How do you protect your feet from pain or injury?

[Floridagram]

I wear good shoes(ECCO)  I want to up my steps to between 15000 and 20000 each day.

[TandemWalker]

Not familiar with the brand you mention, but the key is to wear the best shoes you can find or afford.  I have been using Asics GT2000 and I love them.  I am not a jogger - but I found that incorporating jogging intervals in my walk workouts not only helped with fatigue, but also burned more calories and relaxed my leg and foot muscles/bones/ligaments.  I do 5 min walk, followed by 1 min slow jog, and keep going like that for the duration of my walk.  I'll tell you, now that I've started this regimen, I will never go back to just walking.  It's amazing.  I gradually increased the jogging component by 30 seconds every week or so; and I have been at a 50/50 split for the last month; and that's where I intend to leave it.  At 65, I have no desire to run the next marathon!  Hope this helps!  Take care.

[Mary]

I would consider a rebounder or something soft to use for achieving very high steps counts, or adding strength training or swimming or something else instead.  My foot health is too important to me to risk for some calories that can be burned a myriad of different ways.  

[Telle]

Wear good shoes and increase your step number gradually.  If you have foot problems or pain, ease off it until you're healed up.

[Gershon]

Unfortunately, there is no good answer for this. Everyone finds different solutions for footwear and one person's comfort may be another person's agony.

If you are getting pain or injury, don't do so much, especially if the pain is in the achillies tendon. You can cause a permanent injury.

Meanwhile, try going to a store that uses a computer for sizing. Red Wing shoes has them, and so does Sport Authority. They will give you information on any inserts you might need. Red Wing was honest with me and said I didn't need any. (This isn't an endorsement for Red Wing boots or shoes for walking.)

An important part of the footwear system is the socks. Cheap white cotton socks are hard on the feet. You might consider some hiking socks. The ones that are closest to the thickness of white cotton socks are Thorlo. A better choice is a little thicker wool sock like SmartWool. They run about $17, which seems expensive, but the comfort is worth it, especially if it ends the neverending search for the proper shoe. You can usually find good socks at anyplace that sells hiking shoes.

Some people have success wearing thin synthetic or cotton socks under wool socks. This is an older concept that hasn't worked for me, but it may for you.

[steff]

This will seem extravagant to many, but your shoes are worn out long before they look worn out.  You should get new shoes every 6 months or 500 miles.  We can't rotate our shoes the way we rotate the car tires to get a more even tread wear, so we just have to rotate those shoes out. 

And you should get a professional shoe fitting.  It can make all the difference in the world.  If your shoes don't fit, your feet will hurt.  Good luck.

[gerrymcd]

As others said, wear good supportive shoes (and possibly custom insoles) and replace them long before they look well worn.  I didn't take my own advice and ended up with plantar fasciitis.  Its painful, and takes a long time to heal (and comes back way too easily if I don't take care).   As a result I'm now fastidious about stretching my feet, ankles, calves and hamstrings (using a yoga strap), rolling my feet on a purpose roller or a tennis/lacrose ball, and rolling my legs using a foam roller.   All in all it takes 15 to 30 mins, but its soooooooo worth the time and effort.  Pain in feet can be due to tightness higher in the leg.  By stretching/rolling 4 or 5 days a week I keep everything loose and my feet pain free.  I even keep a few tennis balls in my office to roll my feet as I work.