You’d be surprised how many of our patients are tying the knot this season. Its amazing! Would you believe it if we said that over 90% of our patients are tying the knot this summer? Its amazing but absolutely true.
At Dr. Santopietro’s office, we have that effect on people. We inspire them to do things they never thought they would do. We inspire them to think about things anew, and to sometimes let go of the past and move on to better things, and an improved state of well-being. We make life a little better and inspire people by paying attention to the little details that sometimes make a big difference. What is going on over here in Brookline and how do we get people to make that leap of faith you may ask?
Shoe laces people. Yes, that knot. And it matters.
Most of us can barely remember learning how to tie our shoelaces, its just something we have magically been doing all our lives. But for the majority of us, we learned wrongly.
Most people tie their laces, nice and firmly at the start of the day with what is often referred to as the “granny knot” and the resulting bow is angled somewhat along the axis of the foot. But within the first few steps, the laces begin to droop down the tongue of the shoe and that is a telltale that that particular knot is not well balanced and has a tendency to become loose. The granny knot has one flaw, that is that the final wrap is reversed from what it should be.
When a shoelace becomes loose it can set off domino course of events; it may cause the heel to begin to slip out of the back of the shoe ever so slightly, which in turn can cause the toes to grip down to keep the shoe in place, and that may cause stress on the soft tissues of the foot, which in turn can cause stress on the bony tissues, which can land you to a doctors office with mystery foot pain. Much of this can happen without you even noticing until you have a problem.
The goal of tying shoes is to keep the foot in the correct position on the shoe without your foot having to do any additional work. A well fitting shoe helps to relax the foot and reduce unnecessary strain. Even some of the oldest shoes ever discovered have a lace.
Tying the Knot
Keep your shoes tied snugly when wearing them. The well tied knot should have a bow that goes across the axis of the foot, horizontally.
- Begin lacing up from the base of the vamp (the tongue area).
- Keep tension on the lace when working your way up.
- For the knot start: Left end over Right end & through –>Finish: Right loop, Left end around Back… To visualize this take a look at Ian’s knots page.
The “fastest knot” is also good. Take a look at how to make it .
Keep those shoes snug! (But not too tight..) and let every day be that special day 🙂
Here is a video from a recent TED talk simply titled “How to tie your shoes.”
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