Hi Matt, Thanks so much for your input. You make some really interesting points. I personally see the value of toe spacers, but not during walking. I think they should be used restoratively and allow the body to move how it needs to in gait.

Above, Gary Ward claims motions in the foot that are often paired MUST ALWAYS BE PAIRED. He’s saying that toe splay (widening) and pronation go together ALWAYS. Toe narrowing and supination go together ALWAYS. I’m not sure how he arrived at this belief, but it is not how the foot or any segments of your body work.

Look at your hand and fingers. It’s like saying when you pronate or supinate your wrist, your fingers have a strict orientation they must adopt. That is: if you pronate your hand you MUST splay your fingers at the same time. AND if you splay your fingers, you physically CAN’T supinate. That is not an accurate reflection of anatomical reality.

When I sprint, I have to bend my knee and extend my hip at certain times relative to one another. That doesn’t mean I have to ALWAYS sync those joint motions with that specific timing. When I do a pull-up, my scapula, spine, and shoulder joint move in a certain pattern. They do not ALWAYS have to move in that pattern and SHOULDN’T always move in that same pattern and DEFINITELY shouldn’t be forced to always maintain that relationship in daily life. Breaking patterns and being able to differentiate different motions is crucial to maintaining a mobile, healthy body.

He also claims: “For the majority of people who need to use a toe spacer, it’s because they have flatter arches or less than optimal foot function, all of which can contribute to the change in angle at the toe joints and altered pressure along the toe knuckles. To correct a flat foot we need to ultimately increase its arch height, but the toe spacer limits any opportunity to do that.”

It’s crucial to note that women often have HIGH arches and toes that are SMASHED narrowly together. Their toe boxes (especially on high heels) squeeze their toes in. Working on arch height will do NOTHING to fix the narrowly smashed toes.

Think of it this way: If you taped my fingers up into a tight narrow column for three decades, my fingers would have trouble
separating from one another even with the tape off (no finger splay!). If I wanted to fix that problem and restore finger splay, how would I do it?

Strengthening the flexor muscles/tendons in my palm would be an exercise in futility. Ultimately, I would have to focus on creating finger splay by directly targeting my finger positioning. I’d need to learn how to achieve differentiated control of my fingers (differentiated from one another and from the motions of my hand and wrist). Finger spacers would certainly be helpful in that situation (though I wouldn’t want to use them once I developed competence and the need no longer existed).

In my opinion, toe spacers can certainly be helpful in the right circumstances. And if you have toes that are jammed and squished together all the time, they’re definitely worth considering.

Please comment on the giveaway post thanks!

Feeling your feet is so wonderful Sharon !