What Your Shoes Can Tell You

[@jgm3796]

Awesome explanation and diagrams. Exactly what I was interested in learning.

[@ElevateSportandSpine]

That’s great! Thanks for the feedback. I’m glad you enjoyed it.

[@GotDamBoi]

Great vid, easy to understand. I feel better about my giant arches and supination now...but it seems to be much worse on my left foot for some reason. I also have almost no heal wear? Maybe one of my legs is longer than the other or something like that

[@ElevateSportandSpine]

Glad you found it helpful! Leg length can make a difference in how your feet strike the ground, for sure. The problem is finding out if it’s functional or anatomically different… It could even be something like a rigid or painful big toe joint that causes you to move away from that side. It ultimately helps to visualize how your foot may be striking the ground to make the wear pattern what it is, then trying to change it mindfully by changing your stride and how you make contact. Fun to play with. Good luck!

[@itgetter9]

Thanks for your video. Quick question: I am wearing out very quickly the front of my left shoe, from ball of foot forward. I do have some knee pain in the left knee. Is this the issue, and if so, do you know how I can address it? Thank you

[@Wolfsoro]

Hey thank for the visual. I'm more confident I have a normal foot.

[@ElevateSportandSpine]

My pleasure! Glad you found it helpful.

[@yalda3339]

brilliant video!pronatore especially right foot. hyper lordosis,anterior pelvic tilt, limb length discrepancy,medialy rotated right knee,also right fore foot abduction!i'm a real mess 30 year old female hope it's correctable at this age!

[@ElevateSportandSpine]

Glad you liked it! Everything gets better when you strengthen and stay consistent with training and meaningful movement. Good luck! In 10 years you'll realize how young you are now. Enjoy it.

[@yalda3339]

@@ElevateSportandSpine thank you so much for replying and heart warming message!i'll take good care of myself then,promise!

[@ElevateSportandSpine]

@@yalda3339 my pleasure. Take care.

[@lindabaltazar6679]

I don't run in my shoes. I do circuit training, little jumping, line dancing 5_7 days a week 45 min. I rotate shoes. Had them a year, tread still looks good. Don't know whether I should replace them. Thanks.

[@ElevateSportandSpine]

If they look and feel good and you rotate them often they will definitely last longer! Can say there’s any reason to replace them aside from that.

[@pressrepeat2000]

Great video, thank you. Found out I supinate/underpronate from this. All my soles are worn out on the outside in two places only, on both legs. Very interesting, as many years ago I did one of those run test in a shoe store and the attendant told me I overpronate and sold me shoes for that. Not great, lol.

[@ElevateSportandSpine]

Thanks for the feedback! I’m glad you found it helpful. Hope you find shoes that work well for you!

[@giovanbattistafichera8439]

supination is a perfectly normal thing as the foot always comes into contact with the ground on the exterior later aspect and then rotates inwards (pronates) to shock absorb before resupinating again in the last phase, at toe off. The fact you "underponate" (the inward motion is limited) may simply mean you have stiff/high arches, so you don't necessarily need stable shoes, probably just shoes with a decent amount of padding to help take the edge off the impact forces, which your foot isn't doing by pronating.

[@thomastreacy9763]

I have very flat feet, but have supination… weird!

[@ElevateSportandSpine]

Looks like they’re pretty active when you move then! One of the docs who ran a seminar I went to talked about how the ability to demonstrate control (or lack thereof) over pronation was more predictive of problems than the mere presence of it. Seems like you’ve found a bit of a work around, but might be going far in the opposite direction.

[@gerrimiller3491]

I have narrow feet and my podiatrist helped me to get the proper shoe. Who would have known that Sketchers are my perfect fit with memory insoles. My feet feel happier now

[@ElevateSportandSpine]

I'm so glad you were able to find a pair of shoes that work for you!

[@bernardibrahim]

my pattern is on the outer toe but in the inner heel. what does that say?

[@jumpintheairxd]

how is that even possible? maybe weak ankles that collapse inward and high arches on feet?? idk how its even possible tbh

[@umarfarooque8026]

My right shoes more worn out as same as your ,is it a common thing?

[@ElevateSportandSpine]

Yeah it’s a fairly common thing. This isn’t a way to definitively diagnose any problems, but can give us some clues.

[@briantavalosfranco4745]

hey! so I am an avid wearer of Air force 1's and have been using them for a while. I only wear one shoe at a time, so i don't really alternate. The bottom of my heal has been tearing, and has done so with previous air forces I have worn. I am wondering how I can fix that? It causes pain on my leg/heel when I walk, or even just stand. Its a very annoying pain. Part of the problem is I continue to wear the shoes even after they have already torn, could this be the issue? Based on this video it seems i have normal or supinate, not sure tho. I have tried other shoes but it still hurts

[@BaldianOfIbelin]

My shoes always wear out starting under my toes right in the center and from there they expand to the sides and down right ending where the arch of the foot begins and never passing to the toes and from there it starts in the center of the heel and expanding to all sides covering everything that is my heel generally between 1-2 years they are so smooth that I start to slip What does mine mean?

[@ElevateSportandSpine]

Im not sure that I can picture what you’re saying exactly. If it’s what I’m think it sounds like you could have a toe clawing going on possibly. Sadly anymore, getting more than 1 year out of a pair of shoes is not terribly common. They break down faster than they used to.

How do we balance the wear on the shoes if one side has more wear on it?

[@ElevateSportandSpine]

There are different solutions depending on what the problem is. Getting a good assessment from a qualified professional is a good place to start!

​@@ElevateSportandSpineI mean insoles?

[@StevenRash]

It’s hard to know for sure. Sorry I can’t be more specific!

@@StevenRash SMH

[@mick2spic]

My shoes show I over pronate with bad wear on the inside of the bottom of my shoes. I did a wet test for my feet and they show pretty normal arch. Also dealing with plantar fasciitis. I was leaning towards getting a stability shoe. Do you think that would be good?

[@ElevateSportandSpine]

It’s important to note where along the sole it seems to be wearing. If it is on or closer to the heel, then you may be collapsing back there. If it’s closer to where the arch should be then that is different. In the first case a shoe with a more rigid heel cup might help address the issue. In the second you’d need one with a stiffer arch. Both cases could probably benefit from strengthening of the foot/ankle/leg with calf raises. It’s always worth trying to experiment with things. If it doesn’t work in a reasonable amount of time, try something else.

[@mick2spic]

@@ElevateSportandSpine Thank you for the info, appreciate it! The wear is along the inside of most of the shoe. More prominently worn down on the inside that is towards the front. I did buy a still arch insert made for plantar fasciitis (Treadlabs Pace) that has been helping. A lot of other videos said inside shoe wearing down towards the front on the inside indicates the need for a stability shoe and was leaning towards buying that.

[@ElevateSportandSpine]

@@mick2spic No problem, I hope the shoe helps ya out!

[@vineettaneja1074]

some people call it underpronate and overpronate? what is the difference vs pronate and superpronate that you use

[@ElevateSportandSpine]

Hi Vineet! I used that term for emphasis, it really just means that they excessively over pronate. Sorry for the confusion.

[@rockybalboap7763]

Dam im supinate or normal then ? My outer heel wears right down compared to left side?

[@ElevateSportandSpine]

That would indicate that you tend to supinate more in the rear-foot. It could also mean that you turn your foot outward on that side as well.

[@brandon53081]

Both my shoes are normal according to your drawing however my left shoe is more worn out. Could it be that I strike harder with my left foot?

[@brandon53081]

The ware is in the same spots, but the left shoe just looks like it was used more.

[@ElevateSportandSpine]

@@brandon53081 that's definitely a possibility! It could be that you pivot on that foot more as well.

[@nxeza7627]

my biggest issue is my converse wearing out on me in the same way even my thicker sole shoes do this, but for my converse the wear seen at the bottom of the soles going up ⤴️ and in the middle and a little west on the inside part of the sides. Then for my right foot it wears off only mainly towards the right side. The top part of my shoe goes up⤴️not flat. So after a while of wearing my converse they end up turning into a scope like shape like the bottom of an anchor⚓️ i don’t know what do about it and if i should adjust how i step or walk?

[@ElevateSportandSpine]

Seems like an interesting wear pattern. I’m having trouble picturing exactly what it is you mean. If one is wearing on the inside and the other on the outside, it could indicate what is sometimes called a ”windswept” pattern. This can be due to a number of things and I’d recommend getting someone to take a look at it if you are having pain in your legs/knees/hips/low back; or limitation in movement/function.

[@alaskanmalamute101]

Can you teach yourself to walk better? Or use a different sole to help correct dunno if it's that bigger deal don't have any pain I have normalish heal wear them more wear on the front outer edge than normal.

[@screamtoasigh9984]

What if your shoes get destroyed on the inner topside way before you can wear out the bottoms?! I looked at the bottom of every shoe I own - the oldest is ten years old and they are all destroyed inside, but look pretty new outside - (the ones that I wear the most - vionic tide sandals the thong on the right one breaks (3 pairs now), not the toe piece, but the outer right edge of the "whole strap" before the bottom has any damage , it takes about 1-3 years to get there. Maybe I'm just buying shoes with indestructible soles? 🤔

[@screamtoasigh9984]

(I now only have shoes like this - because I kept on twisting my ankle, or cracking/breaking the 5th metatarsal , 2xs while just walking on pavement , ) if I don't. The doctor said I should buy lottery tickets after breaking it a second time.

[@ElevateSportandSpine]

@@screamtoasigh9984 that's an interesting problem to have. I imagine it comes down to the durability of the individual materials of each shoe based on what you are saying. So keep buying stuff from those makers! It could also be that you change shoes frequently enough to where you don't wear out one pair in particular. The only thing I could think might be tearing up the insides could be sweat/oils from your feet. As far as the metatarsal fractures go, working on strengthening the outside of your calf and focusing on driving through your big toe joint might help disperse the load you are putting though the outside of your foot off of there. Hope that helps!

[@IntegraDIY]

Does odd wear pattern have to do with the spine? I was a victim in a terrible car accident, suffered 4 herniated disc’s, and a fractured vertebrae, all in the lumbar spine. I now wear holes in my right shoe. My left is fine with normal wear. But I’m always having to switch shoes so I won’t wear one pair out so fast :( I still haven’t received treatment for this besides physical therapy which only worked so much until it started causing more pain

[@ElevateSportandSpine]

It absolutely can be due to how your spine moves (or doesn’t). You may carry your weight differently or not move the same on one side due to your injuries and as a result you have to compensate to walk/run, etc. This can lead to what you’re describing. As time goes on, those tissues that were injured in your accident should heal up, and that’s when you gradually want to start introducing more movement and exercises.

[@cheeseandmilk]

I have extremely flat feet and they’re so bad I wear orthotics, but all my wear is on the outside portion of my ankle and the whole toe box

[@ElevateSportandSpine]

Interesting! looks like the orthotics are doing a good job of controlling your foot. We are finding that flat feet on their own aren't necessarily as big of a problem as once suspected as long as the person has good strength and coordination of their foot during gait.

[@bh2155]

It's strange, my left foot shoe shoes wear consistent of pronation and on the right the heal shows supination. What can be done about this?

[@ElevateSportandSpine]

Our bodies are very good compensation machines! The hard part is figuring out which one started the other... Typically, strengthening your feet and ankles with balance exercises and heel raises is a good place to start.

[@traild32]

I have flat feet and my shoe on the left foot tends to wear so badly on the outer side, that I end up with any slides turning on the side.

[@ElevateSportandSpine]

I don't quite understand the last part of your comment. If you are having more wear on the outside of the shoe then you are probably leaning more toward that side when you move. There are a lot of reasons that this could happen, but often times strengthening your leg and foot to better handle side to side rocking can help. If you have more specific questions it may be best to get an assessment from someone in your area. If thats me, I'm happy to help!

[@mohak1990y]

I'm wearing Saucony Freedom 3. I think I am supinating. Which shoe wd you recommend?

[@SouthernCoding]

whats it mean if my wear pattern is mainly in the ball of the shoe? so the front of my shoes wear out from about the middle of the arch all the way to the toe the heel has no wear.

[@ElevateSportandSpine]

Sounds like you might walk on your toes! Sometimes this can be a thing that persists from childhood.

[@giovanbattistafichera8439]

What's the point of asking people to look at the bottom of their shoes? Drawing conclusions on running mechanics based on wear pattern is like looking at a window a mile away and asking people to tell you what's going on inside the house. It's guesswork at best. I'll make it easy for you: cite ONE study that clearly shows a CORRELATION (not causation) between running mechanics and certain specific wear patterns at the bottom of the shoe. I'll wait.

[@LVluxlife]

I’ve been told by many people and doctors that I have no arch support but the outter side of my heels are all worn out. So that’s confusing 🫤

[@ElevateSportandSpine]

I agree, that is confusing! It could come down to the difference between fore and rear-foot supination/pronation though. Foot mechanics can be fairly complicated to nail down 100% of the time. Wish I had a better answer for you.