Putting best foot forward in ground-breaking shoes

With foot issues on the rise, Josh White road-tests a pair of shoes claimed to be the world's most comfortable

- Josh White

FOOT pain is blighting the lives of tens of thousands of Brits, say experts.

And about half of all problems are down to footwear, explains consultant podiatric surgeon Ron McCulloch. Ill-fitting, badly designed and, frankly, impractical shoes, are causing myriad problems.

Heel pain in particular is reaching an “epidemic” level, says McCulloch, director of the London Podiatry Centre, with plantar fasciitis the most common cause of pain.

The other hotspot is the second toe joint, which bears the brunt of the body's weight if the foot is unbalanced and the big toe unstable.

Foot pain, it emerges, has been on the rise after Covid. Many of us got out of the habit of wearing shoes or walking far as we went out less.

Going without shoes might feel nice but, long-term, a lack of arch and foot support can be damaging, Tendinitis, overcompensating for pain or discomfort, can also occur when we're shoeless.

The fashion for sliders, flip-flops and sandals has also left us more vulnerable to toe and ankle injuries.