Ouch!” your family members comment simultaneously as you’re walking along the shore. It just so happens that you landed yourselves at a beach—with millions of tiny pebbles scattered in the rough sand. As you’re searching for a spot to station yourself, your feet ache with each step. You look down at the shoes you chose to wear—those awful flip-flops.
I understand the initial thoughts of one who wears these shoes, as I have also owned pairs of them in the past. They’re inexpensive, of tiny pebbles scattered in the rough sand. As you’re searching for a spot to station yourself, your feet ache with each step. You look down at the shoes you chose to wear—those awful flip-flops.
I understand the initial thoughts of one who wears these shoes, as I have also owned pairs of them in the past. They’re inexpensive, come in fun colors, and are easy to put on. What’s not to enjoy? Everything else about them—for one, the absurd amount of risks that follow with wearing these slip-ons. According to Healthline, flip-flops can cause blisters, reduce support to vital areas of your feet, give damage to your heel such as plantar fasciitis, and even injuries to the body besides your foot, like shin splints or sprained ankles. Additionally, these damaging consequences don’t only apply to flip-flops, but similar counterparts like slides, so don’t turn to the other when one doesn’t work out.
According to the Mayo Clinic, features of a walking shoe include a heel collar, insole, and outsole which are all separate layers that help to ensure a safe gait and comfort. Contrary to this, flip-flops generally consist of a foam sole and a Y-shaped strap, lacking essential layers of protection to keep your bones and structure safe and sturdy. In the definition provided by Merriam-Webster, shoes are, “an outer covering for the human foot typically having a thick or stiff sole with an attached heel and an upper part of lighter material (such as leather).” By this definition, flip-flops are not shoes. You’re basically wearing pieces of foam with flimsy plastic straps that provide virtually no protection to the countless harms they may cause.
I would still like to give flip-flops some credit, because there is proof that they aren’t all bad. According to the National Institutes of Health, a type of flip-flop with a molded heel shape actually benefits those with foot pain. In a trial conducted, the control group wore their conventional footwear in their everyday lives, while the test group wore flip-flops that had a heel “cup,” wider straps, and a molded foot cup for a span of twelve weeks. The results showed that the molded, cupped flip-flops helped in terms of foot pain for those in that test group. However, the flip-flops provided to those in the experiment were “fancy,” and so it doesn’t mean that buying a pair of flip-flops for five dollars at Target will benefit your foot pain.
Truthfully, if you’re still planning to wear flip-flops through this summer, you might as well wear no shoes at all. It’s summer; a time to relax during these few months off of school and to take time to take care of ourselves. You can reduce potential stress by making choices that won’t “flip flop” your summer. Take this as an early warning in advance for this summer to avoid those beachy flip flops.
