the ball of the foot, placing more stress on the forefoot as it is forced into the pointed toebox.

Try on shoes at the end of the day, when your feet are normally larger after standing, sitting or walking all day.

Be sure the shoe fits the heel as well as the toes.

There should be at least a half-inch space from the end of your longest toe to the end of the shoe. You should be able to freely wiggle all of your toes.

Try on both shoes, and fit the shoe to the largest foot. Most people have one foot larger than the other.

Walk around in the shoes to make sure they fit well and feel comfortable.

Sizes often vary by brand and style. Judge how the shoes feel on your feet, not by the marked size.

There's no such thing as a "break-in" period. If the shoes feel tight, don't buy them.