Your choices of footwear for work are very important as we seem to spend the majority of our lives at work.!! Recently, the TUC ( the trade union congress) has called for employers to drop ‘inappropriate’ requirements for workers to wear uncomfortable or dangerous footwear.
A number of big city institutions and upmarket shops insist femal staff who deal with the public to wear slip on shoes or a high heel as part of the dress code. This can lead to long term foot problems as well as back, hip knee pain,especially when combined with prolonged standing.
Podiatrists agree with the TUC that feet feel the’ brunt’ of the daily working life and instead of worrying about what their staff look like employers should concentrate on the effect that the wrong shoes and prolonged standing can have.
Where possible a low heel,deep firm heel cup and some form of shoe fastener should be worn ie.strap.lace or velcros. If slip ons are worn avoid the very soft low cut variety or the very high heels.
Do visit your Podiatrist to get more advice on footwear in general as it can be the cause or at least contribute to many of our back, hip, knee and feet problems.
