PODIATRIST DISCUSSES WHAT TO WEAR (OR NOT WEAR) ON YOUR LUNCHTIME STROLL

You forgot your athletic shoes at home, but you head out for your lunchtime walk anyway in a pair of 3-inchers. If your "walk" is a short stroll as you browse the shops, you're probably okay. But if you're planning a 20-block hike, you could be in trouble. "The sole of a high-heeled shoe is not constructed correctly for long-distance walking, and the higher the heel, the worse it will be," warns Stephen M. Pribut, DPM, past president of the American Academy of Podiatric Sports Medicine (AAPSM).

Summer sandals and mules can be even more detrimental. "When your shoe's heel isn't closed in, the heel of your foot separates from the sole of the shoe as you walk, putting a lot more stress on your forefoot," explains Pribut. The worst-case scenarios: a sprained ankle or stress fracture—either of which could really curtail your lunchtime forays. Look for a shoe that bends where the toes bend, not in the middle, advises Pribut: "A flexion point that's in the middle of the shoe will put stress on that part of the foot and cause abnormal motion."

Source: Lorie A. Parch, Prevention,

Courtesy of Barry Block, editor of PM News.