Along with sunshine and climbing temperatures, summer brings with it a bevy of small joys. There’s the warm evenings that slip languidly into inky nights, the shiver the body experiences when that first toe meets the swimming pool’s cool waters, and, the unencumbered nature of warm weather clothing—shorts, T-shirts, and, of course, flip flops.

Rebecca Stone, 23, has a long history with the comfy summertime staple.

“All I used to wear was flip flops,” the Lisle resident said. “Now I wear them on occasion.”

Stone first started seeking the care of a chiropractor five years ago for chronic pain and numbness in her extremities—problems she learned were caused by a mild form of scoliosis, a condition defined by a curvature of the spine. But it wasn’t until two years ago when Stone began seeing Dr. Jason Avelar that she changed her footwear ways.  Avelar, the clinical director of Chiro One Wellness Centers of Naperville, advises patients against flip flops, deeming them acceptable for little more than a walk to the beach or a quick errand.

“I think people lack the knowledge of how the foot affects the spine. Feet control everything from the bottom up,” Avelar said. “Wearing flips flops for a few hours is really no different than walking barefoot on concrete. Walking on flip flops creates a jackhammer affect that pounds up the spine.”

The chiropractor quickly rattled off the consequences from over-wearing the 
seemingly innocuous shoe.

“Flip flops cause instability in your spine, shorten your gait, cause your ankle to roll inward and feet to pronate [an inward rolling the foot makes while bearing weight],” Avelar said.

Flip flops also commonly cause the wearer to curl their toes so as to keep the shoe on their foot. This action “tightens the tendons in the bottom of the feet which tightens muscles in the calf,” Avelar said.

Pain resulting from poor foot support does not target people of a certain age or sex, though the chiropractor believes he sees more female patients because they tend to wear flimsier footwear.

Whereas an unsupportive shoe can throw the body out of alignment and cause foot, calf, hip or back pain, a good shoe, Avelar said, keeps the heel in place with a strap or a cup, cushions the foot and supports the foot’s three arches—the medial longitudinal arch located on the inner side, the lateral longitudinal arch on the outer side and the transverse arch at the base of the toes.

The American Podiatric Medical Association weighs in on flip flops, providing a list of do’s and don’t on its Web site. Those who are going to wear the shoe regardless are encouraged to bend a flip flop from end to end to ensure it bends at the ball of the foot. Shoes of any kind should never fold in half, according to the association.

Of the patients who visit the Chiro One Wellness Center in Naperville, 80 percent are fitted with custom orthotics following a foot scan. Nearly all patients feel some relief after adjusting to the insoles that work to balance out the hip bones, Avelar said.

The first few weeks Stone wore her orthotics, she experienced foot cramping, but now she said she sees what a difference they make.

“When I’m working out without [orthotics], my feet will hurt so bad I’ll have to stop, but if I’m wearing them, I can go as long as I want,” she said.

In addition to the orthotics for her athletic shoes, Stone’s got a pair of orthotics she can  slide into her high heels, and yes, even her dressy flip flops—not that she wears them much. 

Chiro One of Naperville is located at 1304 Macom Drive, Ste. 1. To learn more, visit www.chiroone.net.

To see the American Podiatric Medical Association’s list of flip flop do’s and don’ts, visit www.apma.org.

The real deal behind Fitflops

Specially-designed Fitflops bill themselves as a way to tone the lower body. The shoe employs a slightly unstable midsole to encourage leg muscles to work harder at balance and walking. The result is more shapely thighs and behind.

“Fitflops are creating an imbalance that causes the thighs, gluts and hamstrings to work a lot more but they can also cause instability in the spine,” Avelar said. “In theory, they’re good, but not to wear every day.”

But one group the chiropractor suggests should steer clear of the shoes is the flat-footed.

“The midsole will hit you in the arch and that will be very uncomfortable,” he said.

To learn more about Fitflops, visit www.thefitflop.com.

By Patricia Murphy, Triblocal.com reporter