Have you have worn a certain shoe size all your life only to find that you’re starting to need extra wide fitting shoes?
According to the Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists our feet get larger as we get older. In fact, it’s not uncommon for someone to experience an increase in shoe size by a half-size or more as they age.
So if our feet are getting bigger, does that mean they are still growing? Apparently not. One of the reasons that our feet change size is because our body's ligaments and tendons alter as we age. They gradually lose strength and their ability to "spring back" which causes arch height to decrease and foot length to increase.
Another explanation is that as we age, we gradually lose the fatty pad that cushions the heel so feet tend to spread, becoming wider and longer. Weight gain also adds pressure to our feet - the more pressure they have to put up with, the more they will stretch or spread out. Women often complain about having wider feet during pregnancy. That’s because the body releases hormones which relax the soft tissue structures in the ligaments. This hormonal change along with the natural weight gain during pregnancy is known to increase a woman's shoe size.