11 Reasons You Shouldn’t Wear Flip-Flops

After a long day of wearing sneakers or dress shoes, nothing beats switching into a pair of flip-flops to let your feet breathe. You might be wearing them right now if you've been spending more time at home due to Covid-19. You might keep your favorite pair of flip-flops because they're comfortable and convenient (no shoe tying necessary), but you should really reconsider wearing them on a regular basis.

Although flip-flops are the most popular summer footwear, podiatrists warn about the risks of wearing them every day, including blisters, plantar fasciitis, and more.

1. You can get foot inflammation

Even if you take extra precautions and don't twist your foot, the lack of arch support may cause injury. Your plantar, a band of tissue in the arch of your foot, will start to pull if you don't have the correct support. This pulling inflames the tissue, causing plantar fasciitis, which causes your arch to become red and uncomfortable. You may experience agonizing arch pain as you try to step down on your foot. Anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen, physical therapy, exercise, or cortisone injections may be required to reduce inflammation.

2. You’ll twist your toes in - and they’ll remain that way

Because flip-flops are floppy, you'll have to curl your toes to keep them from falling off while you walk. However, if you wear them often, they may not straighten up once your shoes are off. The toes actually flex up and remain in a permanent posture, resembling a small hammer. Hammertoe, as the name implies, is a malformation.

3. You can get a splinter

Sure, flip-flops are fantastic for the beach, but before heading the boardwalk, change into more solid footwear. Splinters are more likely in flip-flops because of the way your feet twist and the fact that your feet tend to hang out at the ends.

4. You could cause a car accident

Driving in flip-flops may increase your risk of an accident. Flip-flops can break or slide off your foot, becoming caught beneath the gas pedal, and making stopping impossible.

5. You can sprain your ankle

You can wear those cheap rubber flip-flops to the beach, but you won't want to wear them all day. They have almost no arch support, so instead of keeping straight, your feet will begin to bend toward the center of your body. You're more prone to sprain your ankle if this happens.

6. You can get corns

Your toes will scrape against the top of the shoe if you have a hammertoe and wear ordinary shoes. Corns could form as a result of all the friction. It's a colossal snowball.

7. You could be left totally unprotected

Flip-flops' rubber bottoms wear out, and the thing in the middle can easily come undone. If you're walking quickly, it will come out and you'll be left with nothing. Your bare feet will be exposed to any sharp things, bacteria, and more if you don't have extra shoes to change into (which flip-flop wearers should always have on hand).

8. Objects can poke through your foot

It doesn't take long for a pair of cheap flip-flops to degrade to the point of being useless. It's easy for nails, glass, and other harmful objects on the ground to poke through once the heel and toe start to descend. The flip-flops, on the other hand, cause a worse problem that a tetanus vaccine won't protect you from. A piece of the shoe may become embedded in your foot, forming a foreign body. You may still be in pain, despite the fact that the body heals swiftly. The shadow of a little piece of rubber in the foot can be seen on an X-ray. Surgery is your sole option at that point.

9. You’ll change your stride

The heel-toe stride of conventional shoes has been ingrained in your body. When you change that, your body will naturally begin to take fewer strides in order to keep you stable. It'll be a series of halting, high-pressure steps.

10. The ball of your foot can hurt

Your foot naturally steps from heel to toe in a closed shoe with arch support, rolling along with the ball of your foot. Because flip-flops lack arch support, you just take a flat step, landing firmly on the ball of your foot. When you walk for a long time and hit anything, it becomes annoying. An ailment termed metatarsalgia will cause pain and possibly swelling, but this will subside if you switch to more supportive shoes.

11. Foot problems can run bone-deep

When you have too many occurrences of plantar fasciitis, your body will try to mend the pulling by generating new bone. A heel spur can form on the rear or bottom of your heel if your body has more bone than it needs. The spur is a little point that pinches and pulls the skin. It's a really painful spot. If the same therapies for plantar fasciitis don't work, surgery may be required to restore normalcy.