Image source: The Foot Collective: Wild Toes
The fitness industry is well known for its crazy fads and trends, and it seems that the latest craze taking over the world of fitness is to have well-spaced toes. Nowadays, most people know that having your feet stuffed into shoes day after day can lead to a number of issues, such as foot pain, bad posture, and alignment problems, to name just a few.
The simple solution; toe spacers? It might sound too easy, but toe spacers – or toe separators as they are also known – have now been proven to improve overall foot health, as well as stability, flexibility, and balance.
These nifty little gizmos – that used to only really be associated with pedicures – are now becoming all the rage in both athlete and celebrity circles. Model Ashley Graham’s toe-spreading sock photo went viral after last year’s Oscars and athletes across multiple sports, such as tennis star Novak Djokovic, NFL player George Kittle, and pro surfer Skylar Lickle have all come out publicly endorsing toe spacers as a legitimate performance aid.
Athletes such as these and many more have confessed to using toe separators regularly, alongside implementing toe exercises into their fitness routines. And now the general public is starting to catch on to this crafty little fitness hack too. Not to mention that they are incredibly affordable, and in most cases cost less than $10.
To explain a bit about the science behind it; in essence, the feet act as a platform to provide support to the rest of your body as well as propulsion for locomotion (movement). The toes act to evenly distribute weight in the front of your foot while the rest is carried by your heel.
When the toes are squished together under the strain of tight shoes, they become cramped and narrow, which can lead to disrupted balance, bunions, plantar fasciitis, and a plethora of other deformities. Or, at the less extreme level, can leave people with ugly or abnormal-looking feet.
Toe spacers help prevent these issues by acting in a similar way to braces and providing correction and support to the toe’s structural alignment, thus resulting in a better and more natural toe spread and improved balance over time.
With that, many people are now seeing toe separators as a potentially revolutionary item for the health and longevity of people who like to lead an active lifestyle such as running, jogging, hiking, or those who regularly participate in sport.
Not just this though. Using the spacers a few times a week could also potentially help anyone – active or otherwise – as studies from medical journals have now discovered toe weakness and toe deformity to be one of the main causes of falling over, especially in older people.
This increased focus on foot health has now started to significantly boost sales of toe spacers and wide-toe shoes. For example, Naboso, a footcare company based out of Phoenix, Arizona reported an increase of over 40% in toe spacer sales between 2022 and 2023.
The Foot Collective, another company specializing in foot care based out of Brisbane, Australia also enjoyed a 175% rise in its toe separator sales between December 2021 and December 2023.
The items themselves are crafted mostly from either foam, felt or a silicone gel. Basic versions can be found in most drugstores (pharmacies), although with their massive increase in popularity, they might be a little harder to get a hold of now.
Specialized versions are pricier and can retail for as much as $65. Using toe spacers won’t completely undo long-term toe and foot damage, but they can significantly improve toe alignment and decrease pain over time if used regularly.
Contrasted with expensive physical therapy sessions or surgery, toe spacers are an affordable and simple solution to toe-related problems, and could be seen as an essential item for anyone looking for better foot health.
Implementing a daily routine of using toe separators is a great place to start. However, this alone won’t undo the years of damage caused by tight shoes, long work hours, or lack of movement and general exercise.
In addition to using toe spacers, doing some foot and toe exercises for as little as ten minutes can go a long way to also improving the overall health of your feet and your body. Pair this with some more ‘toe-friendly’ footwear and you will be sure to see improvement in your foot health in no time.
Image source: The Foot Collective: Wild Toes
The fitness industry is well known for its crazy fads and trends, and it seems that the latest craze taking over the world of fitness is to have well-spaced toes. Nowadays, most people know that having your feet stuffed into shoes day after day can lead to a number of issues, such as foot pain, bad posture, and alignment problems, to name just a few.
The simple solution; toe spacers? It might sound too easy, but toe spacers – or toe separators as they are also known – have now been proven to improve overall foot health, as well as stability, flexibility, and balance.
These nifty little gizmos – that used to only really be associated with pedicures – are now becoming all the rage in both athlete and celebrity circles. Model Ashley Graham’s toe-spreading sock photo went viral after last year’s Oscars and athletes across multiple sports, such as tennis star Novak Djokovic, NFL player George Kittle, and pro surfer Skylar Lickle have all come out publicly endorsing toe spacers as a legitimate performance aid.
Athletes such as these and many more have confessed to using toe separators regularly, alongside implementing toe exercises into their fitness routines. And now the general public is starting to catch on to this crafty little fitness hack too. Not to mention that they are incredibly affordable, and in most cases cost less than $10.
To explain a bit about the science behind it; in essence, the feet act as a platform to provide support to the rest of your body as well as propulsion for locomotion (movement). The toes act to evenly distribute weight in the front of your foot while the rest is carried by your heel.
When the toes are squished together under the strain of tight shoes, they become cramped and narrow, which can lead to disrupted balance, bunions, plantar fasciitis, and a plethora of other deformities. Or, at the less extreme level, can leave people with ugly or abnormal-looking feet.
Toe spacers help prevent these issues by acting in a similar way to braces and providing correction and support to the toe’s structural alignment, thus resulting in a better and more natural toe spread and improved balance over time.
With that, many people are now seeing toe separators as a potentially revolutionary item for the health and longevity of people who like to lead an active lifestyle such as running, jogging, hiking, or those who regularly participate in sport.
Not just this though. Using the spacers a few times a week could also potentially help anyone – active or otherwise – as studies from medical journals have now discovered toe weakness and toe deformity to be one of the main causes of falling over, especially in older people.
This increased focus on foot health has now started to significantly boost sales of toe spacers and wide-toe shoes. For example, Naboso, a footcare company based out of Phoenix, Arizona reported an increase of over 40% in toe spacer sales between 2022 and 2023.
The Foot Collective, another company specializing in foot care based out of Brisbane, Australia also enjoyed a 175% rise in its toe separator sales between December 2021 and December 2023.
The items themselves are crafted mostly from either foam, felt or a silicone gel. Basic versions can be found in most drugstores (pharmacies), although with their massive increase in popularity, they might be a little harder to get a hold of now.
Specialized versions are pricier and can retail for as much as $65. Using toe spacers won’t completely undo long-term toe and foot damage, but they can significantly improve toe alignment and decrease pain over time if used regularly.
Contrasted with expensive physical therapy sessions or surgery, toe spacers are an affordable and simple solution to toe-related problems, and could be seen as an essential item for anyone looking for better foot health.
Implementing a daily routine of using toe separators is a great place to start. However, this alone won’t undo the years of damage caused by tight shoes, long work hours, or lack of movement and general exercise.
In addition to using toe spacers, doing some foot and toe exercises for as little as ten minutes can go a long way to also improving the overall health of your feet and your body. Pair this with some more ‘toe-friendly’ footwear and you will be sure to see improvement in your foot health in no time.
