Multiple sclerosis (an autoimmune disease that damages the insulation of your nerves, causing degeneration in function all over your body) affects many different parts of you, from your brain to your hands to even your feet. Because treating your feet right is crucial in both staving off pain and keeping you mobile for as long as possible, getting the correct footwear for your disease is something you should do sooner rather than later. But how do you know what footwear is best? If you're looking for a few hints towards the footwear that will make living with your MS much easier, then here's what you need to know.

Tread Heavily

One of the key factors involved in impairing your mobility with MS is balance; your brain no longer helps you to keep your balance (especially on slippery tile floors) and so you can fall and injure yourself regularly if you're living life in smooth-bottomed shoes. To help yourself out in the balance area, look for shoes with thick rubber treads; this precaution doesn't actually improve your balance – you should be doing light PT for that – but it can help you find purchase on even the slipperiest floors and prevent you from injuring yourself badly by falling.

Go Functional

While flip-flops, high (above 2") heels, and backless sandals might be good looking or totally in this season, but you really should avoid these fashion-over-function shoe types with MS. That's not saying that your shoes can't be fashionable, but rather that you should avoid shoe styles that could fly off with the wrong step or make you crack an ankle if you happen to slip and fall. Keep your heels down to kitten heel height and ensure you've got a back and fasteners to your shoes, and you'll be able to walk with much less hassle.

Buy Big

While you definitely shouldn't be walking around in shoes four sizes too big for you (that will only trip you up when you're walking, which is the opposite of what you want to happen), you should definitely purchase your shoes with just a big of extra room, especially around the back of your foot, so you can put a foot brace in there along with your foot.

Food drop (where the top of your foot doesn't respond to your brain's command to lift itself) is common among people with MS, and can greatly reduce your mobility (and cause potential injury) if you don't treat it with a foot brace designed to move your whole foot at once. To avoid having to forgo the brace to dress up (or dress down), bring your brace along when trying on any shoes and make sure the apparatus fits. For more information about MS and how feet affect it, contact a clinic such as Gotham City Orthopedics.

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