How are your shoes affecting your health?

While we were researching podiatrists to open a conversation about shoes, one lady stood out in particular. With polished self-branding, a list of awards as long as your arm and ambition to know as much about feet as possible- Dina Gohil is our kind of woman!

Founder of DG Podiatrist in London, Dina has tackled most foot-based problems you can imagine. We wanted an expert opinion on just how much difference shoes can make for the benefit of your feet, so a Q&A with a podiatrist was the next step. No pun intended.

What do you hate about your feet?

Think about your feet for a second. Cringing? You’re not the only one. After speaking with many women, we realised that lots of us are ashamed of the lumps and bumps in our foot shape- but why? So your big toe sticks out slightly to the left, your right foot is slightly longer, your left foot is prone to swelling. In most cases, these problems, well, aren’t actually problems.

Sharing our mission to educate women about foot health, London based podiatrist Dina Gohil, founder of DG Podiatrist, shares our mission to educate women on having healthy feet. We sat down with Dina for a Q&A with a podiatrist, to encourage women to get talking about feet.

Everybody has a favourite pair of shoes

It’s not a secret anymore, right? Most women have bunches of shoes that never see the light of day. Whether they’re too tight, they’re the wrong fit, they’re impossible to wear every day, we all have our excuses. So, what is the trick to finding comfortable shoes? First of all, our shoes are handcrafted with comfort in mind. Including premium features such as;

• Memory foam sole
• A heel grip that prevents rubbing and blisters
• Optional arch support, to distribute your weight, relieving pressure

During a Q&A with a podiatrist, it’s the prime time to find out what a foot professional looks for. Unsurprisingly, flat shoes remain top.

“Personally, I love shoes that have a soft upper for my toes, hug my midfoot. Plus, some sort of ankle support. Most of the time I live in trainers, and I have my favourites when it comes to shoes and heels!”

While Dina lives in trainers, it’s no big surprise to anybody. Before we mentioned Dina owns her own practice in West London, like a lot of metropolitan women, between commuting, meetings, consultations, heels just aren’t practical. We’re changing that. Banish the bags full of shoes to wear during the day! 

During the day, Dina offers consultations and treatment for nail and foot care. For professional women, wearing heels all day is a no-go. However, most of the time, it is not the style of the shoe causing you pain, it’s the fit.

Can I wear shoes half a size bigger?

It wouldn’t be a Q&A with a podiatrist without getting a little bit technical. How many situations where there’s one size left in the sale, your usual size isn’t quite right so you have to compromise and go for a size a little bit different? Explaining the potential damage of wearing ill-fitting shoes, Dina stressed her point.

“Wearing ill-fitting shoes can cause harm to your feet in many ways,”

Dina elaborated; “You may experience soft tissue stress, fatigue, corns and blisters- that’s just a few examples. Sometimes, the damage is irreversible. You may even develop friction bumps on the joints of your toes and thicken nails over time- there’s no going back from there!

Do you think you know about foot health?

Although it sounds scary, the causes and effects of ill-fitting footwear takes most people by surprise. From Dina’s perspective, as women, we need to be educated further. Not everybody treats podiatrist appointments the way they treat GP check-ups or routine dental appointments. Why is this? 

“I don’t think it’s around being fashionable or busy- people just don’t know. People assume a pedicurist at a salon will fix their woes, but sadly not, they’re just not medically trained.”

What can a podiatrist do differently? “Seeing a podiatrist who can help educate the client on how and why you’re having the presented issue, as well as treating the client safely and pain-free.” 

In the Future

Just like Dina, we want to remove the stigma around talking about feet. Women should be feeling confident head to toe- in the workplace, nights out, big occasions- and their foot health and shoe shouldn’t get in the way of that.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT DINA AND HER SERVICES BY VISITING HER WEBSITE

ALSO, FIND OUT MORE ABOUT OUR PRECISIONFIT SERVICE HERE