There’s a ton of ways to tie your shoelaces. Whether you believe it or knot!
Shoelaces are more than just menial accessories on your shoes. They’re responsible for keeping your feet locked into your footwears nicely, however tight you want it. There are many reasons why people tie their shoelaces in various ways. Some do it just for style and some lace it up differently because of some deformities on their feet.
These deformities can range from wide feet, narrow feet, bunions, hammertoes, and other foot conditions. In order to feel maximum shoe comfort even especially if you have foot issues, you might want to skip your standard knots.
Here’s how you should lace up your shoes depending on what foot issue you have:
High Instep
People who have high instep are those who have relatively high arches. Generally, they find it hard to lace up their shoes because of the arch. They will need a pair of shoes that has more depth to it to accommodate their feet. The problem is that these kinds of shoes are not always available in the market.
Good thing you can alleviate the tightness of your shoes with just a few tweaks on your knots. Here’s how you do it:
1. Start with a normal crisscross through the first pair of eyelets.
2. Once you have your laces inserted on the second set of eyelets, do not crisscross it going through the third pair of eyelets. Instead, just thread it through the sides. This should leave the middle section with no lace pattern.
3. Go back to crisscross lacing as you work your way up to the remaining eyelets.
By using this method, comfort will be added to the section of your feet where you always feel the tightness caused by the arch.
Wide Forefoot
A wide forefoot is usually called bunions. It’s the region of your toes and the ball of your foot. People who have this condition have had enough blisters, corns, and calluses. That’s because normal shoes with tight shoe lacing cause the entire forefoot to be cramped up together.
You might think that loosening up the lacing a bit will solve your problems. But there’s actually a better way to do it.
1. Start by threading the lace only through the sides. That’s from the first set of eyelets up to the third pair.
2. Once you’ve reached the midfoot, you can start tying your shoes normally.
3. Wrap it up as usual.
This type of shoe lacing will leave more room to the front of your feet, so you can comfortably wear your shoes.
Narrow Heel
If you have a narrow heel, you’ve probably experienced slipping your shoes a dozen times. Good thing you can easily prevent that with this kind of knot:
1. Start with a normal crisscrossing from the first pair up to the third set of eyelets.
2. At the midfoot, skip the fourth pair of eyelets. Yes, jump right to the fifth ones.
3. From there, go back to normal knots.
This technique will tighten up sneakers better than the normal ones.
Flat Feet
Also known as pes planus foot type, flat feet is one of the common cases in podiatry clinics. Flat feet will need extra help from the middle part of the foot because the arch is closer to the ground than usual. Thank heavens there are better ways to tie your shoes for more comfortable support.
1. Begin with normal crisscrossing laces through the first four pairs of eyelets.
2. Coming into the fifth set of eyelets, thread it through the sides instead of crisscrossing it.
3. Lastly, grab one end of your lace and loop it through the lace between the fourth and 5th eyelets. Do the same on the other side then pull both ends before wrapping it up.
This kind of shoe lacing will provide great support to your feet especially if you have flat arches.
These are only some of the techniques in shoe lacing that you can use especially if you have unique dimensions in your feet. Aside from giving support and comfort to your feet, these knots will breathe a new life to the style of your shoes as you skip the standard and boring laces.