Quite often our feet get quite ignored until they start to give us a bit of pain or discomfort, but a lot of foot problems could be well avoided with the correct walking shoes. In fact it doesn't matter whether you're standing, walking or running, as 'all' of your body weight falls directly onto the bottom of your feet. Therefore, support is vital, especially if you are someone who's always on the go.

Despite all the research and analysis done on foot care over the years, many of us still place style and design over quality, fitting, and comfort and this is especially the case amongst woman. When you think about it, it's quite often the women folk who come how after a long day and drop their knackered feet into a bowl of warm water for a good relaxing soak. But if they thought a little more carefully about the type of shoes they walked in before purchase, they wouldn't have such aches and pains in the first place.

Footwear has indeed come a long way in recent years which means it's possible to not only have shoes that are practical to walk in, but fashionable too. Having said this, many of us only have one pair of 'best' shoes and we often buy all the others as kind of disposable items so as to keep up with the ever changing trends. In fact, my wife probably gets through a new pair of cheap shoes every couple of months or so, as she simply gets bored with the style and either hoards them in case of a fashion revival, or slings them out for good.

It's not always possible to get through to the ladies on the importance of good walking shoes, and that doesn't mean trekking boots, or fancy netted athletic shoes either, but simply shoes that are both practical and comfortable to walk around in. The heels of my wife's feet seem to have a permanent plaster stuck to them and her feet are probably her biggest complaint. She, of course, is in denial and simply thinks it's normal for anyone who spends a lot of time on their feet to suffer with such problems.

When buying any shoes, but particularly women's walking shoes, it's important to keep a few things in mind, and in order to get quality, comfort, and longevity. It didn't surprise me to read that somewhere between 50-70% of all adults do not know their own shoe size and many folks have a assortment of sizes in their shoe collections. Some are too big, some too small, and others just right, and 2 out of 3 are just no good whatsoever.

Unless you are extremely lucky, you WILL suffer from foot complications at some point in your life but this can be easily avoided with the proper foot care, and this all begins with the shoes. If you are young and think your feet are indestructible just take a look as some very common complaints that folks get with their feet every single day:

Achilles Tendonitis; Ankle Pain - Strains and sprains; Arch Pain or Strain; Arthritis; Athletes Foot; Chilblains and Cold Feet; Foot Blisters; Burning Feet; Corns & Calluses; Foot Ulcers; Gout; Hallux Abducto Valgus (Bunions); Heel Pain; Ingrown Toenails; Overlapping Toes; Pes Planus - Excessive Pronation (Flat Feet); Stress Fractures; Sweaty Feet; Warts; Xeorosis - Dry Cracked Heels - Heel Fissures ad infinitum.

The above is just a short list as there are other complaints too, but it's just to emphasize some of the potential problems folks can face with poor foot care and badly fitted shoes. The ultimate goal is to find the best walking shoes to suite your every day needs, and only get out the fancy footwear for those fancy functions.