The temperature may or may not be warming up in your neck of the woods, but you’ve probably thought about — maybe even dreamed about — what shoes you’re going to wear this summer. (One of my favorite things about summer is that I don’t have to wear socks.) But before you start wearing flip-flops every day, know this: You need to ease your feet into whatever shoes you want to wear. Your feet get used to wearing heels, or boots, or whatever your footwear of choice happens to be, so they need a little time to adjust to something new. And, even if you have a favorite pair of shoes, try to alternate what you wear, and don’t forget to stretch your calves after wearing a pair of flat shoes for a while, as they can “strain the achilles tendon that runs from the back of the heel, and also the calf muscles in the back of the leg,” said Mike O’Neill, a spokesperson for the Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists in the U.K. Or just go barefoot. [The Guardian, U.K. and New York Magazine]
