Well, new research from the USA suggests we can rest easy when we wear trainers and sandals. The main issue around casual or flat shoes is that they don’t support our arches in the same way as sturdier footwear and so can put pressure on knee joints in particular. As we age, the weight-bearing joints of ankles, knees and hips become more susceptible to osteoarthritis thanks to long-term wear and tear.
However, research from Rush University Medical Centre, in Chicago, has revealed that flat footwear with flexible soles is actually better for the knee joints than more stable shoes with less flexible soles because they reduce the load on the joints.
The study concluded that footwear specifically designed to support our feet don’t give the same support to joints.
The Chicago team looked at 31 patients who had the symptoms of osteoarthritis, such as pain when walking or climbing stairs, limping and stiffness, and examined how they walked when barefoot and then when wearing four types of shoes: stability shoes prescribed for comfort; clogs; flip-flops; and flat training shoes with flexible soles.
When wearing clogs and stability shoes, the team found that the load on the knee joints were 11-15% higher than when the participants walked barefoot or when wearing the trainers or flip-flops. In fact, the reduction in load joint with flats and barefoot matched that seen when an individual with osteoarthritis wore knee braces and orthotic shoe inserts specifically designed to reduce the load on knee joints.
The study concluded that walking barefoot or in flats lets the foot flex more naturally on impact with the ground and so reducing the impact on the knee-joint.
The kind of footwear you choose will depend very much on your age and on your mobility with flip-flops perhaps hazardous for the frail and elderly.