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Flip-flops are not good for your feet. Most podiatrists and other healthcare professionals would agree with this statement, but the evidence is purely anecdotal. More injuries are seen in young adults (ages 18-25) that wear flip-flops, yet there is very limited published evidence for the causal relationship.
A recent study published in the Journal of the American Podiatric Medical Association evaluates the differences noted in the gait patterns of people wearing flip-flops to people wearing athletic shoes. The study, written by Shroyer and Weimar, compares the gait patterns of college-aged adults when they are wearing flip-flops and when they are wearing athletic shoes.
Gait analysis in the study involved visual gait analysis, as well as measurement of the stride length and a number of angles, including the angles of the knee and ankle through the gait cycle.
The study found significant differences in the measured parameters when the subjects were wearing flip-flops versus athletic shoes. Interestingly, the differences varied greatly between the men and women in the study. For example, the women in the study had a tendency to decrease the force placed on their feet when wearing flip-flops, whereas the men in the study had a tendency to increase this force while wearing flip-flops. For most of the measurements taken in the study, the differences were much more pronounced and exaggerated in the women than in the men.
This study shows hard evidence that may account for some of the injuries that podiatrists see in people that wear flip-flops as everyday shoes. It has long been accepted that thong-style sandals offer minimal support for the foot, and may lead to significant overuse injuries. Previous publications had analyzed the increase in plantar pressures associated with wearing flip-flop sandals, meaning that more pressure is placed on the bottoms of the feet during their use.
Some of the overuse injuries that flip-flops have been blamed for include tendinitis and plantar fasciitis. It could be that these problems of the foot and ankle are due to the lack of support inherent to thin sandals; the Shroyer and Weimar study may prove to open the door into the investigation of this theory.
In addition to the biomechanically based problems that may be caused by flip-flops, the sandals do not offer the protection of the foot that an athletic shoe does. For this reason, when going on a long walk outside, particularly when the terrain is variable, a closed-toe shoe is preferable for safety and comfort.
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