Geriatric Shoe Shopping
It seems the older a person becomes the more difficult it can be to find appropriate products such as shoes. The feet of the elderly have walked countless miles and have carried unknown burdens throughout a lifetime. Feet of the aged are in need of some tender loving care.
Very few companies cater to the needs of the elderly foot. Those that do provide shoes appropriate for the aging foot do not offer much in terms of variety or classic styles. Just because an individual is getting older doesn’t meant that they do not have the desire to look good and feel good. While most shoes targeted at the aging community are designed for comfort, they are not designed to assist the elderly with the numerous foot issues they experience.
Feet have a tendency to widen over time and with age. Although many shoes do not allow for width differences between adult shoes and geriatric shoes. A shoe designed for the elderly needs to allow for the typical swelling that occurs in elderly feet without being so wide that they can walk right out of the shoe when their feet are not swollen.
The body of an aged individual is weaker than that of a younger adult, therefore proper support is required in order to protect aging feet from becoming over tired or stressed and complicating the walking process. Many older people already have certain mobility issues and they certainly don’t need any more created by the shoe they have on their feet.
While there are a few shoe companies that do offer a wider selection for geriatric shoes, few companies have truly targeted the science of developing a shoe that is appropriate for the older foot while still taking into consideration that there is a percentage of the elderly that still take style into consideration.
With the growing elderly needs rapidly on the rise with the baby boomer generation reaching retirement age and above, an enterprising individual could create quite the shoe dynasty if they marketed stylish shoes directly to fit the needs of the aging.
The elderly come with a host of foot related problems and they need shoes to properly support their body and pamper their feet. They need a shoe capable of assisting them with the variety of foot issues that can truly complicate their day to day lives and limit their mobility.