Before embarking on that journey of a thousand miles, you need to first ensure that you have the right shoes for them. This is even truer if you have bad knees as you need the right shoes to ease the condition. Your shoes affect how much impact your knees absorb with every step so having shoes that absorb as much force as possible when walking is important to protect your knees.
Walking shoes are often recommended by doctors for people who frequently experience knee pain. However, wearing the wrong type of walking shoes is almost as bad for your knees as wearing no shoes. As such, you need to look out for some details before choosing a walking shoe. Here are some points to remember and look out for when picking walking shoes to ease your knee pain.
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1. Flexibility
When buying any shoe, flexibility is always important to ensure that you don’t develop feet issues as a result of wearing shoes that constrict your feet into one shape for too long. This is even more important when you have an already existing condition like knee pain. Before you make any purchase, ensure you test to make sure the shoes are flexible enough to not cause more harm than good. Pick the shoes up and try to bend the toe towards the laces. If it moves easily without needing excessive force, it could be the right choice.
2. Sole Width
Another important point to consider before choosing a walking shoe if you have knee pain is the sole width. Walking shoes which have much higher heel soles than toe soles can affect how you walk negatively and put extra pressure on your knee joint. These types of shoes, called stability shoes, put more load on your knees and may worsen the pain in your knees. Even if the heel is to be higher than the sole, the difference should only be slight and not too steep to ensure even weight distribution.
3. Comfort
As with anything else in life, comfort is also important when you are choosing walking shoes to ease your knee pain. You should only buy shoes that feel right and comfortable. Before you make a purchase, walk around in the shoes for up to a minute. Does it feel comfortable? Do your knees still hurt as much as before you put them on? Are they comfortable enough for you to walk in them for long periods of time? Depending on the answers, you can then decide whether or not to go on with the purchase.
4. Materials
The type of materials used to manufacture the shoes should also be considered. It is important to note that higher prices do not always equal better comfort so you may have to inspect the shoes to be sure you’re getting the absolute best. Shoes with quality materials offer you adequate padding for your feet meaning they’re more comfortable to walk around in so you should also check the shoes and factor in the quality of their materials before making a decision.
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