What’s a wide toe box shoe???

What happens when our shoes are too small for the width of our foot? Well, as illustrated in the picture above, if there’s a will (and the right material), there’s a way! In this example, the bunion (hallux valgus) was mightier than the shoe, and it wore down a hole in the material to give itself space! 

Contrary to what we assume, a “wide” shoe can refer to the height, length, or width of the toe box, and even if it fits at the widest part of the foot (the ball of the foot, or metatarsal heads), it typically tapers, which for most people means squeezing of the toes. 

Lucky for us, options abound now! Wide toe box shoes are popping up everywhere. There are more and more brands that exist, for everything from running shoes and boots, to sandals and dress shoes. [www.anyasreviews.com is a great place to start, whether you know a lot or only a little about minimal shoes.] 

One of the quickest ways to asses if your shoe actually fits your feet, is what we call a Shoe Liner Test. Take the insole out of the shoe and stand on it. In this first picture you can see how if the big toe is fully on the liner, the pinky toe is off, and vice versa. Likewise, if the pinky toe is fully on, the big toe is clearly over the liner edge.

The second photo shows both pinky and big toe sides of the foot fitting fully - though if the toes learn to spread out a bit more (future post on that!), or you were to wear toe spreaders, you might need to go up another size. 

Take home points: 

• “Wide” shoes can mean all sorts of things - so check them out for yourself with the shoe liner test! 

• The more your foot size matches up with the liner the better, but even if it’s just closer and not perfect, that will be a step in the right direction!

• #freeyourfeet