by Dr. David Watts, DermalMedix

I recently came across some research that might shock you.

It suggests there's a harmful thing you might be doing to your feet every day... even if you think you aren't.

And not only does this habit cause chronic foot pain… it also leads to more serious problems:

Wearing The Wrong Size Shoe.

Mounting evidence indicates most people - especially people over 50 - are wearing the wrong size shoes.

Now, a slightly off shoe size might not sound like a big deal. However…

• It leads to corns, calluses, ulcers, and other types of foot pain.1
• It increases your risk of falling - which is the biggest cause of injuries in people over 50.

This shoe size problem first came to my attention when reading a foot study done on veterans:

Researchers at the VA Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona, were investigating the connection between shoes and foot pain - especially foot ulcers.

So, they examined the feet and shoes of hundreds of patients they were treating.

And they were shocked to find that only 25.5% of the patients were wearing the right size shoes!2

Even more surprising, patients with foot ulcers were five times more likely to be wearing the wrong size shoes.3

Well, I have to admit... I did NOT expect so many people to be wearing improperly fitted shoes.

So, I decided to look further, and another study popped up. This one was on shoes and back pain.

The researchers in this study found an astounding 48% of the women and 69% of the men were wearing shoes that were too big!4

And the ones wearing the wrong size shoes were the ones with the back pain.

The more studies like this I found, the more two things became clear:

1. Wearing the wrong shoe size is incredibly common.
2. It causes foot problems, back problems, balance problems, and more.

And that's why, right now, I want to make sure you're wearing the RIGHT size shoes.

Now, a while back, I sent out a tip on selecting the best-fitting shoes:

1) Your feet tend to expand as the day goes on. So, wait until the evening to shop for shoes.

Well today, I've got a second shoe-sizing tip for you:

2) Get both of your feet measured for length and width by a professional at least once year.

There are three major reasons you should do this...

• First, your shoe size changes as you age. Your feet naturally become longer, wider, and flatter.5
• Second, population studies have found that 60% of people have one foot that's larger than the other.6
• And third, research shows up to 90% of people don't know their shoe width.7

So, make sure you know the exact measurements of both of your feet. It'll save you a lot of trouble... and discomfort.

Now, even after you've got your measurements, there's one more thing you'll want to keep in mind:

Different manufacturers size shoes slightly differently.

Good rule of thumb: BOTH of your shoes should feel comfortable immediately when you try them on.

And by the way, when you're trying the shoes on…

Make sure you're wearing the type of socks you normally wear with those shoes. And be sure to walk around in them.

Do this, and you'll virtually guarantee yourself a proper fit... and healthy feet! :)

To healthy and comfortable days ahead,

Dr. David Watts
Dermal Medix

P.S. When was the last time you had your feet properly measured? If you haven't had it done in a while, do you now plan on doing it soon? Reply to this email and let me know.

Sources

1 Burns SL, Leese GP, McMurdo ME. Older people and ill fitting shoes. Postgrad Med J. 2002 Jun; 78 (920) : 344-6.

2 Nixon B, Armstrong D, Wendell C et al. Do US Veterans Wear Appropriately Sized Shoes?. Journal of the American Podiatric Medical Association. 2006;96(4):290-292. doi:10.7547/0960290.

3 Id.

4 De Castro A, Rebelatto J, Aurichio T. The Relationship between Wearing Incorrectly Sized Shoes and Foot Dimensions, Foot Pain, and Diabetes. Journal of Sport Rehabilitation. 2010;19(2):214-225. doi:10.1123/jsr.19.2.214.

5 Shoes Getting Tight? Why Your Feet Change Size Over Time. Health Essentials from Cleveland Clinic. 2017. Available at: https://health.clevelandclinic.org/2016/04/shoes-getting-tight-feet-change-size-time/. Accessed September 26, 2017.

6 Schwarzkopf R, Perretta D, Russell T, Sheskier S. Foot and Shoe Size Mismatch in Three Different New York City Populations. The Journal of Foot and Ankle Surgery. 2011;50(4):391-394. doi:10.1053/j.jfas.2011.04.030.

Editor's Note:

The 10-Day Communication Challenge is a series of short devotionals to help husbands and wives become more effective in how they communicate with each other. It is a 10 part series.

Day 1, featured in MWJ Issue 437, covered 'Differing Assumptions'.
Day 2, featured in MWJ Issue 438, covered 'The Line of Respect'.
In this issue, we will cover Day 3 of the series. There is also a bonus article related to the topic. Day 4 topic will be covered in the next issue.

Day 3: After the Fight

Sometimes it's not the fight itself that's damaging, but what happens when the battle is over. Think for a moment about your own verbal spats with your mate. Do they usually result in a time of healing, or are issues left hanging for a "rematch" later on? Do you and your spouse agree to leave an argument behind after you've talked it out, or is there a prolonged period of distance and silence?

In unstable marriages, conflict is never entirely resolved. Resentment and hurt feelings accumulate over time and eventually turn to bile in the soul, which then erodes the relationship from within. But in healthy relationships, confrontation allows ventilation that ends in forgiveness, a drawing together, and a better understanding of each other.

After an argument with your spouse, ask yourself these four important questions:

1. Are there things I've said or done that have grieved my partner?
2. Do I need to ask forgiveness for attacking the self-worth of my spouse?
3. Have I refused to let go of an issue even though I said it was settled?
4. Are there substantive matters that haven't been resolved?

Then move to put an end to the conflict-before the sun goes down.

Just between us...

• In our last fight, did we resolve the issue in question?
• Do our conflicts usually end positively, or with hurt feelings and unanswered questions?
• What changes would help us resolve conflicts "before the sun goes down"?
• BONUS: You Always Bite the One You Love

Pray these words together:

Lord, give us the maturity and strength to settle our disagreements quickly and without damaging the personhood of each other. We know that this is Your will for us, but we need Your guidance to live by it. Amen.

By Dr. James Dobson

Isn't it curious how in the midst of a nasty family argument we can shake out of the bad mood the instant the telephone rings or a neighbor knocks on the door?

Sometimes those we love are treated the worst, and kids are quick to notice this hypocrisy. Have you ever been brought up short by a small voice questioning this sudden turn to peaches and cream after twenty minutes of fire and brimstone?

The late Mark Hatfield, a longtime senator from Oregon and the father of four kids, said his wife stung him once by saying, "I just wish you were as patient with your children as you are with your constituents."

He isn't alone. We're all guilty at times of what I call "split vision," treating certain people with forbearance while heaping contempt on others under our own roof. We assume the worst; we pounce on every shortcoming. We never miss an opportunity to deliver a corrective harangue. And in the process, we wound the people we care about the most.

Isn't it time to cut one another a little slack at home? If, in fact, we love our spouses and our children and our parents as much as we say we do, one way to show it is to give them the kind words we bestow on our casual acquaintances.

From Dr. Dobson's Handbook of Family Advice.

About The Author:

Dr. James Dobson is the Founder and President of Family Talk. He is the author of more than 30 books dedicated to the preservation of the family, including The New Dare to Discipline; Love for a Lifetime; Life on the Edge; Love Must Be Tough; The New Strong-Willed Child; When God Doesn't Make Sense; Bringing Up Boys; Marriage Under Fire; Bringing Up Girls; and, most recently, Head Over Heels.

Dr. Dobson served as an associate clinical professor of pediatrics at the University of Southern California School of Medicine for 14 years and on the attending staff of Children's Hospital of Los Angeles for 17 years. Dr. Dobson recently received the "Great American Award" from The Awakening.

by Msgr. Charles Pope

It is common to link the good, the true, and the beautiful; this is proper because truth is beautiful and a very high good. But as with most insights, some distinctions are necessary, because while truth is always beautiful, not everyone or everything that appears to be beautiful is thereby true.

St. Augustine comments on this, saying,

Beauty is indeed a good gift of God; but that the good may not think it a great good, God dispenses beauty even to the wicked.
(The City of God, XV, 22)

Essentially, St. Augustine is distinguishing physical beauty from spiritual beauty, teaching us that we can become too focused on lesser beauty and thereby neglect higher beauty and goods.

Physical beauty, though defined somewhat differently by different people, does exist and is a gift of God to behold. It is possible, however, to esteem it too much, failing to realize that spiritual beauty - truth, goodness, holiness, and God Himself - is a far greater gift. God signals the limits of physical beauty by sometimes bestowing it on those who seem undeserving, in order to teach us that it is a limited and often transitory good.

Scripture cautions, Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is praised (Proverbs 31:30). Both men and women are cautioned that charm and physical beauty, while pleasant, can easily deceive us into concluding too much. In our highly visual and noisy culture we are too easily influenced by the views of movie stars, singers, sports figures, and others among the cultural elite. Swayed by the fact that they are attractive, or sing beautifully, or act well, we too easily ascribe intellectual and moral authority to them which they have not merited.

St. Augustine continues,

And thus beauty, which is indeed God's handiwork, but only a temporal, carnal, and lower kind of good, is not fitly loved in preference to God, the eternal, spiritual, and unchangeable good.

The problem is not with beauty but with us.

So, Augustine adds,

When the miser prefers gold to justice, it is through no fault of the gold, but of the man; and so with every created thing.

Enjoy the good things of God, but never in preference to the very God who made them. In our fallen condition, we are easily deceived by beauty. As St. Augustine notes, the problem is not in the beauty; the problem is in us. Stay sober, my friends!

Video: https://youtu.be/6ZYV1t8zyws

by Sarah Phillips

I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Romans 12: 1-2

Have you ever met someone you thought was beyond God's reach? Someone whose life has sunk to such depths all seems hopeless? Most of us can think of people we've encountered like that. It may even be someone we love.

When we start to lose hope for another's soul, it's good to remind ourselves that some of the greatest Christian Saints were some of the most broken people. This week, in my search for Christian heroes, I encountered the story of one such person that did not resemble the perfect stained-glass images I grew up with. His name was Matthew Talbot, and here's a glimpse into his life.

The second of 13 children, Matthew was born in Dublin, Ireland on May 2, 1856. His family was poor and heavy drinking was the norm among his father and brothers. So from the start, Matthew was predisposed to alcoholism -- and sure enough, his drinking began at age 12.

As Matthew entered his teen years, odd jobs led way to a career working with bricklayers. While the local community considered him excellent at his trade, his drinking became central to his life. By the time his twenties arrived, it was common for Matthew to spend all his earned wages obtaining alcohol. When that wasn't enough, he began selling his possessions and eventually resorted to credit. Finally, after racking up too much debt, he sunk to an all-time low: stealing.

Not only was Matthew a heavy drinker-turned-thief, but he had a terrible temper and a vulgar tongue. Gripped by his disease and his poor choices, Matthew's life was going nowhere. His mother, Elizabeth, pleaded with him to change his ways. Finally, Matthew's life sunk so low he had no earthly place to turn.

So, in 1884, Matthew's mother received an answer to her prayers. The 28-year-old went to the only place left to go: Church. There, he confessed his sins and took a pledge to avoid drinking for 3 months. He seemed an unlikely candidate to keep the pledge. Yet Matthew had experienced an interior conversion in that church.

Three months passed, and he was still sober. Inspired by his progress, he pledged to avoid drinking for life and also gave up tobacco.

While Matthew's first several years of sobriety consisted of intense, interior battles, he lived the rest of his life with unwavering devotion to God. The once angry, vulgar Irishman became kind to those he encountered, and he paid back all his debts. He lived simply, prayed daily, and served those in need, eventually taking monastic vows.

Mathew Talbot died at age 69 while walking to church. He had been sober for 41 years.

Matthew's story is a testament to God's transforming power as well as our participation in that transformation. A tearful mother pleaded, a broken young man made a decision to change, and God poured out His graces. It's also worth noting that Matthew, with the help of his pastor, employed many of the same steps later incorporated into the Alcoholic's Anonymous 12-Step program. While he wasn't healed overnight, Matthew Talbot eventually experienced new life, giving hope to those battling addictions and the people who love them.

Intersecting Faith & Life:

Devote your quiet time this week to praying for the "impossible cases," especially those in the throws of addiction.

Further Reading:

Matthew 14:34-36
Myths and Facts about Alcohol Consumption
(Details of Matthew Talbot's life obtained from "The Venerable Matthew Talbot" http://www.savior.org/saints/talbot.htm and the Venerable Matt Talbot Resource Center: http://venerablematttalbotresourcecenter.blogspot.com/)