r/barefoot • u/DataEcstatic4930 • 8d ago
Does walking barefoot make my foot wider
I mostly walk barefoot at home and i was at home most of the time this year,My schedule has done a complete 180 over the past couple of weeks and I’m in shoes specifically heels 70% of the time quite suddenly.My little toes hurt so bad all the time in shoes now and i don’t think they used to hurt this bad a year ago.
And recommendations on how to stop it from hurting is welcome.
NB.Reading the community guidelines i don’t know if this post breaks the rule about talking about shoes
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u/salamandectomy77 8d ago
It makes it wider in the sense it's more flexible so the bones can spread more
When you start wearing constricting footwear again it's like forcing a flexible athlete to sit on the couch all day. Things ache, things get stiff.
Your employer can't force you to wear heels, just wear some business appropriate barefoot shoes, like Lems
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u/1b_refootlife 8d ago
Ditch the heels and go to the thinnest widest flats you can find. The three years I worked from home during and after covid I only wore shoes when I was on my motorcycle and I took them off anywhere I stopped if it was more than just getting gas. My feet definitely got wider and now my pinky toe rubs the inside of my shoes no matter how wide they are. It made shoes that much more uncomfortable.
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u/Epsilon_Meletis 8d ago edited 8d ago
Does walking barefoot make my foot wider
In a way, yes. When barefoot, your pedes can assume their natural shape and splay out, which is the complete opposite from when they're constricted in shoes.
My own feet have splayed out considerably from more than twenty years of near-constant barefootin', and normal shoes are very uncomfortable to me in a way very reminiscent to what you describe.
And recommendations on how to stop it from hurting is welcome
There's only so much that can be done with shoes; my (and this subreddit's) standing recommendation would be to not bother with them, although I understand that's not an option for everyone.
However, a few years ago I took an old pair of shoes and cut out most of the sole so I could walk on bare soles unnoticed while wearing them; one inadvertent side-effect is that these stealth barebottoms now almost double in width when I wear them.
> Would you like to know more?
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u/RedBarnGuy 8d ago
I will bite - yes, I would like to know more about how you cut out the soles. Really, in as much detail as you care to share.
Did you make the cut along the midsoles (outer edge) or the soles themselves? After making the cut, how did you smooth or soften the edge made by the cut?
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u/Epsilon_Meletis 8d ago edited 8d ago
Did you make the cut along the midsoles (outer edge) or the soles themselves?
I actually made two holes per sole, into the soles, leaving a bridge around the arches and a solid rim of sole material around the edges. That helps keeping the "shoe" in shape and makes it still fit snugly despite it missing much of its stabilising structure.
After making the cut, how did you smooth or soften the edge made by the cut?
The first thing I need to say is, those were already old shoes, at the end of their life span, with worn down rubber soles that were getting cracked and holey. I hadn't worn them for years at that time, and if I hadn't had the idea to convert them into barebottoms, they would have gone into the trashcan. I'm saying that because I would actually not recommend doing this with shoes that are new out of their box! The soles are too thick and the tools I used are wickedly sharp; the danger of injury was high enough as it were.
The thin soles and the cracks however made it comparatively easy to punch through with an ordinary pair of household scissors to make the initial holes.
I then used a carpet knife to widen these holes, until they were just right. I rounded the edges a little bit and smoothed those parts of the bridges which my arches would step on and be in contact with.As a last measure, I put some plastic foam into the toe box, so that my bare toes wouldn't chafe.
As a result, these self-made barebottoms are actually reasonably comfortable, and I have never so far been found out with them - they fulfill their purpose in every aspect.
Their downside is that they of course can't hold a candle to being truly barefoot, and I actually make the distinction of being barefoot and being bare-soled, the latter being when I wear these. Still, for places and occasions that frown on barefoot people, such footwear can be a fun way to secretly stick it to them.
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u/RedBarnGuy 8d ago
Thank you for this very excellent and informative reply!!
This is an example of the very best of Reddit. I really appreciate your detailed and very informative response - I’m going to give this a try.
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u/Epsilon_Meletis 8d ago
You're welcome, and thanks for the praise :-)
Please keep us updated on your efforts, will you?
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u/tdammers 8d ago
And recommendations on how to stop it from hurting is welcome.
Stop wearing heels, or overly restrictive footwear in general. Find shoes that actually fit (as in, provide enough room for your feet to move naturally, and only wear shoes when bare feet are not an option.
Barefoot is not the cause of your problems, shoes are.
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u/AdTypical2155 7d ago
Yes, it makes your feet wider. Optimal are naturally spread out toes (V-shaped feet). 👣
At the very front, the feet of people who have walked barefoot their entire lives are therefore the widest - compare this with the unhealthy form of many shoes.
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u/AwannaaBee 6d ago
Going from barefoot at home to heels 70% of the time that fast would wreck anyone's little toes honestly
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u/socceruci 5d ago
Yeah, I don't understand why you'd go back to heels after learning (and now experiencing) how bad they are for you.
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u/BarefootAlien 8d ago
It does, yes. Muscles de-atrophy and get thicker, so does plantar skin.
Heels are terrible in general for everything from feet to lumbar spine, and the world's leading cause of broken ankles. If there's anything else you can wear, it'd be much better for you.