Walking in Flip-Flops Causes Long-Term Joint Pain

Friday, October 24, 2008 by: David Gutierrez, staff writer
Tags: joint pain, health news, Natural News

(NaturalNews) Walking in flip-flops can cause long-term health problems of the joints and muscles in the legs and back, according to a study conducted by researchers from Auburn University in Alabama, and published in the American College of Sports Medicine.

"We became interested in flip-flops when we noticed an increase in lower leg pain when our students came back from summer and were transitioning back into wearing tennis shoes and street shoes," lead researcher Wendi Weimer said.

Weimer and colleagues studied the strides of graduate student volunteers who were wearing either sneakers or flip-flops. They found that the way the foot hit the ground changed in those who wore flip-flops, who were trying to protect their toes and keep the shoe on their feet.

"What we found is that people take shorter strides, and that their ankle angle and the angle between their shin and the top of their foot and is actually increased," said graduate student researcher Justin Shroyer. "[We] attribute the change in ankle to protecting the toes as the foot swings through, but also to keeping the flip-flop on the foot so that it doesn't fly off as they swing forward. And so they do alter their gait."

People who wore flip-flops were "very concerned about stubbing their toes," Shroyer said.

The change in foot position can have major health consequences, said Dr. Rock Positano of the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York.

"The major shock absorption occurs back on the heel, and if the surface between the heel and the ground is not supported it does not allow the heel to absorb shock as well as it should. Which means the foot works harder than it should and people tend to develop overuse injuries such as tendonitis, or in this case, lower leg, knee, hip and back problems," Positano said.

Sources for this story include: www.abcnews.go.com.