Shopping and Shoes

I went shopping today with Jon-Marc. No one was at my house or at his apartment, and we don't hang out alone in private. (We're saving the exciting things for marriage.) Therefore, our only option was to go out. We started at Goodwill and proceeded to the mall (aka one of the most exhausting places on Earth, topped only by the beach and tall buildings without elevators.) We are getting married this July, and I already have a dress. The next step is to schedule a fitting, but before I do that I have to know what shoes I will be wearing, in order for the seamstress to adjust the hem correctly. So every time we go to the mall, we stop by Lady Footlocker, and today was no different.

For Chiarians, shoes are a big factor in the level of one's pain, particularly the pain of headaches. I have traced the root of many bad headaches all the way down to bad shoes. But what makes a shoe good or bad? Its level of impact absorption. After all, it is the impact of walking that hurts: the force that pounds through the feet, into the ankles, up the legs, up the spine, and straight into the skull, as the brain is thrust against it with every step. In order to help prevent headaches (or prevent them from reaching intolerable levels) it is therefore important to find good shoes: ones with extra impact absorption.

In my experience, good impact absorption occurs in two ways: structure and cushion. By structure I mean that there is some built-in shock system that is purposed to absorb impact. Nike Shox are the best example of this, and they are my favorite shoes. :)




With Shox, the "spring system" is actually visable, but it is less obvious with some other shoes. For example, it is less obvious with Nike Air Max.
                                                                                           


These are my Nike Air Max. I wear them almost every day. They have great impact absorption, comparable to Nike Shox, which I have found to be the best.


As for cushion, that is self-explanatory. The best way to check a shoe's cushion is to put your thumb inside the heel of the shoe, put your other fingers under the bottom of the heel, and squeeze. Whatever "give" your hand feels there is what your feet, ankles, legs, spine, skull, and brain will be feeling later--so be picky with your shoe purchases.


One easy modification I have discovered when it comes to cushion is insoles. The original insoles in most shoes are removable and can be replaced with new ones; many stores, especially athletic shoe stores, carry insoles that are made to provide extra cushion. I currently use "Spenco PolySorb Cross Trainer" insoles, which I got at Lady Footlocker, but the "Spenco For Her Q-Factor Cushioning Insole" is particularly good, too.

[Spenco PolySorb Cross Trainer]

So what was I doing in Lady Footlocker today? Looking for my wedding shoes. The overwhelming majority of dress shoes, heels, and flats completely lack impact absorption, in both structure and cushion. It is more important to me to feel good than to look good on my wedding day. And besides, my dress will cover 99.5% of the shoe anyway!















Images:
"Red Nike Shox." cheapnikeshoxstore.net. cheapnikeshoxstore.net, 2011. Web. 15 Nov. 2011.
"Spenco PolySorb Cross Trainer." Style Mania. Style Mania, n.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2011.