The Illusion of Comfort - What you really want is Function

It has been the buzzword of the shoe industry and consumers for almost 25 years yet no one seems to know what comfort means. When we ask our clients what they mean when they use the word comfort we find that they are always at a loss to give a coherent definition and end by saying that comfort probably means absence of pain. But think about it, to “have comfort” implies the presence of something.  What is this “something”?  Familiarity.  You are “comfortable” what you are familiar with, no matter how bad it is for your feet, no matter how dysfunctional it makes them!

The problem with seeking out the illusion of “comfort” for the foot is that the “comfortable” or “familiar” shoe environment compresses your feet, which basically makes them, to varying degrees, numb!  That’s right.  When there is enough compression on your feet, through ill fitting footwear, you do not have full feeling of them at all.  The human body usually works perfectly but remember, our circulatory system was built for “the time before shoes”, where space around the foot is infinate. 

Free your feet. Don't allow them to suffer the evils of compression. Don’t settle for anything less than complete freedom for them.  They are built to last you a lifetime of pain-free walking and all they need from you is freedom and support from Goodhart Shoes and Foot Care.

Try this experiment: Sitting in a chair, hold your arm out to the side of you, parellel to the floor, fingers open and relaxed.  Notice that he only sensation you feel is the slight muscular tension necessary to hold your hand in air. Turn your head away from your hand; you can’t really even perceive your hand at the end of your arm.  Wiggle your fingers a moment and stop. Notice that there is no good feeling, no bad feeling, only a state of no-feeling.  Now try to talk about comfort in regard to your hand.  It can’t be done.  In fact, our hands are not comfortable or uncomfortable; they are simply functional.  We go about our day using our hands with little or no awareness of them, they simply do what we ask them to do.  This state of non-feeling for the foot is the real definition of foot health.  Now, with your shoes on, put your feet flat on the floor.  Concentrate on your feet in your shoes.  Are your feet experiencing the same freedom as your hand, a moment ago, no good feeling, no bad feeling?  Wiggle your toes.  Do your feet feel as free as your hands?

Although there is no way to talk about comfort for the foot (just as there is no way to talk about comfort for the hand), most of you seem to think that you have uncomfortable shoes and feet. Comfort is a word we use with no apparent meaning especially in regard to the body. It is ironic to note that “comfortable” clothes are loose fitting clothes, a comfortable hat is one that is not too tight around the head, etc.  Why, then, do most people feel that comfortable shoes ones that are abusively tight and constrictive?

Here’s how it works, here’s why humans can allow their feet to be compressed:
The foot is the farthest part of the body from the heart.  Cardiovascular medicine tells us that the body’s extremities are already compromised in circulation.  When a compressive shoe is worn, circulation is further compromised, resulting in a reduction of sensation. The message sent to the brain is that "everything is OK at the level of the foot".  But what is really happening is that the brain loses perspective based on a lack of information.  More specifically, any compression at all results in some reduction of sensation and extreme compression results in extreme reduction of sensation, to the point of numbness. When the public says that their shoes are comfortable what they are really saying is that their shoes are tight (even when they think their shoes are roomy enough!). They are saying that their feet are, to varying degrees, numb.

When your brain does not receive sufficient message in the form of pain to reject a harmful shoe, and your feet are being asked to perform their normal work in a compressive environment, damage is inevitable.  Another layer of this phenomenon particular to the foot is that pain may begin to be felt up to many hours after the restrictive shoe has been removed.  For this reason women and men with bunions, neuralgia, metatarsalgia, neuromas, restless leg syndrome, etc. often complain of extreme pain after they have gone to bed, virtually hours after the pressure on the foot has been released, but when circulation has resumed.