Around 40% of people have experienced hip pain at some point in their lives and some experience hip pain every day. If you suffer from this type of discomfort, you might be wondering if shoes for hip pain can help. Indeed, choosing the right type of shoes can relieve your hip pain quite a lot, but you need to make sure you choose the right kind of shoes.
But what kind of shoes should you choose? What features are best for relieving hip pain? Keep reading and learn more about how to choose the best shoes for hip pain.
Make Sure the Shoes Have Plenty of Support
Ensuring that your shoes have plenty of support is one of the most important things you need to consider when choosing shoes for managing hip pain. If you are wearing non-supportive shoes on a regular basis, the impact of your footfalls will travel all the way to your hip. This will inflame your hip and only cause it to hurt more.
For that reason, you should seek out shoes that have plenty of cushioning along with thick soles. Thick soles made of supportive material are particularly important. Soles like these should be able to absorb the majority of the impact of your footfalls.
That way, as you walk, the impact of each step will be minimized and your hip won’t hurt nearly as much. It will also prevent your hip and other bones and joints from becoming damaged or worn down over time. Thicker and more supportive soles will also ensure that you don’t need to put in as much effort when you’re walking.
The Details
Instead, a good pair of shoes will propel you forward without much effort. This, of course, is exactly what you need when choosing walking shoes for hip pain. The sole of the shoe should not be too flexible.
Instead, it should be relatively rigid. Of course, it shouldn’t be too rigid, otherwise, it might be uncomfortable to walk. Ideally, a good pair of shoes for hip pain should have soles that follow the curve of your foot as you walk.
If the soles are too flexible, they will not give you the support you need. Besides the construction of the sole, the cushioning inside the shoe is also very important. The cushioning not only diminishes the strength of your footfalls but also ensures that your feet are gripped firmly within the shoes.
Choose a Shoe That Matches Your Foot Shape
Choosing a shoe that matches the shape of your foot is also very important. If the shape of your shoe does not match up with the shape of your foot, your foot will be forced into an unnatural position. This may cause you to walk differently or it may cause discomfort when walking or standing.
Whatever the case, if your shoe does not properly accommodate the shape of your foot, this can make your hip pain even worse. This is because you will not have a good foundation to walk on. Even if the soles on the shoes are very supportive, they won’t help you very much if your feet are contorted into uncomfortable positions.
This is not to mention that a misshapen shoe can also cause other problems such as bunions and hammertoes. For that reason, you should consider shoes that come in different shapes. Usually, it is a good idea to avoid shoes that have pointed toe boxes.
What You Need to Know
These toe boxes don’t do well to accommodate the shape of most types of feet and they tend to squish the toes together in an uncomfortable way. Shoes that have relatively square or rounded toe boxes tend to do much better for most types of feet.
These types of shoes will surround your feet without cramping them. This will make it much easier to walk in a more comfortable manner that won’t exacerbate your hip pain. Besides that, shoes like these will also give your feet and toes plenty of room to breathe so that they can remain comfortable throughout the day.
Think About Shoes With Rocker Soles
Rocker soles are unique because they have a slight curve in them in contrast to ordinary soles which are usually quite flat. The curves in these soles are designed to help a person walk more easily. In particular, rocker soles can help propel a person forward as they walk.
Also, the construction of the soles put less weight on the feet themselves. That way, every footfall you take will not affect your hips too harshly and will make walking much more comfortable. This is ideal not only for your hips but also for your other joints such as your knees and ankles.
These soles are also very good for distributing your body weight across the span of your feet. Studies have even been done to show that rocker soles can indeed reduce joint pain in some people, especially those with arthritis in their joints. So, getting some shoes with rocker soles may be a good idea to reduce your hip pain.
Choosing Shoes for Hip Pain
Choosing shoes for hip pain doesn’t have to be hard, but there are certain things you should take into account. Choosing shoes that match the shape of your feet is very important. You also should make sure that the shoes have soles that are as supportive as possible.
Ideally, you can get shoes with rocker soles to make walking a lot easier and so your hip doesn’t hurt as much when walking. To learn more about footwear, click here.
