When Do You Need To Replace Your Shoes?

Imagine This Scenario

You have just started to train for a marathon. Your first few months of training have been going quite well up until last night when you started to experience pain in your feet and knees. You have never experienced an injury before this first occurrence, which makes you wonder, why now?

You book an appointment to see your local podiatrist and after undertaking a full consult, your podiatrist notices that your shoes are very worn. This makes you question just how often you should be replacing your runners and what are the signs that your runners are too worn?

Runners and Replacement

The midsole of your runners provides your feet with cushioning to allow you to perform at your peak. The majority of runners are made from EVA known as Ethylene- Vinyl Acetate to provide cushioning. Typically, the midsole will only provide between 300-500 miles (700-800kms) of wear and tear, which means that you should be replacing your runners every 3-6 months.

A general rule to follow is that if you wear your runners for about 30 minutes a day or around 3- 4 hours a week you should replace your runners every 6 months. While wearing your runners for 60 minutes a day with an average of 7 hours a week would indicate that your runners need to be changed every 3 months.

It is important that while undertaking exercise, you listen to your body. This plays a important role as to when it’s time to change your runners.

•   If you begin to experience discomfort or pain in your feet, legs, knees, hips and back you will likely need new runners.
•   If you start to experience blisters or hot spots in unusual places, the shoe may be stretched allowing increased movement within the shoe.

Signs of Wear

Just by looking at your shoes you can figure out whether they need replacement:

•   Heel stretched out or broken at the interior
•   Soles worn out excessively
•   Shoe moulded to your feet
•   General wear and tear of the fabric
•   Significant wear pattern on the heels may indicate excessive pronation/ supination
•   If you can bend the toes in half towards the heel easily

Walkers often tend to wear out the heel more quickly compared to runners due to hitting the ground more frequently. In both runners and walkers, you may increase your risk of developing shin splints, plantar fasciitis, heels spur and stress fractures.

There are 3 simple ways that may help increase the life span of your runners including

•   Rotating 2 pairs of shoes
•   Removing shoes properly by untying laces and by not using the back of the heel to remove shoes
•   Only wearing your runners shoes for running

If you are experiencing any pain due to running or want to seek advice about your shoes, please book in now with one of our skilled podiatrists at Podiatry HQ