Flip-Flops: Hazardous to your Health?

[The Grim Squeaker]

This is why I wear Tevas or Chacos. They're sandals that actually attach to the foot, so they don't go flip flopping about. Takes an extra second to get them on (Tevas need the front ankle strap to be velcroed down, the Chacos have a different fastening system). You still end up walking normally.

Unlike flip-flops Tevas (and their equivalents) also have decent soles which support the foot and provide decent grip.

Have you ever tried Crocs? No time to put on, holds and protects the foot, and shares the benefit of not needing to strap anything on. (Or needing socks in the case of most Moccasins).

[Stark]

Also, added bonus of making you look like a complete bogan!

[Broomstick]

I just did a quick inventory of the shoes I took to school with me for my month-long summer class.

2 pairs of "thong" style wedge/heel flip flops.
6 pairs of "thong" style flat flip-flops.
1 pair of the flat kind of flip flops that wrap around the top of your foot with velcro.
1 pair of the wedge/heel wraparound flip flops.
2 pairs of high heels for work.

So my feet are fucked?

Um... possibly. Not one of those is a good, supportive shoe.

I'm flabberghasted - 12 pairs of shoes? I have never owned 12 pairs of shoes altogether in all my life, and that would include things like work boots and winter boots.

I like to walk around barefoot, and if you don't have a foot problem and you have a safe place to do it barefooting is healthy - BUT I really hate prying splinters and broken glass and shit like that out of the bottom of my feet, so outside I wear shoes to protect my feet. Sure, billions of people in history and the present day live barefoot 24/7, and a lot of them have injured feet and without access to antibiotics or tetanus shots a lot of them have died of those injuries.

[Edi]

Doctors define high heels as those with a heel higher than 2 inches, which is pretty steep. I'd venture to say that heels higher than 2 inches are a downright rare shoe type compared to flip flops and sandals, which would easily explain the disparity in reported injuries.

Depends on where you are, I'd imagine. I've seen more far more high heels in most of the places I've lived than I have flip flops.

With regards to high heels versus flip-flops, I was trying to dig up any info regarding injury rates between the two and I found this page. What caught my attention is they claim that it's natural for people to walk heel first down stairs. Is that right? I walk toe first down, even in bare feet. I tried walking up and down heel first some stairs and it felt downright ungainly. Maybe it's just a side effect of all the years of ballet training I've had.

I'm about as acrobatic as a brick and I find the idea of walking up or down stairs heel first completely ludicrous. Heel first down steps is downright hazardous, because if you slip, all of your weight goes right out from under you and on stairs, that more often than not means a serious fall.

[Shroom Man 777]

What's the difference between the average slipper and a flip-flop?

[Broomstick]

Slippers are less likely to fall off your feet, near as I can see. Also, flip-flops leave more of your foot exposed.

[Shroom Man 777]

The term "slipper" is sometimes used interchangeably with the terms flip-flop and sandal. This is especially true where footwear is not customarily worn indoors; in the Philippines, India and Hawaii the word "slipper" generally refers to the sandal or flip-flop. This term can be used for sandals or flip-flops even though it is not truly "correct" per se.

Oh. Crap. So the slippers I've been wearing all my life are these hazardous flip-flops? Damn!

[Broomstick]

I believe this is the offending shoe-style referred to:

[Fingolfin_Noldor]

I believe this is the offending shoe-style referred to:

<snip>

Well, this shoe style happens to be darn popular in Asia. I used them, and just about anyone I know uses them.

I don't use these outdoor though. They come off way too easily for my liking. I use Teva's sandals.

[Broomstick]

There are times and places flip-flops are appropriate - to and from a dorm shower, for example, or at the beach or poolside.

I find it astonishing, though, that people wear these, say, on the Chicago subway. Ew.