Many years ago I worked for a sarcastic boss with a wicked sense of humor. He loved to tease, and even when I was the target, I found him funny. Once, noticing that I had small feet, he said it was because \u201cnothing grows in the shade.\u201d Fast forward a few decades and my feet, with no loss of shade, are no longer so small. When I retrieved a pair of seasonal shoes I had put away, I found they didn\u2019t fit. I pulled out some boots from last year, and same thing. Once a size 7, then 7.5, I was an 8 for about a year, and my new shoes are a size 9. What\u2019s happening to my feet?<\/p>\n
At midlife, and carrying extra weight, my feet are succumbing to the perils of living. According to the Arthritis Foundation, each foot is made up of 28 bones, 30 joints and more than 100 muscles, tendons and ligaments. As this complex structure takes a regular pounding, footpads thin and tendons lose elasticity, which can make feet widen. Stuffed into small shoes, big toes can turn inward toward the other toes, causing the joint to jut out into what\u2019s commonly called a bunion. The arches can \u201cfall.\u201d According to WebMD, when the tendons all pull properly, your foot forms a moderate, normal arch. When tendons do not pull together properly, there is little or no arch. This is called flat feet or fallen arches.<\/p>\n
I tested my feet to see if this was the issue I faced. I wet the sole of my foot and stood on a piece of heavy paper. The imprint showed most of my foot; a higher arch would have resulted in a larger dry spot in the middle. So my arches are falling\u2014what now? I don\u2019t experience much foot pain yet, but I put my feet up when I\u2019m sitting. I\u2019ll try to support my feet with insoles and, at this stage, I think generic arch supports will do. I found exercises that I can do while I\u2019m sitting<\/a> and other tips at EverydayHealth.com.<\/p>\n A study at a veteran\u2019s hospital found that three-quarters of the patients\u2014mostly men\u2014were wearing the wrong size shoe. Other studies suggest that 90 percent of women have at least one pair of shoes that doesn\u2019t fit, perhaps because they\u2019ve chosen style over size.<\/p>\n