Are Your Thongs Damaging Your Feet?

Summer is upon us and with that comes everybody's favourite piece of footwear the thong. While they do feel comfortable and provide an easy option to keep your feet cool in summer they may actually be doing considerable damage to your feet, ankles and knees. The main problem is that they offer very little support for your heel when it contacts the ground which can lead to overuse injuries and cause you to alter your walking patterns. A study into the effect of thongs on walking found that wearers had shorter stride length and changes in the angle between their shin and foot during their stride, this is thought to be due to them trying to keep the thong on their foot as they walk. Another finding of the study was that while walking in thongs people also scrunch up their toes to help keep their thongs on their feet. This can lead to shin pain such as shin splints. While this isn’t to say you should throw your thongs away now, just be aware that if you know that you will be doing a lot of walking through out the day thongs aren’t going to be the best option and you should go for footwear that offers a bit more support and practicality.
A better option for your foot is the full foot sandal with straps at the back of the foot so you don't need to work to keep it attached to your foot.