Most of us think about our feet when they hurt. According to Dr. Courtney Conley, that’s part of the problem.

After my first conversation with Dr. Courtney, I started paying attention to my feet in a completely different way. I started wearing toe spacers. I looked at the shape of my shoes. I thought about how I was walking. And I realized that while we talk endlessly about building muscle, protecting our bones and staying mobile as we age, very few of us are thinking about the two things supporting us through all of it.

So I asked Dr. Courtney Conley, a leading foot and gait specialist and founder of Gait Happens, to come back to The Tamsen Show.

This time, we went even deeper into what healthy feet should actually look like, whether toe spacers work, what causes bunions, how to strengthen your feet and why your feet can play such an important role in balance and mobility as you age.

And yes, we also have a little announcement.

What Should Healthy Feet Actually Look Like?

Here’s one of the simplest things Dr. Courtney taught me: look down at your feet.

The widest part of a healthy foot should be your toes. Your big toe should sit relatively straight, and there should be space between your toes.

But that isn’t what she sees in many of her patients.

“Most of the patients that I see, when I take their shoes off, their feet look like shoes,” Dr. Courtney told me.

Think about the shape of many of the shoes we wear. They taper toward the toes, pushing them together. Over years, Dr. Courtney says that type of footwear can change the structure of the foot and contribute to weakness.

And simply buying a shoe labeled “wide” may not solve the problem. The shoe can be wider around the ball of the foot while still tapering at the toes.

Her advice is to look for footwear that respects the natural anatomy of the foot, particularly a wide toe box that gives your toes room to spread.

And no, she did not convince me to throw away my heels.

Do Toe Spacers Actually Work?

This was one of the biggest questions I wanted Dr. Courtney to answer because I became a toe spacer convert after our first episode.

During a rapid-fire round, I asked her to rate different popular foot-health products from 1 to 10.

Custom orthotics? 3.

Max-cushion sneakers? 0.

Massage balls? 8.

Slant boards? 10.

Toe spacers?

12.

Dr. Courtney told me she has worn toe spacers every day for six years and uses them regularly with her patients.

The idea behind them is relatively simple: toe spacers help create space between toes that have been pushed together and help position the big toe in a straighter alignment.

That big toe matters. When we walk, we need to be able to roll through it. Dr. Courtney explained that this movement affects what is happening farther up the body at the ankle, knee and hip.

Toe spacers are a tool, however, not a magic fix. Dr. Courtney combines them with foot strengthening, appropriate footwear and movement.

Can Toe Spacers Help With Bunions?

If you have a bunion, you may have been told that surgery is eventually inevitable.

Dr. Courtney says the conversation is more nuanced.

A severe, rigid bunion where the big toe has crossed underneath the second toe can be very different from a mild or moderate bunion where the toe is still flexible.

For those earlier cases, Dr. Courtney focuses on conservative strategies including strengthening the foot, choosing footwear with enough room for the toes and using toe spacers.

Her point isn’t that bunion surgery is never necessary. There is a time and place for it. Her question is whether we can intervene earlier and give the foot a better environment before reaching that point.

That was especially interesting to me because I have bunions myself and spent years thinking the bump on the side of my foot was simply a particularly large bone.

It isn’t an extra bone. As Dr. Courtney explained, a bunion involves a change in the position of the first metatarsal and big toe.

How Long Should You Wear Toe Spacers?

More is not necessarily better when you’re starting.

If your toes have spent years compressed inside shoes, suddenly forcing them apart for hours can be uncomfortable.

Dr. Courtney recommends starting slowly. For some people, that may mean wearing toe spacers for only about 10 minutes at first. If they become uncomfortable, take them off. Then gradually increase the amount of time as your feet adapt.

That was Dr. Courtney’s own experience. When she first began wearing toe spacers, one foot tolerated them easily while the foot with her larger bunion became uncomfortable after about 10 minutes.

Over time, that changed.

Now I wear mine around the house, while I’m working and, perhaps most importantly for me, after I take off my heels.

Are Supportive and Cushioned Shoes Always Better?

This part surprised me.

We’re constantly sold the idea that more cushioning and more support must be better for our feet.

Dr. Courtney argues that isn’t necessarily true.

The foot contains muscles that are meant to work. If we constantly put the foot in an environment where the shoe is doing the work for it, she says the foot can become deconditioned.

She prefers what she calls minimal footwear: shoes with a wide toe box, a heel and toe that sit on the same plane and a sole flexible enough to allow the foot to move.

But this comes with an important warning.

Do not hear this and immediately throw away every supportive shoe you own.

If your feet have adapted to heavily cushioned shoes or orthotics, Dr. Courtney recommends transitioning gradually. She compares it to strength training: you wouldn’t squat 100 pounds one week and jump straight to 200 the next.

Start with small doses and give your feet and ankles time to get stronger.

Why Foot Strength Matters More as We Age

This conversation became much bigger than shoes or toe spacers for me.

Our feet are part of how we balance, react, walk and propel ourselves forward. Dr. Courtney explained that we lose power faster than strength as we age, which makes maintaining strength through the foot and ankle especially important.

She also talked about gait speed, or how quickly we walk, and why clinicians and researchers increasingly pay attention to it as an indicator of health and function.

Then there is balance.

As we age, Dr. Courtney says we lose both toe strength and sensation in our feet. Bunions and hammer toes can also compromise balance.

Her message was simple: if we want to stay upright, strong and walking as we get older, we shouldn’t wait until our feet hurt to start paying attention to them.

How Can You Strengthen Your Feet?

You don’t need an elaborate foot workout.

Dr. Courtney shared several ways to begin strengthening the feet and ankles:

• Calf raises: Seated, standing, single-leg or double-leg variations can all engage the foot and strengthen the calf.
• Toe exercises: Practice lifting your big toe independently, lifting the other four toes and spreading your toes apart.
• Walking barefoot: Even five minutes around the house can give your feet sensory feedback and help you notice areas of weakness or discomfort.
• Farmer’s carries: Carrying weights while walking requires the feet to manage additional load.
• Gradual jumping or bouncing: Appropriate progressions can help train the feet, ankles and tendons.
• Toe spacers during exercise: Dr. Courtney sometimes has patients wear them during calf raises to help maintain toe alignment while strengthening.

The key word throughout our conversation was gradual.

Your feet can get stronger just like the rest of your body, but they need time to adapt.

Introducing the Tamsen x Gait Happens Pink Toe Spacers

And this is the part I’ve been waiting to share.

After our first episode, I started wearing Dr. Courtney’s toe spacers and became completely obsessed with them. They became part of my routine, and I found myself telling everyone around me to try them.

So Dr. Courtney and I decided to make our own.

The Tamsen x Gait Happens pink toe spacers are officially here.

I love that this collaboration came directly out of a conversation on the show and turned into something I genuinely use in my own life.

And yes, obviously we made them pink.

The Bigger Lesson From Dr. Courtney Conley

We have long lists of things we’re supposed to do to take care of ourselves as we age. Strength train. Eat enough protein. Protect our bones. Get enough sleep. Walk.

Dr. Courtney convinced me that our feet deserve a place on that list.

You don’t need to overhaul your entire life tomorrow. Take your shoes off. Look at your feet. Give your toes room to move. Start strengthening them. Pay attention to how you walk.

Because the goal isn’t simply to have healthier feet.

It’s to keep those feet strong enough to carry you everywhere you still want to go.

Watch the full conversation with Dr. Courtney Conley on The Tamsen Show to learn more about toe spacers, bunions, footwear, gait, balance and how to build stronger feet at any age.

WATCH THE EPISODE

SHOP THE TAMSEN X GAIT HAPPENS PINK TOE SPACERS