The Importance of Wearing the Correct Shoe Size

Today I *finally* got my new shoes in the mail. As I'm sitting here with sore toes, I became inspired to write about how important it is to find the correct shoe size. First of all, if you've ever had a foot injury which didn't heal correctly, you'll understand when I say breaking in new shoes is no fun. When healing, the foot can conform to your shoe shape so new shoes can be painful while you get used to the different shape. This is why today I'm sitting here with a couple of sore toes.. or perhaps it's just going to rain soon, I don't know.

I'm getting side tracked: I've been trying to find my shoes in size 9, color black for about a month now. WalMart has been sold out online and in my store. I've worn regular shoe sizes all of my life, although a few years ago my mom suggested maybe I should try a wide width. At the time I thought she was crazy - I have very, very narrow heels which make finding the right shoe almost impossible at times - why would I want to go wider? Well... I was walking to the store a couple days ago when I noticed my toes were hurting. They didn't have enough room in my shoe because sure enough, my shoes were not wide enough. So after some Googling some things and confirming that yes, I should be wearing wide width, I broke down and bought the shoes I could have ordered a month ago. My shoes have become very painful within the past month or so because they're so worn down, so I really wish I would have known this sooner! :/

This is just the most recent problem I've had... up until a few years ago, I was wearing a size 8 shoe. I don't remember when it started, but for a few years I had a condition called black toenail. Here's what it looks like, although I can tell you mine looked a lot worse than this.

(image source: http://walking.about.com/od/blisterfoot/a/blacktoenail.htm )

Here's an excerpt from the About.com page on black toenail:

"What is Black Toenail?
As you walk or run, your foot slides forward in your shoe, banging your toes against the top, front, and sides with each step. Your feet also swell during a walk or run and get compressed by your socks and shoes. That pressure and impact can damage your toenail beds, or create a blister under the toenail itself. When this happens, the extra blood and fluid cause your toenail to separate from the toenail bed, or the "toenail in training" as the Jeff Galloway site calls it. The blood colors the toenail black." and also "Toe infections can lead to blood infections, gangrene, and worse, especially if you have diabetes."
 
I had this with both of my 2nd to largest toes, which just happen to be longer than my big toes. At the time, my family and I finally figured out I must be wearing the wrong shoe size. I did some research, took my foot measurements, etc. and discovered I should be wearing a size 6.5. What? I actually did get a smaller size shoe for awhile but hardly wore them: obviously they did not fit correctly at all and they probably made the black toenail worse.

So as it turns out, I somehow finally figured out I should not be shoving my ten inch foot into a size 6 or 8 shoe. Size 9 for me, please! I actually researched online last week on how to find the correct shoe size, and once again I found one idiotic calculator which put me in a size 6.5. So fair warning, be careful out there if you're getting your info from the Internet.. it's probably best to get sized by someone in a shoe store who knows what they're doing.

As for my toenails, since switching to size 9s I no longer get black toenail from just wearing my shoes. My toenail on my right foot, which had a desk smashed down on it in high school about 15 years ago, has finally grown out and it finally looks normal again. I didn't think this was possible. Ever since I had that desk smashed down on my toe, the nail had been cracked right in the middle. I suppose I can thank black toenail for messing up my nail enough that it eventually grew back correctly?

My toe nail on my left toe is another story; I believe I got black toenail with that one about a year ago just by bumping into something with it. Since that toe is the longer of my toes, it gets injured more often. It still hasn't grown back correctly, either. I have what looks like a toenail grown over top of my toenail. It isn't pretty. It's finally starting to grow out a little bit, but I really don't think it's ever going to grow out normal again. I guess I've actually been lucky; according to the About.com article, you typically lose your nail when you have black toenail. Despite getting it numerous times, I never lost my nail... my nails just always grew out weird in layers.

If you have any kid of toe problems like I've had, I can recommend one product for you: Walgreens makes a gel toe protector which comes in one size; you just trim it to fit your toe accordingly.

I'm sure you can find these elsewhere, this is just the product I've used in the past. You just slide it on your toe and it acts like a cushion, protecting your injured toe. This would be great if you bump your toe into something hard and damage the toenail, get black toenail of course, or a number of other toenail injuries. With anything though, make sure you give the toenail some air to breathe and heal!

Oh, I can also recommend Dr. Scholl's products - the past 3 pairs of sneakers I've gotten have all been Dr. Scholl's brand. I got my new pair from Walmart for about $20. They're identical to my last pair except for the size, and my last pair last me about a year. The Dr. Scholl's brand are very comfortable, some of the most comfortable shoes I've ever worn - at least until my last pair started wearing thin. I feel they're a pretty good deal, and the best part is each pair of Dr. Scholl's shoes comes with their insoles so you don't have to spend extra money buying new insoles. I do love their insoles, btw!

Whew, who knew I could talk so much about feet? I certainly didn't! Now, one more bonus to getting a new pair of shoes: I finally have a proper storage container for all my polishes (so far!) :D

Previously, I was stuffing all of my polishes into my Kaboodle, an artifact leftover from my teenage years :D Needless to say, I haven't been able to close the lid for awhile. Now I just have all of my recent purchases stored in here... this won't be empty for long though! I'm expecting to get 6 new polishes this weekend!