Sneakers. Ever find a pair of perfect sneakers, only to have them discontinued? I hate that. I live more than half my life in sneakers, and I am constantly in search of the perfect shoe. Over the years, I have developed an almost pathological obsession with the comfort of my feet – I don’t really have feet, I have paddles and I practically walk on my ankles, so I need orthotics and really good sneakers, or I am not happy. Actually, I’m miserable if my feet hurt. I used to buy only black sneakers – they make you look fast, you know. Recently, I started broadening my horizons a bit, much to the surprise of my co-workers (they loved the new opportunity to give me grief). 
Three pairs ago, I got a sweet pair of ASICS in blue and silver. After that, I had a very bad experience with a brand I shall not mention – they felt great at first, but after a week, I knew I had made a horrible mistake. The latest pair is black, but has a lot of silver trim – kind of flashy, but I still keep my speed, imagined though it may be. I am truly stepping out! Anyway, I usually get a new pair about every 2 months. That’s probably a bit more frequently than most of you do, but I tend to be very hard on sneakers and am not exactly the lightest guy in the show.
The thing with sneakers is they don’t last nearly as long as most people think. The lifespan of a sneaker is dependent upon your activity level, your weight, and how you use the sneaker. How old are your sneakers? Chances are you may need to buy new ones. Should you get running shoes, cross trainers or what? Should your new pair be a cushion, stability, or motion control shoe? I think a problem with sneakers is the huge variety out there. Remember when you only had 3 or 4 pairs to chose from? Those were the days – you had to make do with what you got. I still remember my father’s circa 1955 Chuck T’s… in the 1970’s They were in the garage, but they were still serviceable. That was a man with a reliable pair of sneakers.
So what kind of sneaker should you get? Running shoes are generally comfortable and lightweight, but wear out faster than some other kinds of sneakers. Cross trainers are generalized athletic shoes which provide more lateral support than running shoes, at the cost of greater weight. Walking shoes are met to provide comfort and stability for the recreational walker but are not necessarily good at absorbing the forces encountered when running. Once you figure out what kind of sneaker to buy, you should think about whether you need a motion control, stability, or cushion shoe. In general, people with high arches should wear a cushion shoe, those with flat feet should wear a motion control shoe, and people in between these extremes should wear a stability shoe. So there it is - more than a lot of you probably want to know about sneakers. I’m still confused – just make it mostly black and comfortable.
All this talk about shoes reminds me – we have a new doctor at SVMC! Dr. Deborah Henley has joined Taconic Orthopaedics. She is an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in feet. Wonder what she wears? Welcome, Dr. Henley, and I look forward to our discussion about the finer points of athletic shoes.