- You need to consider the fact that shoes do for our feet
what our bra does for our breasts.
(upbeat music)
- Hi, I'm Abby.
I'm a Podiatrist, and today I'm gonna show you
how to find the perfect heel for your foot.
Today, some ladies are coming in that have heels
that are hurting their feet.
I'm gonna give them some tips how to change their shoe
to make sure that the heel is comfortable for their feet.
(air whips) - [Destinee] Hi, how are you!
- Hi, Destinee, I'm good.
How are you doing? - I'm good.
- Good.
So, tell me about your feet.
- Well, I love heels, live by heels, swear by heels,
but I recently tore my achilles.
And so heels have no been my best friend.
I usually say I have about like a five minute
stand limit before I'm like, "I'm over it.
I gotta get out of it."
It's really like the balls of my feet that hurt
more than anything
where I'm like...
I'm tapped."
I usually wear it into the function, flip into my flats
out of the function. (laughs)
- You need to consider the fact that shoes do for our feet
what our bra does for our breasts.
So if you consider the fact that if you or I
wear a strapless bra,
every two minutes,
we have to keep pulling it up.
Anything that you slide in and you slide out,
whether it's a loafer, a pump, a mule, a clog,
a Croc, an Ugg,
you always have to go in and you have grab with your toes.
If your shoe is not hugging you just right,
like a padded push up bra is supposed to be supporting you,
then when you're grabbing and you're sliding,
then the part of your foot
that is gonna be hurting the most,
it's gonna be the ball of your foot.
So you wanna make sure then, if I can use one of these
shoes to show you,
always look at your shoe from the side.
If the heel of the shoe is all the way
at the end of the heel,
it's gonna throw all of your weight to the front part
of your foot.
Do me a favor and take your shoe off,
so I can show you the difference.
The heel of this shoe is all the way at the end,
where as this shoe,
it's curved in and it's underneath the heel.
So you wanna always make sure that whatever heel height
you're looking at,
that this heel is more towards the inside of the heel
(buzzer rings) than outside of the heel.
Okay, so no we're gonna take a look at your foot.
So you're skin actually feels pretty good.
Now, the one thing I want you to see is,
when I go ahead and press on your foot.
So you want to ideally be able to have me press,
and bring your foot another 20 degrees,
because the more flexible your achilles is,
the more range of motion you have.
So when you're walking,
it's not gonna pull on your heel.
Because the more it pulls on your heel,
the more you're gonna transfer your weight
to the ball of your foot.
If you had to ship a delicate object.
Let's say I give you a champagne glass,
and I give you a shoe box.
If you wanted to ship that anywhere,
you will wrap that champagne glass in so much bubble wrap,
and you will fill that box full of peanuts and foam.
So think of your food as the champagne glass
and this as the box. - Okay.
- If you have any problem in the ball of your foot,
that's the delicate part of your foot.
So it would make sense if you want to use some type
of a bubble wrap there,
meaning you can get all those pads that are made
out of silicone
that is gelatinous and soft.
So it basically pads you there,
which is exactly where you need the support
when you wear high heel shoes.
- Wow, I did not know that!
- [Abby] See? - Thank you!
- Perfect.
So, if you have feet like Destinee,
and pain like where Destinee is having pain with heels,
you can use pads made out of silicone
to make it more comfortable.
You can make sure that the heel of the shoe
that you're wearing is positioned under the heel
not all the way on the outside of the heel.
And you have to make sure that when you're walking
around the store, you feel that the shoe is holding
onto you, not you gripping onto the shoe.
Take all of your ammunition with you
when you are going to buy the shoe,
- I'm strapped. - That will-
Yes, exactly. (Destinee laughs)
- Oh, thank you so much.
- My pleasure. - I really appreciated it!
- I hope you enjoy your heels,
and dance in them forever and ever.
- You're gonna watch me walk all fabulous.
(Abby laughs)
- Hi, nice to meet you. - You too.
- Hi. - How are you doing?
- I'm doing well.
- How are your feet doing?
- My feet are doing okay.
So the heels that I brought in today
are actually heeled sandals.
And I really like them, because they're open toed.
But, even though they're my size,
they feel a little small.
- So go ahead and take one of your shoes off.
And even though this shoe has a strap,
and it's basically holding your foot all the way
up to your ankle,
but you see how you're grabbing your shoe with your toes?
You have already made an impression there.
That's because you're still grabbing onto the shoe.
As a dancer, I'm sure you know how much mileage
you've put on your feet,
and how much wear and tear you've created.
So give me your foot so I can show you.
And this pad, which is pretty much the same shape
as the area on your foot
that is very very soft,
and it's not being contoured by that,
can be stuck either on your foot directly
or because you're wearing a sandal
and you don't want to see the pad,
it can be basically put under this liner
that is very easily peeled off by a shoe repair person
right in the arch where your shoe is still pristine.
So this pad will give you more even weight distribution
like the padding in your bra
that is staying there to just give you that support
that you need.
And that way you're not gonna be pushing all of your weight
to the ball of your foot.
- I had no idea.
That makes a lot of sense,
'cause I have really high arches,
and I never knew why.
I mean I guess I figured when you wear platform shoes,
there's less of an arch.
- [Abby] Exactly. - So I guess
that makes a lot of sense. - Right.
So if you're like Lea and you have a high arched foot,
and you're not comfortable in heels or heeled sandals,
a pad like this, which is in the shape of a tear drop,
to make you feel as if that high arch is being supported,
and your weight is evenly distributed from heel to toe.
- I had no idea.
I guess I've been doing it all wrong.
(air whips) - How are you?
- Hi, I'm Lillian.
- [Both] Nice to meet you.
- So, tell me about your feet.
What's hurting them?
- So when I stand for a very long time,
this part of my foot really hurts,
like where the big toe is.
So I don't know if it's just the pressure,
where I'm standing.
It hurts when I'm wearing high heels,
like when all my weight is at the very front.
- So tell me how you pick your heels.
How do you decide which kind of a high heel shoe to buy?
- I try to just put them on first
and see it feels comfortable.
I'll walk in them for maybe like one or two minutes
to see if I'm actually able to walk in them.
I guess that's how I decide,
but then usually when you're outside for like an hour,
then you start to feel the pain.
- Exactly.
So do me a favor.
Take one shoe off. - Okay.
And show me exactly where it hurts you.
- [Lillian] So like right here.
Where I guess the joint is.
- Basically what you're pointing
is where most people develop a bunion.
Not that you have a bunion,
but if the shoe that you're wearing,
and even though you haven't been wearing these all day long,
you can see how that part of your foot,
right there, is all turning red,
as well as that part of your foot.
And if you touch the skin here,
you have a little bit of a thickening of your skin,
where as in this part of your skin is very very soft.
You wanna make sure that you eliminate any type of movement
or sliding or rubbing,
which is gonna make that part of your foot more red.
So depending on what kind of a shoe you wanna get
that is a heel,
you wanna make sure that from here to here
is long enough
not to cut you directly where that bump is.
So you wanna either err on the side of it ending here,
or you want it to come up higher.
Now if it comes up higher here,
then you can protect that bone by using a pad
that is very very soft like a bubble wrap wrapping
around something that is delicate.
Because this being a very soft, siliconey material,
can really really help that part of your foot
from getting irritated.
So what you do with this is,
because it's got a hole,
you put this around your big toe,
and you have to have these with you when you buy the shoe.
And that will protect the foot.
So when you put your shoe on,
that part of your foot is not gonna rub,
and it's not gonna get red,
because of that padding.
Always go to the store to buy your shoes
after five o'clock.
You wanna go when you've been on your feet all day long.
You're swollen so you don't have to guess,
"Well maybe I should get it a little bit looser."
So if you have a foot like Lillian,
and you have a bunion or any bumps
on either side of your foot,
you can use a silicone pad like this,
which has a little hole
that you can put around the big toe or the little toe
or the second toe if you want to get support
in the ball of of your foot.
And by having that with you when you go to the store,
you can protect the delicate part of your foot
that is hurting, is red, or it's inflamed,
so that you can wear your heels comfortably
without hurting for hours and hours and hours.
When you are buying a heel,
no matter how high the heel,
you wanna make sure that the lip of the shoe,
which is the area where your toes sit,
the ending of that lip,
should never be cutting you into the area
that you have a bump.
- Yeah.
I'm super excited to go out now and dance with heels.
- Good! (air whips)
So, in summary, don't give up on the heels that you love.
You should be able to wear whatever shoe you love.
You just have to remember
that you have to pick the right shoe
at the right time.
And realize that even if you buy something
that you don't feel is comfortable,
that shoe, like a dress, like anything else,
can be adjusted, can be remodeled,
can be refurbished.
It can be altered.
You just have to know what to use
and where to put it on inside the shoe or on your foot
to make sure that you can dance with them, work with them,
run with them, and play with them.
(upbeat music)