The Immediate Effects of Five-Toed Shoes on Foot Structure

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to analyze the immediate effects of five toed shoes on foot structure. Subjects consisted of 26 college-aged women with pes planus. X-ray analysis of student feet were performed both barefooted and with five toed shoes.Dependent variables were hallux valgus angle, calcaneal inclination angle, 1st metatarsal declination angle, and intermetartarsal angle.Independent t-test was used for statistical analysis along with SAS. Overall, there were statistically significant changes of test subject's dependent variables when wearing five toed shoes. Specifically, the hallux valgus angle decreased, the calcaneal inclination angle and 1st metatarsal inclination angle increased, and intermetatasal angles both increased and decreased, shifting towards normal range. In every case the dependent variables shifted towards a more normal range while subjects wore five toed shoes. This study only examined the immediate corrective effects of five toed shoes on foot structure, but long-term studies are needed to understand the prolonged effects of five toed shoes on foot structure.