Uggs leading the physio and orthoped boom!

After my own ankle injury, I started to look at the way strangers walk and made it a game to spot the telltale signs of flat feet based only on the condition of footwear. I noticed that most women who wear Uggs demonstrate a collapsing arch and serious overpronation on the right foot, most pronounced when going up stairs, but sometimes also when walking in general.

So, when KT & I bomb around the city, we're invariably surrounded by women who wear Uggs. Whenever we happen to walk behind an Uggo, I always point out the extreme wear on the medial (inside) part of the back of the boot. Spotted an article in The Star, and now, I feel vindicated.

I theorized that today's Modern Western woman is adapted to wearing heels, and as a result, has some pretty weak-ass feet and ankles. Now remove all semblance of support and make them walk on a flimsy inch thick piece of compressible foam. What's the result?

When the heel strikes the ground, if there is a predisposition to roll the ankle inwards, nothing prevents the ankle from rolling as the load is increased on the joint. Weight transfers from the centre to the medial side of the heel. This causes two things to happen: 1) the medial side of the boot becomes more compressed than the centre or lateral side, and 2) the traction gained by the heel on the insole actually pushes the boot over to the lateral side. So, from a point of view behind the wearer's heel, this looks like 1) severe wear on the medial edge of the sole, and 2) rotation of the entire heel cup of the boot to the lateral side (outside).

Now, what's all that mean? Vicious cycle. As the wearer over-pronates, the cushioning becomes more and more compressed on the medial side. Over time, the sole of the boot becomes a ramp, lower on the medial than lateral. This further encourages overpronation.

Anyway, this is all speculation based on observation of the way people walk in Uggs. Someone should actually do a study, collect old pairs of boots and assess wearers for flat feet.

-d