Women expect their bodies to change shape and grow when they are pregnant, but many expectant mothers are surprised to discover their feet change too. They are often more amazed to learn that such changes to their feet can be permanent.
Fluid retention during pregnancy often leads to swollen feet, however, this swelling disappears after birth. Experts say permanent changes to the size and shape of women’s feet comes from relaxin, a hormone produced during pregnancy.
Relaxin helps prepare a woman to deliver by causing the ligaments throughout her pelvis to loosen and stretch. But relaxin also stretches the ligaments in the feet which can cause the arch of the foot to fall and spread. The effect on the feet is very gradual, so women often don’t immediately notice the change.
And it’s not only pregnancy that can alter the shape of your foot. In fact, when was the last time you had your foot measured to check your shoe size? If the answer is more than a year ago, there is a good chance your shoes are causing you some kind of pain, from pinched toes to unsightly calluses. Foot shape and size can change in small but meaningful ways throughout adulthood, yet time-starved shoppers increasingly order shoes online and forgo proper sizing by a trained salesperson.
If your shoes don’t feel comfortable anymore, don’t continue to wear them or put them aside expecting to fit into them one day. Forcing your feet into shoes that are too narrow or too wide can cause corns, ingrown nails and bunions.
Make sure to have your feet professionally measured. You may discover you need to wear a completely different shoe size or style of shoe.
