You’ve tied your shoes wrong and there’s a trick for all feet, says expert

One podiatry expert has claimed that you’ve probably been tying your shoes incorrectly for years because there are six different ways to tie them, depending on the shape of your feet

Tie yours shoes is easy, right?

We all learned that when we were little, and we’ve been doing it the same way for decades.

But acc podiatrist Tony Gavin, who is also the CEO of Osgo Healthcarealmost all of us have spent our entire lives tying our shoes all wrong – because there are different approaches for different feet.

said Tony Fabulous digital that although most of us tie our shoes the same way, that’s actually how it is six different methods for lacing your favorite sneakers depending on the shape of your foot.

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So if you’ve ever felt like your shoes are too tight, too loose, or don’t give you enough support, you might want to try a different style of tying.

wide feet

For those of us with wider feet than most, Tony says it’s important to use a lacing technique that loosens the shoe and gives the lining more room for a more comfortable fit.

The expert recommends lacing the shoe criss-cross through every other eyelet, as this creates more space through the unlaced eyelets.

Wide forefoot

If only the front feet are wide, your goal when lacing is to create more room in the toe box, but not toward the heel.

Tony says you should start by threading the lace through the sides only, but when you reach the midfoot, start with a criss-cross pattern to bring the shoe’s material closer together at the top.

flat feet

Anyone who has flat feet – feet with very low or no arches – wants to prevent symptoms such as arch pain.

To help with this, Tony recommends trying the crisscross lacing technique from the bottom eyelets.

Instead of lacing all the way up, you then only lace through every other eyelet until you reach the top of the shoe.

narrow feet

Tony says people with narrow feet need a much snugger fit than others, so he suggests lacing your shoes in two crisscross patterns, skipping just one eyelet in the middle.

He said: “Start by criss-crossing your shoes. Skip an eyelet and thread the laces criss-cross. Lace up in the usual criss-cross pattern and tie the shoe.”

toe pain

No matter what type of foot shape you have, you could be prone to toe pain if you don’t lace your shoes properly.

According to the expert, there is a special binding method that is designed to elevate the toe box to give your toes more space and in turn relieve pain from squeezing your toes.

Start by tying the shoelace from the big toe to the top eyelet on the opposite side. Then thread the other side of the lace diagonally at the bottom and parallel at the top of each hole.

Swollen feet

Tony’s final lacing tip is for those of us who suffer from swollen feet.

The pattern is designed to evenly distribute the stretch in the shoe for a more comfortable fit, which helps relieve any pressure the shoe could be causing – as this can contribute to swelling.

Tony said, “Lace the laces in parallel without the standard cross. Thread the laces under every other eyelet.”

Then, for each of Tony’s lace-up tips, all you have to do is tie your shoes in a bow as usual and you’re good to go!

Hopefully these hacks will get you strutting your stuff pain free. Let us know if they worked in the comments below.

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