I don’t mean that your calves are literally huge. Well, they might be, and that’s cool because calves are awesome! What I mean is that the role your calves play in your overall health is huge. For the most part, I think we tend to simply forget about our calves when it comes to our health, however, ignore your calves at your own peril!

It all starts when the calf muscle begins to shorten. You might be thinking that your calves are not short. You don’t have pain in your calves, so they must be doing great, right? Actually, it often isn’t your calf that feels pain when it gets shortened. It shows up in other areas, and this is why it can be tricky to spot issues caused (or amplified) by shortened calf muscles. While working at Unshoes, we have sometimes gone out to different events to market our sandals. One of the most frequent comments I get are, “I would love to wear those but I have to have arch support”. Or, “Those look awesome, but I have plantar fasciitis”. I’m no podiatrist, or biomechanist so I’m not going to claim that plantar fasciitis is caused by tight calves, but I feel comfortable telling you that tight calves can affect it. Really, it’s just basic logic if you think about it. Plantar fasciitis is a pain that shows up in the bottom fascia (flesh) of the foot, often near the heel. It feels like the tendons are being pulled and tightened like a guitar string. According to webMD, (which is always right because it’s on the internet!) plantar fasciitis is caused by “strain” on the ligament that stretches between the heel and the toes. Guess what part of the body your calf muscle is connected to through another ligament? Yeah, the heel. If your calf muscle (which is pretty powerful by the way) is pulling on your heel then chances are it can affect other ligaments that connect to the same bone. It’s basic mechanics. Of course there are other factors involved as well but the two parts of the body are connected. Literally.Continue reading→