I am so smart”, says a shoe on television, “that I make other shoes look like dumbasses.” Another ad has a sweaty, not-a-little-dumbass-looking singer, 50 Cent, skipping at superhuman speed while two kids watch, awed. All the while, another shoe company believes in just promoting its brand name, not its shoes, smart or not.

Shoe companies, in a bid to boost sales, sometimes have to resort to over-the-top advertising, but the bottomline still remains one word: comfort.

More and more people have to deal with heel aches and joint pains today, so scientific shoes are the order of the day. A shoe-store manager in Calcutta says that 50 per cent of his customers ask for shoes which are comfortable rather than shoes which are fashionable. He laments that these people are mostly middle-aged, especially women, who only realise the importance of comfortable shoes after experiencing foot problems. “Truth is, you have to start taking care of your feet even as a child,” says Debabrata Das, whose shop sells shoes bearing trusted brand names.

Look down

Feet remain one of the most neglected areas of our body, and that doesn’t help those who have to be on them for the better part of their working lives. Take a child’s feet, for example. Shoemakers say the ideal should be closed shoes, as open shoes usually spoil the shape of the feet and sometimes even make one foot larger than the other. However, the toebox of the shoe shouldn’t be too narrow, as a child’s skin is soft, and constant friction between the toes and leather could lead to boils, and over a period, corns.

As an adult, however, just wearing closed shoes is not enough, and shoe companies have increasingly begun to realise that. Harsh Lakra, area manager, eastern region, Nike, says that his company has a feedback register in franchisee shops, and the comments sometimes help them decide what to come up with next. For example, their latest range of shoes, Impax, is based on the same shock-absorber technology as a Formula One racing car. The Impax shoe is fitted with shock absorbers at the soles, which minimise the impact of the heel when it hits the ground. Yet another type of shoe is filled with air capsules, which take in the shock, and help you walk faster and without much effort. “These shoes sell more than our regular shoes despite their high price (the cheapest Impax sells for Rs 5,400),” says Lakra.

Comfort zone

Adidas has gone a step further by computerising its shoes to provide what it calls total comfort for the feet. Their latest is a shoe that has an adipin (a zero-elasticity shock absorber heel), an adiplus (a piece of rubber which pushes the front foot back to be in sync with the back foot) and a torsion bar.

The other wonder is the acu-pressure shoe or slipper which has tiny protrusions on the insole, designed to improve blood circulation.

All this, for a spring in your step.

PERFECTION, TIP TO TOE

Learn the tricks

The best thing for your feet at the end of the day is to bathe them alternately in hot and cold water. “This is called a contrast bath and takes away all the tiredness,” says Dr Sanjay Chatterjee, head of physical medicine and rehabilitation, Apollo Gleneagles clinic.

Some shoe stores and most beauty salons offer foot treatments. Those include a pedicure where nails are cut, dead skin is removed and the feet are massaged. They also offer specialised treatment such as treating ingrown toenails and cutting corns. “Ideally, even if you have generally healthy feet, you should undergo this once a month,” says Debabrata Das, whose store offers such foot-care treatment, charging Rs 200 per sitting.

If you are putting more than the required pressure on your feet while walking, medicos prescribe a silicone insert, available cheaply and manufactured by the shoe company Dr Scholl’s.

If you have to wear heels, says Dr Chatterjee, try to wear platform ones instead of pencil heels.

Get to the bottom of things

Take a whiff: The problem of smelly feet usually requires more than correct shoes to be set right. A healthy diet could be a start. Nylon socks are another cause, especially in humid conditions. People with such a condition should also be very careful of the lining of the insole — they should avoid synthetic ones. The good brands usually have cotton linings. Some shoes also have pores for air circulation.

Ouch, it hurts: Most often, aching feet are caused by high-heeled shoes. If you have to wear them, wear acu-pressure shoes or slippers after you take them off. This helps reduce some of the damage caused by those fashion statements. Alternatively, soft-soled shoes are the best for such feet. These days, most shoes have light polyurethene soles.

Bend it like Beckham: Knee ache is usually caused by osteoporosis, a common ailment among middle-aged Indians, caused by abnormal extension force on the knees. For this, there are shoes which minimise the impact of the heels on the ground. These shoes don’t come cheap, however. Prices range between Rs 3,000-7,000.

Walk the talk: Running or walking shoes should ideally balance the front and back of your feet.