Why do two children have the same problem?

Last Tuesday two children arrived at our shop.

Both of the same age, with the same foot size (a 37) and with the same problem.

The only difference, the parents. They were not siblings.

And one came recommended by a podiatrist and the other by a doctor.

2 children, on the same day, the same size and with the same problem.

What a coincidence!

Do these things really happen?

Yes.

Reality always beats fiction.

But the children's problem was not fictitious.

They both walked on tiptoe.

Without resting their heel.

And even when they were standing still, they stood on their toes, without putting their whole foot on the ground.

Like when you stand on your toes to look like taller in a photo.

It is as if the "rope" that is fixed to the heel of the foot was shorted and could not give any more.

A father commented that his son's calves were like stones:

Hard and immobile.

And what about the feet? asked Ángel.

Imagine that you catch a ball with one hand, the hand curls up to adapt to the ball, and at the same time you squeeze your fingers tightly to make it doesn't fall.

Now imagine the hand without the ball.

This is what the children's feet looked like.

Stiff, with a pronounced arch and tense toes.

Instead of being flexible, they looked as if they had been carved out of wood.

And why is there so much stiffness in the feet?

According to one doctor, the cause could be neurological.

One of nervous type.

And he's not wrong. We often send excess tension and stress through our feet.

But it could also be the footwear, as the podiatrist suggested.

Earlier he said that the hand adapts to the ball to be able to catch it and the feet must adapt to the ground where he walks.

But if the footwear is rigid and narrow, the foot doesn't adapt to the ground, it adapts to the footwear and becomes like it.

And that's why two different parents came to the shop on the same day.

Guided by common sense.

They have used the simplest solution: the principle of Occam's Razor.

They are going to start from the base.

Removing everything that impedes the free movement of muscles and tendons.  

Something that the heel, the stiffness and the narrowness of the shoes impedes.

And since your children have been wearing these shoes since they were little, it's probably the shoes are the problem.

And surely, they are right.

In fact, in our shop while trying to choose the right size, one of the children put his whole foot on the ground.  

It seems that we have a little progress!

We don't know what will happen, but this solution can only bring benefits.

And both parents are clear about it.

Let the foot behave as a foot, putting the minimum physical impediment.

For the street, wearing minimalist shoes.

The Merrell Trail Glove 5 and the Vivobarefoot Primus Sport were the shoes of choice.

At home, barefoot.

And if the ground is cold, there's nothing better than these Falkes socks.

Lots of colours.

Many styles.

But only one purpose.

Health starts with your feet.