“I salute you,” said Barb, squeezing my elbow and pointing to my ruby-red stilettos.  “I love those shoes.”
“Oh, I do love these shoes,” I replied.  “But my feet have changed. I’m all flop-footed.  This might be the last time I wear them.”
I love my Sassy Shoes also know as Come-Get-Me Shoes (CMG Shoes.)  I have several pair:  black, red, velvet brown, and a glittery golden faux snake-skin.  When I wear my CGM Shoes, I feel sexy and fashionable.  Until recently.  My heels slip, and the shoes clomp to the floor in a most uncharming way.  Last winter, to my embarrassment, a Good Samaritan grabbed me by the elbow and said, “Here, let me help you.”
“I know, I have the same problem,” said Barb.  She demonstrated her own flop-footedness in comfy looking Mary Janes.    “Given the demographics, someone oughta do something,” Barb said.
Many of my friends suffer from foot ailments: Morton’s neuroma, planter fasciitus, fallen arches.  Is flop-foot just a painless part of getting older.  Am I doomed to a life of gym-shoes?
I love being in my sixties almost as much as I loved my thirties.  Ahh.. the freedom, the power, the new beginnings. I’m comfortable with my new face; I even have a favorite wrinkle.  I’ve come to terms with a thicker torso and opt for swimming, bicycling, and yoga over high impact sports like running or aerobic dancing.  Still, I’m not ready to put my sassiness on the shelf, and I’m not ready to give up my CGM Shoes.  So it’s time to do a little research and self-help.
Morton’s neuroma is thickening in the ball of the foot often between the third and fourth toes.   It can be quite painful.  No one is really sure what causes Morton’s neuroma:  possibly high heel shoes, high impact sports, or you guessed it, age.  The target demographic is women between 40 and 50 years old.  I had a little trouble with Morton’s neuroma a few years back.  The ball of my left foot, between my little toe and the fourth toe had a painful, tingly feeling, almost like it was asleep.  I consulted a podiatrist.
“Hmm.. that sounds like Morton’s neuroma,”  he said, confirming what I already knew.  “Do you heels ever hurt?”
“Sometimes when I get up in the morning.  But as soon as I move around a little, they don’t hurt anymore.”
“Is it a stabbing pain.”
“Yes, it’s a sharp pain.”
“You have plantar fasciitis.”  He prescribed a lift and told me to wear shoes all the time.  My heels began to hurt almost all the time, and the Morton’s neuroma got worse.
Flat, thin-soled shoes, long distance running, and aging can bring on plantar fasciitis.  Once again, the target demographic is women over forty.  Sometimes the condition is so severe, treatment is surgery.
Most of us know that getting older means bigger feet.  But the reason the foot gets wider is the source of my flop-foot.  The fat pads on the foot bottoms start to wear down and the tendons and ligaments get looser.  The arches collapse.  Getting a larger pair of shoes solves part of the problem, but it seems that the distance between the floor and the top of the foot slims, so wider shoes allow for a whole lot of slopping around from top to sole; thus, the flop-footed CGM Shoes.
I admit I sometimes have more faith in home remedies and natural healing than I do in prescriptions and orthopedics.  I got myself a pair of YogaToes, and use them religiously.  The Morton’s neuroma went away completely.  I started going barefoot more and more, and the plantar fasciitis disappeared too.
It turns out going barefoot is good for a lot of reasons.  The unrestrained foot helps pump blood back to the heart, and thus helps prevent varicose veins, another bane for the aging.  Barefoot walking builds denser muscle on the bottoms of the feet, strengthens ligament and tendons, and keeps the hips and gluteus muscles flexible. Walking barefoot is even purported to increase Chi, life-force energy.
Most of us know that getting older means bigger feet.  Just like wrinkles and sags, feet will get wider.  It’s inevitable.  It turns out, the reason the foot gets wider is the source of my flop-foot.  The fat pads on the foot bottoms start to wear down and the tendons and ligaments get looser.  The arches collapse.  Getting a larger pair of shoes solves part of the problem, but it seems that the distance between the floor and the top of the foot slims.  Wider shoes take care of the added width, but still allow for a whole lot of slopping around from top to sole; thus, the flop-footed CGM Shoes.
Come-Get-Me Shoes, you have met your mistress, and she is me.  I purchased a variety of Foot-Petals:  Heelz and Tiptoes and Strappy Strips, to take up the slack and keep my foot in place.  Voila, no more flop-foot.
When I’m not feeling sassy in my CGM Shoes, you will find me barefooted.  I’m working on building my foot muscles, strengthening my ligaments and absorbing Chi from the grass under my feet.  I may even get some of those barefoot shoes.  The most un-Sassy Shoes of all, but these feet must serve me for at least a couple more decades.