Wearing flip flops and having healthy feet do not mix well

The young lady placed her purchases on the check-out counter. The sales associate asked, “You want all five pairs?” The customer said yes, smiling down at the multi-colored array below her.

A few moments later, the girl’s new accessories were in the shopping bag, ready to be selected for that perfect outfit. Scratch that, I mean any outfit.

Hot or cold, sunny or cloudy, summer or dead of winter, this young lady will be able to choose from any of her new Skittle-colored collection of trendy footwear. My guess is she already has seven pairs at home.

Flip flops: The footwear choice that used to be relegated to sandy beaches, pool visits, and communal showers is now just the shoe of choice.

Confession: I personally do not consider a piece of rubber with a strip of plastic for my toes an actual shoe. But what do I know?

I know that guys and girls wear them year round. If you are a pre-teen girl through the age of 30ish, you are more often than not going to choose a pair of flip flops over another type of shoe. And more and more guys are wearing them, especially in the same age bracket, from middle school age through young, urban professionals.

I tried to look up some sales figures for flip flops, but I mostly found information about flip flop sales, like the one Old Navy had recently. The casual retail store recently had a sale on flip flops where they went for $1. Some stores were cleaned out of them in a day.

Why am I going on about flip flops? First of all, they’ve taken over the world. (Next time you are out in public — store, church, theme park, work, funeral home, school — just look around.) Some of you can remember when flip flops just were not worn in work places or to church.

Secondly, flip flops are quite frankly hazardous to your health. I say this not as a fuddy- duddy who is just too yesterday to accept that fashions change and I just need to accept it.

They really can be the cause of foot, leg and back problems, according to medical research. Last June, researchers from Auburn University announced that flip flops change the walk of people who wear them. In the study presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine, biomechanists Justin Shroyer and Dr. Wendy Weimar found that the change in the gait for those wearing flip flops can lead to persistent foot and ankle pain.

The study showed that flip flop wearers take shorter steps, resulting in more stress on the body and a higher risk for muscle and joint pain. Keeping the toes scrunched up to hold the thong piece on the foot can cause throbbing in the toes. But because the toes are over-worked, the rest of the foot cannot operate as smoothly. When the toes cannot lift, and the foot doesn’t rise as high, the flip flopped foot kind of shuffles along.

Another foot expert, podiatrist Dr. John E. Mancuso, of Manhattan Podiatry Associates, pointed out the dangers of pronation. “Flip flops have a spongy sole, so when the foot hits the ground, it roles inward and the sponge allows it to roll even more than usual,” Mancuso told Forbes.com. “This is called pronation, and it causes many problems in the foot.” During pronation, the arch is released, offering less support for the feet. This can lead to pain in the heel, toes, arch and forefoot. Tendinitis can also be a result.

Summer is upon us, which is the more traditional time for flip flops. The problem is that for many of you, your feet have already taken a beating since last summer because you never stopped wearing them.

So, enjoy the summer and the freedom of foot you hold so dear. Just realize there is a price to pay for freedom, even for your feet.

Walker’s column appears each Wednesday on the editorial page.