When you're going through your first pregnancy, your body goes through a lot of changes. I don't need to tell you that. But there are many people who realize that their shoe size changes. Well, does your foot actually grow when you're pregnant? I'm Houston Podiatrist, Dr. Andrew Schneider, and I see a lot of patients who are in the middle of their first pregnancy, and it's a common question they ask. They say, "You know what? My shoes are getting tighter. My shoes aren't fitting well." And I look down, and they're wearing these floppy sandals or flip-flops, and they're not getting the support that they need.
Now, when you're carrying a child, that child sits down and low in front of you, and that's going to shift your center of gravity forward. And your feet are your base of support, so they're going to have to accommodate for any changes in your body. So what ends up happening is your feet end up gripping the ground more and end up spreading out. So no, your feet don't grow during pregnancy, but they can certainly get larger. And you certainly may need a larger shoe size. And that's because the ligaments relax, and the feet spread out.
Well, how can you stop this from happening? The answer is pretty straightforward and pretty simple. Number one is wear a supportive shoe. I know it's easy just to slip on flip-flops, especially when you're in your third trimester, and gets tough to tie your laces. But wearing a stable shoe is going to pay dividends in not having your foot change as much.
The other thing you can do is wear an insole. That will help to add additional support to a shoe that may otherwise not be supportive. Be good to yourself. Take care of yourself. Because what I see so often is that while you're expecting, you're able to write off the foot pain, that once the baby's born, the foot pain will go away. I'm here to tell you that's not always the case. So let's prevent foot pain. Wear supportive shoes, wear an insole when it's appropriate, and of course, if you can't get ahead of the pain, come in, and I'm happy to help you with it. We use diagnostic ultrasound, so we don't even need to take an X-ray in most cases.
Just visit us on our website or give us a call for an immediate appointment. I look forward to seeing you in the office...And congratulations on the baby. Thanks so much for watching and have a great day.
