How bad is it really to walk around the house barefoot?

Additionally, people with any type of neuropathy (nerve damage) or circulation problems in their feet should always wear shoes, even indoors, says Dr. Canzanese. These problems are common in diabetics, but there are other causes too. For example, autoimmune diseases and infections like Lyme disease can cause neuropathy, while high blood pressure or clogged arteries can affect blood flow.

If you have nerve damage in your feet, you may not feel it when you step on something or cut yourself, she says. And if your circulation is poor, any injury will be slow to heal and susceptible to infection.

But for other people there are definitely advantages to going barefoot at least some of the time.

If you don’t fall into this category, there are good reasons to spend at least some of your hours at home without shoes. Most shoes squeeze your toes together so they don’t spread naturally when you walk. This compression can contribute to or worsen conditions like bunions (bony bumps at the base of your big toe) and hammertoes (tight tendons that force your toes into a curled position), says Dr. Stewart.

In addition, constantly wearing shoes affects all of the small foot muscles between and around the toes, says Dr. Canzanese. When strong and healthy, these muscles control the height of your arch, stabilize your toes, and improve your balance and proprioception, the sense of where your body is in space. But shoes, especially many of today’s highly cushioned running or sports shoes, do some of this work for you and weaken your foot muscles over time.

Not only can this cause foot problems when walking barefoot, but it can also interfere with running and sports or other activities associated with it. On the other hand, some studies suggest that strengthening your feet can reduce your risk of injury and even improve your running performance. And while you can do specific strengthening exercises like toe yoga—for example, lifting your big toe separately from your other toes or holding the ground with your feet—spending some time simply walking around barefoot is also enough, says Dr. Canzanese.

To get the most benefit from your feet, allow yourself time without shoes and find the right balance.

You wouldn’t want to go from never lifting weights to picking up the heaviest dumbbell you can find in the gym – and you wouldn’t want to go from never going barefoot to instead spending your entire WFH day on your feet spend, says Dr. Canzanese. In fact, it is this major change that has led to the many foot injuries during the pandemic that she and Dr. Daughtry saw both.