What are the bottoms of your shoes telling you?

It turns out that our shoes can do more than just help us run a 5K or complete an outfit — they can also alert us to problems with our walking or running style. To find the answers, start by flipping over your shoes.

The patterns of wear on the bottom of your shoes can let you know if something is wrong.

We talked to John Taylor, PT, OCS, a physical therapist at Ohio State Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation Lewis Center, about how to analyze the bottoms of our shoes, the different types of abnormal foot patterns, what problems they can lead to and how to correct for these issues.

What are the different types of foot patterns and how do they show up on our shoes?

According to Taylor, there are three basic types of foot patterns: 

1. Normal foot pattern: For someone with a normal foot pattern, the bottoms of your shoes would show wear on the middle of the heel (where your foot first hits when you walk) and on the middle of the balls of your feet (where you push off when you step).
2. Overpronator: The bottoms of the shoes of overpronators show wear on the inside edges of your heels and on the inside edges of the balls of your feet (the side toward the big toe).
   
   
3. Supinator: Supinators show wear on the outside edges of your heels and on the outsides of the balls of your feet (the side toward the pinky toe).
   
   

 

Taylor notes the appearance of wear patterns on shoes may take several weeks, or even months, of use to appear.

What sorts of problems are associated with abnormal foot patterns?

For overpronators, the problem is that their foot is too flexible.

• The feet of overpronators collapse too much and don’t get a good, rigid push-off when they step because their foot is rolled in onto their arch. Taylor explains this can lead to problems such as soft-tissue damage, hip pain and tendonitis.

Supinators have the opposite problem – they have feet that are too rigid. 

• Supinators have arches that are raised too much, so they don’t absorb shock very well when their feet first hit the ground, says Taylor. This can lead to stress fractures, IT band syndrome (a tightening of the ligaments connecting the pelvic and shin bones that can cause hip and knee pain) and bone injuries.

How should you choose shoes?

If you are experiencing pain that you think may be due to your walking or running stride, Taylor says that the first line of defense is to switch shoes.

When you buy shoes: 

First, if possible, take out the shoe liner to see if it matches your foot pattern.