The Foot Expert: The 6 Shoe Mistakes That Are Hurting Your Body

Courtney Conley, leading foot health specialist and author of Walk, joins The Tamsen Show to talk about the one part of your body that's been quietly running your life.

You've been strength training. You've been paying attention to your hormones, your sleep, your pelvic floor. But have you looked at your feet lately? One in three people over 45 have foot pain, and most of them don't connect it to their back pain, their balance issues, or their cognitive health. Scientists now call walking speed the sixth vital sign. How fast you move, and whether you can pick up your pace, can predict dementia up to seven years before diagnosis.

Courtney Conley has spent her career studying what happens from the ground up. She was a ballet dancer who developed bunions and stress fractures young, couldn't find answers, went to school, and built a practice around helping women get strong below the knee. In this episode, she explains what happens when we wear the wrong shoe and teaches you practical ways to start taking your foot health seriously so you can live a longer, healthier, and happier life.

In this conversation, you'll learn:

• Why one in three women over 45 have foot pain and what's actually causing it
• How years of wearing heels shortens your calf and locks your ankle and why that's behind more back pain than you'd think
• Why gait speed is the sixth vital sign
• What slow walking speed can predict
• How menopause and perimenopause change the structure of your foot and what to do about it
• The connection between your pelvic floor and your big toe
• Why the most cushioned shoe in your closet may be making your balance worse
• The washcloth drill you can do today to reduce your risk of falling
• What flip flops are actually doing to your toes while you walk
• How many steps a day you should be walking
• The research on walking speed and cancer risk
• Which shoe brands actually respect the anatomy of your foot

You’ll never walk the same after listening to this episode.