Young women who choose the wrong shoes suffer foot pain in later years. New research also shows that men do not experience the same foot pain as women, because of the type of shoes they wear. A new study in the October 2009 issue of Arthritis Care & Research uses US national data to show foot and toe symptoms are among the top 20 reasons patients aged 65-74 visit their doctor. Researchers from Boston University School of Public Health and the Institute for Aging Research at Hebrew SeniorLife enrolled 3372 participants in the Framingham Foot Study: 1472 men and 1900 women, studied from 2002 to 2008. They were asked about foot pain, aching or stiffness, and current and past shoewear over previous decades. Shoes were classed as good (low risk, eg, athletic, casual sneakers), average (mid risk, eg, hard- or rubber-soled shoes, special shoes, work boots), and poor shoes (high risk, lacking support and sound structure, eg, high-heels, sandals, slippers). In the study group, 25% reported generalised foot pain on most days (19% of men, 29% of women). “In women, we found an increased risk between hindfoot pain and shoewear,” said the authors. “While more research is needed, young women should make careful choices regarding their shoe type to avoid hindfoot pain later in life, or perform stretching exercises to alleviate the effect of high heels on foot pain,” recommended researchers.