subject: How To Tie Your Shoes To Accommodate A High Arch [print this page] Having a high arch can make wearing conventional shoes difficult. The high arch means more pressure exerted on the arch of the foot as you walk, because there is often less direct contact between your foot and the sole of your shoe. It also means that it is more difficult to lace up you shoes as the shape of your instep does not conform to a conventional shoe. Someone with high arches should be wearing an insole that better forms to their high arch, which will alleviate the direct pressure of standing, but this does not alleviate the discomfort of having an instep that requires more room.
The American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society has a recommended technique for lacing up your shoes which can maximize the room in your shoe for your instep without leading to excessive heel slip or cause your shoes to be too loose in the toes.
First, lace each shoe lace size down through its respective bottom eyelet.
Next, thread the right lace up through the second to bottom-right eyelet and then across and down through the second bottom-left eyelet.
Thrid, thread the lace up through the fouth to bottom-right eyelet (skip one eyelet on the right side) and through the fourth from bottom-left eyelet. Repeat this step as necessary until you are at the second to top right eyelet.
Fourth, thread the lace up through the top-right eyelet.
Fifth, perform the same procedure for the left lace so that they form a mirror image.
Finally, tie your laces as normal.
By skipping every other eyelet as you tie your laces, you are effectively reducing amount of force that is applied to the middle of the instep, but maintaining the force in the toe area (bottom eyelets) and in the ankle area (top eyelet). This allows you to cinch your shoes tightly to your foot, but give more room in the instep for your higher arch.
Think of your laces as the web that holds your shoes to your foot. You get maximum comfort out of a shoe that conforms to your natural foot as much as possible. The fewer spaces between your foot and your shoe, the easier energy is transferred through your shoes to the ground. A person with a high than average arch is going to have a gap between the sole of their foot and the bottom of the shoe, and their instep is going to protrude further into the lace area. We account for the gap between foot sole and bottom of shoe with an insole, and we account for the protruding instep by changing the shape of the web. Instead of a perfectly straight web like you get with traditional lacing strategy, this strategy provides a contoured web that in terms of force exerted on the foot by the shoe when walking, better forms to the foot with a high arch.
Whether you are wearing a pair of walking shoes or running shoes, when you account for your high arch, you will be able to go farther and experience less pain in the process.
