The Xero Blog

If you have wide feet, finding shoes can prove to be a challenging task. Many traditional shoes have a narrow structure, especially through the midfoot and toe box. As a result, people with wider feet struggle to find something comfortable. The discomfort of poor-fitting shoes can lead to many issues over time, some of which can be serious. While many shoe brands offer wide sizing options, it’s often not enough to provide comfort, and many will find their toes are still pinched. Minimalist-style shoes may be a better, more comfortable choice for people with wide feet. Keep reading to learn why barefoot shoes and minimalist footwear may be the most comfortable shoes for wide feet. You’ll also see how finding a comfortable, properly fitting shoe could protect your feet from some of the long-term issues that may occur when you regularly wear shoes that are too tight or that pinch. When You Wear Shoes That Don’t Fit Your Wide Feet Too often, people with wide feet have a hard time finding shoes that fit. That can lead to wearing shoes that are too tight or narrow, despite searching for comfortable shoes and trying several different options. Even wearing footwear with a wide shoe size, you may still find your toes and feet feel crammed into the shoe. People who wear shoes that are too tight or fit poorly may experience long-term issues, including: Bunions: These bone deformities are painful and happen over time when there is pressure consistently put on the big toe pushing it up against other toes. One cause of bunions may be wearing shoes that have a narrow toe box. Corns and Calluses: Thickened skin can form in areas with pressure or friction. Blisters: Continuous rubbing creates these, and when you’re standing or walking in a shoe that rubs an existing blister, the pain can get unbearable. Hammer Toe: This deformity occurs when a toe becomes bent at its middle joint. One cause of hammer toe is shoes that don’t fit properly. Neurological Damage: Nerve compression can result in Morton's neuroma and other conditions. Pain and Postural Issues: Postural issues and pain can result from back, hip, and knee problems. Needless to say, these issues can impact your overall well-being and affect your balance, mobility, and posture. So what kind of shoes can help people with wide feet avoid these problems? If you find that the wide version of brands selling conventional or “normal” shoes don’t fit, it may be time to seek another option. Barefoot shoes are designed around a foot’s anatomy, including how your foot bends and flexes naturally as you move. As part of that design, you’ll find that these shoes have a wider, foot-shaped toe box that may be better at accommodating your wide feet. Comparing Traditional Shoes With Barefoot Shoes How are barefoot shoes different from conventional footwear? There are several key differences. For those with wide feet, these differences may be just what you need for the right fit. Conventional footwear typically has a raised heel, narrow toe box, and rigid sole. These features constrict natural foot spread and movement for anyone, but especially for anyone with wide feet. Barefoot shoes are different and offer multiple benefits for wide-footed people: A wider, foot-shaped toe box allows your toes to spread out naturally and doesn’t put pressure on your toes. Zero-drop-sole construction keeps the forefoot and heel at an even level against the ground, for natural gait and spinal alignment Flexible materials let the foot move and bend without restriction The minimalist design avoids unnatural support, letting foot muscles work and get stronger These features accommodate wide feet, providing comfort and flexibility without pinching your toes. Barefoot Shoes Provide Comfort for Those With Wider Feet If you've struggled to find comfortable shoes for wide feet, then barefoot shoes might be the answer. For anyone who stands, runs, or walks for long periods of time, barefoot shoes give their feet functional freedom. The zero-drop design, wide toe box, and minimalist structure let your feet move naturally. The enhanced flexibility and natural positioning allow you to enjoy your posture and full balance, so every step you take can feel more comfortable and stable. Xero Shoes: Made For Wide Feet Xero Shoes are designed for how human feet are shaped. They’re wide enough to let your toes spread and splay, and flexible enough to allow you to move freely and naturally. The good news is that we have all types of minimalist-style footwear for any activity, fitness level, or lifestyle–perfect for men and women with wide feet. We have shoes for running, walking, hiking, and just hanging out. We even have waterproof shoes and boots… all designed to comfortably fit your feet. In fact, here are a few publications that agree: Field & Stream features the Xero Shoes Scrambler Mid as the best hiking shoe for wide feet. MindBodyGreen recommends the best minimalist running shoe for wide feet is Xero Shoes' Prio. And our customers seem to agree with these publications! “I have extra wide feet and shoes always pushed my baby toes under so I was walking on them. So I figured I had nothing to lose by trying these. I am so thankful I did! I will never buy any other shoe again. Xero shoes are my hero!” “I’ve always had trouble finding shoes that fit my wide feet and these are just so comfy. I’ve tried other foot-shaped shoes but they were not as normal looking as these which go with everything. I should have gotten a half size down from my usual sneaker size but I switched to a thicker insole and it works.” No matter what type of shoe you’re looking for, our barefoot-style shoes are made to fit wide feet. Explore our selection of shoes to find one for any activity or lifestyle. Men’s Barefoot Shoes | Women’s Barefoot Shoes The content of this post does not constitute and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of a physician or other qualified health provider with any questions or concerns you may have about your health or a medical condition.

Dr Emily Splichal - Xero Shoes Partner Our feet carry us through life, supporting our weight and keeping us on the move. They carry us through our day to day, but we often don’t appreciate them until they start to ache or become injured. Research suggests that up to 87% of people will experience foot pain at some point in their lives. This number is so high not only due to the amount of repetitive stress our feet encounter on a daily basis. From overly supportive shoes to a gradual weakening of the foot with age, we need to be proactive in our foot health to prevent this high risk of foot injury. As a functional podiatrist, I strongly believe in the power of daily foot recovery, foot strengthening exercises and smart footwear choices to offset daily repetitive foot stress and to make a lasting impact on foot health and movement longevity. In this blog, we will explore an example of a daily routine to help you take steps towards improved foot health. Morning As you wake up each morning, this is the perfect time to also wake up your feet and align your foot posture, allowing you to better react and respond to each step throughout the day. First, start each day by releasing your feet for just a couple minutes with the Naboso Neuro Ball. This innovative product is unlike any foot release tool in that it is not only a ball but it also splits open to make two domes. In addition, both domes are covered with a patented texture which uniquely stimulates the nerves in the bottom of the feet. To begin, follow this simple 5 point foot release where you stand on specific points on the bottom of your foot for 30 seconds - allowing for pin point acupressure stimulation along the muscles of the feet. After releasing the feet, I like to go directly into an exercise called forward lean. This is a foot posture activation exercise that takes less than 30 seconds to do.  Start by standing with the feet shoulder width apart and find the foot tripod under the 1st metatarsal head, 5th metatarsal head and heel. Lift the toes, spread that out as wide as you can, then place them back down onto the floor. Slightly lift the arch of the foot by rotating externally in the hips. Now that your base is stable, stand tall with your arms by your side. Imagine you are stiff as a board. Staying stiff as a board, slightly lean the body forward until you feel the toes push down into the ground. Return to the starting position and relax the feet. Repeat 5 times to sufficiently wake up the foot muscles for your day. During the Day In an ideal world, work would do itself and we would be able to just live our lives as our feet take care of themselves. While this isn’t fully possible, there are tools that make it almost that easy! Stay connected to your feet with no effort at all by wearing minimal footwear and sensory-stimulating insoles or socks. Evidence suggests that our foot muscles respond to sensory stimulation, so by reducing cushion in our shoes it could help strengthen our feet and support our body alignment. A combination of Xero Shoes plus the Naboso Activation insoles creates an environment of maximum sensory stimulation and therefore could help support overall foot health. Evening At the end of a long day, we all just want to kick our feet up and relax. However, just taking pressure off of our feet may not be enough to fully recover the 26 muscles in the bottom of our feet. A great way to passively restore your foot shape and stretch your toes is toe spacers. Toe spacers such as Splay by Naboso, gently realign the toes to their natural position, improving foot function and minimizing arch pain. Whether you want to wear toe spacers while relaxing on the couch or walking around your home, toe spacers are fast becoming one of the fastest-growing foot recovery trends as featured in a recent Wall Street Journal article. To learn more, you can watch a recent lecture I gave about the science of toe spacers. Conclusion There are many options available to help boost your foot recovery and offset foot pain. Remember, the more consistent you can be in your daily foot habits the better the results you will see! By starting with these tools and exercises, you’ll be fast on your way to the results you want. About the Author/Bio: Dr Emily Splichal, Functional Podiatrist and Human Movement Specialist, is the Founder of EBFA Global, Author of Barefoot Strong and CEO/Founder of Naboso Technology. With over 23 years in the fitness industry, Dr Splichal has dedicated her medical career towards studying postural alignment and human movement as it relates to barefoot science, foot to core integration and sensory integration.

Massachusetts-based podiatrist Dr. Alissa Kuizinas (and Xero Shoes Partner) has more than a medical perspective on footwear. She struggled with foot discomfort for years. With each step she took, her big toe would jam against the inside of her shoes – “even with my ‘good shoes’ on,” she recalls. The $133 billion shoe industry has footwear specialized for every situation. Workout shoes. Hiking boots. Running shoes. Even walking shoes. And the solution to foot problems? The typical suggestion is more cushion, more support, and a more rigid structure to immobilize your foot. But is that the right approach to shoes? Your Foot Issues Might Be a Shoe Problem “Traditional medicine would recommend that I wear custom orthotics, limit my activity and wear stiff-soled shoes until the pain becomes bad enough to require surgery,” Dr. Kuizinas says. “I knew there had to be a better solution.” The deeper this foot doctor delved, the more she found that her feet weren’t the problem. It was her shoes! “Even though shoe companies spend millions of dollars on technology and design development, the shoes they produce and sell are doing a major disservice to human feet,” she explains. “From cushioning to heel-toe drops, stiff soles to narrow toe boxes, nearly every aspect of a modern shoe has a negative impact on foot movement. It leads to an epidemic of dysfunctional, weak, and malfunctioning feet. And most of us aren’t even aware this is happening!” Get Out of the Way of Your Feet “The primary purpose of shoes is to protect our feet from the elements and from different surfaces,” Dr. Kuizinas says. “They’re for when we are out in the world walking on a slippery or wet surface. Ultimately, shoes are really there JUST for that purpose. They don’t need to be bulky and restrictive, or supporting our feet. Our feet are designed to support themselves!” Think of any muscle in your body. If you use it, work it, and challenge it, what happens? It gets stronger. And if you don’t use it, or even worse, immobilize it, it gets weaker. The same is true of the muscles in your feet. Your Feet Are Made to Be Strong Your feet are made to support the entire weight of your body. They’re meant to be strong. For them to maintain that strength, they need to work. And that means your shoes shouldn’t be doing their work for them. So… why not just walk barefoot all the time? Research supports the idea of slight “protection” being beneficial. A study comparing outdoor barefoot walking with minimalist footwear found that the shoes improved walking form in both younger and older adults, and reduced risk of falling. Dr. Kuizinas recommends a ‘as little shoe as possible’ approach to footwear, putting the focus on building resilient, capable feet.“Rather than building up the shoe to try to externally support the foot and limit motion, minimalist shoes get out of the way of our feet,” she says. “They allow feet to function naturally, to move and bend. The transition to minimalist shoes involves stripping down the unnecessary and harmful components of modern shoes so that feet can be feet again!” When working with clients today, Dr. Kuizinas shies away from the term “minimalist shoes.” Instead, she likes to talk about “functional shoes” or “natural shoes.” “Natural footwear is really on the leading edge of shoe technology,” she says. “By stripping away the unnecessary and downright harmful features of shoes, we allow feet to function effortlessly as they were designed to!” And when we do that, we give our feet the chance to grow strong and capable... the core of good foot health. How to Find a “Functional” Shoe that Supports Good Foot Health Dr. Kuizinas has a three-point checklist of what she looks for in a functional shoe, which not-so-coincidentally match up with the three major functions of the human foot during walking. “The foot has three jobs: to be a ‘mobile adaptor’ or shock absorber when it first hits the ground, to be a rigid lever during push-off, and to be a sensor of the environment,” she explains. “As long as it can do these three things, it will function well.”Here’s how she says those functions should be reflected in the shoes you wear: Wide Toe Box: “Functional sneakers should have a wide, foot-shaped toe box. They’re broad enough to allow our big toe to sit in a proper alignment.” Flat & Flexible Soles: “Our feet contain 26 bones and 33 joints. And joints are designed to move! A flexible sole allows for natural foot movement. By contrast, stiff and rigid shoes with elevated heels prevent the joints from fully moving through their range of motion and limit the foot.” Minimal cushion and support: “A functional shoe should be only as cushioned as you really need. Overly cushioned shoes dampen your perception of what’s going on with your feet, and your ability to walk well.” If you follow these simple standards, you’ll find shoes that support your foot health by not doing so much to support your feet! Be Patient and Build Up to Barefoot Both from her personal experience and in her professional practice, Dr. Kuizinas recommends being patient when it comes to transitioning to full-time “functional” footwear. In the early days, she recommended a one-two approach of wearing functional shoes primarily for low-impact activities like walking and running errands, while also going barefoot around the house to help build resilience in the feet and ankles. “As your foot function improves, you’ll be able to tolerate less arch supportive shoes for greater amounts of time,” she explains.In not too much time, you’ll find yourself able to enjoy walking, running, hiking, and anything else you love to do more... because you’ll feel steadier and more stable on your feet. Click Here to Find the Best Barefoot Shoe For You.