As Melbourne braces for another long stretch of freezing cold winter days and nights, out come the good old ugg boots or fluffy slippers. It used to be we’d get home from work or school, kick off our shoes and slip into our favourite pair of ‘comfies’ while we put our feet up and relax. Nothing wrong with that.
But now, with so many of us either working from home or spending a lot more time at home, the temptation is to wear this type of footwear all day.
And that could be a real problem for our feet.
The ugly side of Uggs
All ugg boots and slippers have been primarily designed to keep your feet warm and toasty. That’s their main function after all. And that’s perfectly fine if you use them just for that purpose.
It’s when you start leaving them on all day and you’re walking around the house and garden doing chores (or worse, walking up the street to the shops and back) that problems start to occur.
If you look at the soles of most of these types of footwear, you’ll see that they usually only have quite a thin sole or a bit of rubber between you and the ground.
And while they may be comfortable and warm, the lack of proper cushioning and importantly, foot support, is where the problem lies.
Walk this way
At myPodiatry Health, we know that feet are your foundation, and if they’re not looked after properly, it can lead to pain in your knees, hips, and lower limbs. All our clinicians are trained to look at the biomechanics of your feet, which includes the way you walk. We often hear from people who complain that the arches of their feet or heels are hurting. Or observe that they are walking with their ankles rolled inwards.
In many cases, the culprit is something as simple as wearing inappropriate footwear or footwear that offers incorrect support. Schlepping along in loose-fitting ugg boots can cause problems such as a collapse of the arches and tendons, which if left untreated, inevitably ends up giving you pain.
Warm, toasty, and stinky!
Ok, not a nice subject, but again something that the clinicians at myPodiatry Health are all too aware of. The lining of ugg boots and slippers, be it fur, wool or sheepskin, is designed to keep your feet super warm. But it also provides the perfect breeding ground for foot fungus.
This can develop into conditions such as athlete’s foot or dermatitis. Bare feet especially can really sweat in ugg boots, so the myPodiatry Health team always recommend you wear socks and spray the liner with anti-fungal spray once a month.
The golden slipper rules from myPodiatry Health
Yes, you can still wrap your tootsies in those comfy slippers. But here’s where you should toe the line:
- Limit how long you wear your uggs or slippers every day
- Don’t wear them while doing activities such as walking or chores, choose supportive footwear instead
- Ensure your uggs/slippers aren’t loose and give you as much support around the feet as possible
- Always wear socks
- Spray with an anti-fungal spray every month
Put your feet up in our hands. Book a visit to see the foot-focused team at myPodiatry Health today.