Did you know that wearing shoes that are beyond their time, can have serious and sometimes, if ignored, could result in permanent effects on your feet? By continuing (key word here) to wear shoes past their prime, can ultimately cause plantar fasciitis, which can cause heel spurs. Both plantar fasciitis and heel spurs are extremely painful and involve a long treatment program.
Plantar fasciitis is an inflammatory condition affecting the connective tissue (called fascia) along the sole of the foot (called plantar side of the foot). It is commonly brought on when someone wears shoes with poor arch support or shoes that do not fit properly. It can also be brought on by many other situations that cause out walking/gait patterns to suddenly change.
It is definitely not something that is going to occur by wearing your shoes one too many times, but it is a problem when someone ignores those feelings from their feet that tell you to replace the shoes. All athletic shoes should be replaced within approximately 6 months, 500 miles (of walking/running), or even less if the feet begin feeling stress. Depending on the shoes, you may even encounter a shoe where its support material breaks down with even less than normal amounts of time or mileage. Shoes will even begin breaking down within 12-24 months with no wear at all, due to changes in the materials as they sit.
I have a fabulous article that I offer to many of my clients. If you are interested in receiving a copy, please send me an e-mail with your e-mail address and I will e-mail you a copy of the article, which discusses how to assess what type of foot you have--neutral, overpronator, underpronator--and what those terms mean. There is a valuable amount of information in this article. Hope this helps you as spring is approaching soon and all of us will begin to spend more time outdoors.
