A part of maintaining the health of your feet is replacing your footwear when it is time. But how do you know what the right time is? Footwear doesn’t come with an expiration date. However, it is generally recommended to replace your footwear once a year or within 8 months depending on the level of wear and tear. There are also certain signs you can watch out for.
When footwear has extended its lifetime, you will notice that they are not as comfortable as they were in the beginning and you will feel a reduction in their support. The materials in the shoe can wear out and the cushioning can get compressed so that the materials are not able to bounce back as they did in the beginning. The way we walk and use our feet will differ from person to person. There are people who walk “harder” on their feet and this will cause their footwear to wear out quicker than what is normal. So you need to inspect your shoes to see the level of wear they are at. The bottom of your shoe will undergo the biggest wear and tear. But sometimes, the sole will not wear down evenly.
It is important to inspect your shoes now and then to see whether they need replacement. You may not need to replace them once every six months if you don’t have a high activity level. Generally, inspect your shoes after every six months to see the level of wear on them. Sometimes there can be unusual wear on the shoe or you may start to experience pain when you wear it. This pain will be more concentrated around the ankles, knees or hips. You will notice this when you go for a run or be wearing the footwear for a long time. This is generally due to the wearing of the cushioning layer. There can also be wear on the interior of the shoe where there can be rubbing such as the area around the big toe, top of the mid foot and the pinky toe.
You may notice that one part of the sole is worn down more than the other areas. This is a good indication that you need to change the shoe. Normal wear will be evenly spread across the back of the heel and the ball of the foot. To further evaluate this, you can place the shoe on an even flat surface to check if the rubber sections of the outsole show a lot of wear causing the shoe to stay at an angle. The cushioning layer of the shoe is concentrated in the midsole and this is what will absorb shocks when you are active. This is designed for mild compression and this layer is able to rebound after compression. But with time, you will see there are visible wrinkles and creases on the layer. When there is significant creasing, you will need to replace the shoe. At this point, the shoe will not have the same cushioning effect and be as comfortable as it once was.
