Best Walking Shoes for Women with Hip Pain – Do you Have a Foot Imbalance?

Editor’s Note: This post has been completely revamped and updated for accuracy on May 2022 and reflects an up-to-date selection of the best walking shoes for women with hip pain.

Women can experience hip pain for many reasons and there’s no easy answer for how to make it go away. However, one of the most overlook and common reasons why women experience hip pain is their feet —the foundation for our entire body.

Some women tend to make the common mistake of overlooking their feet as a reason for their hip pain simply because they are not experiencing pain on their feet. Pain and discomfort in your hips can occur from poor alignment of your feet.

For example, I have seen several women with hip pain that were also flat-footed or had rolled ankles. On the other hand, I have also seen women with high arches deal with hip pain. If you have a foot condition or a foot imbalance it’s highly likely that you will deal with biomechanics problems at some point in your life. It might not be on your feet, but all of the structures and joints above your feet are dependent on your feet!

Having a foot condition or a foot imbalance just doesn’t affect the feet, it can affect the knee, the hip, the back, etc.

Did you know that your feet, knees, and hips support all your weight when you walk or run? If your experience pain in your hips, there may just as well be a connection between that and your feet.

There might be many reasons why you are experiencing hip pain, but if you have tried several different medications and exercises and nothing seems to relieve the pain, the type of shoes that you wear can make a tremendous difference.

My Experience Helping Women with Hip Pain

I believe that hip pain may be connected to the way your feet move when you walk or run, and I have seen several cases of women in whose shoes were the direct cause of their hip pain, and they were also the solution.

There has been not a lot of research or studies looking at the relationships between foot mechanics and hip pain. There are a couple of studies that show that overpronation might be related to hip pain.

I want to clarify that I am not a doctor, and you should consult your medical professional to confirm that your hip is actually the problem.

Do You Know Your Exact Foot Shape?

One of the first things I ask women to do when they come to the shoe store I work for is to remove their shoes and socks. I like to take a closer look at their feet to check for any foot conditions such as flat feet, high arches, or rolled ankles.

Flat feet, high arches, or rolled ankles might cause biomechanical orthopedic problems at some point in your life.

I created a resource that helps women determine their exact foot shape (narrow, medium, wide, extra wide, high instep), as well as whether they have flat feet or high arches. I strongly suggest that you take advantage of this free service as figuring out your exact foot shape is the best way to determine what shoe brands/shoe styles you can wear:

How to Measure Your Foot Shoe Size – The Most Simple and Effective Way!

What Makes the Shoes I Recommend Effective for Hip Pain?

The shoes I recommend are available in different widths such as narrow (N), medium (M), wide (“W”, “EE”), and extra wide (“XW”, “EEEE”), meaning that they will accommodate your foot shape no matter how narrow or wide your feet are.

☑️ Substantial Outsoles: The running shoes I recommend provide substantial outsoles that offer superior rear foot motion control that supports and cushions the feet. This feature will help minimize the impact that your feet take when they come in contact with the ground:

☑️ Targeted Heel Support: The running shoes I recommend provide a heel technology cushioning system that helps attenuate shock during impact and toe-off phases. The shoes provide targeted support right below your heels, which is great for shock absorption. Take a look at the image below to visualize what I mean:

These are the two most important features that your shoes must provide. Sounds simple, right? Well, you need to make sure that you wear the shoes in the correct size, otherwise, you won’t get any of the benefits that the shoes have to offer.

Best Walking Shoes for Women with Hip Pain

Remember that you need to choose your shoes in the correct width. Simply look below each shoe image to check what type of foot shape that specific shoe style is capable of fitting. Disclosure: Keep in mind that we may receive commissions when you click our links and make purchases.

What Shoe Size Should You Order?

Take a look at the description below the shoes that I recommended to find out what shoe size you should order.

These are the shoes that have proven to be the most effective ones in helping treat women with foot, knee, and hip pain. How effective these shoes will be in significantly reducing or fully eliminating your hip pain directly depends on your individual foot anatomy.

Do not hesitate to contact me if you are looking for a different pair of shoes to help treat and prevent your hip pain. Sneakers are always more effective than seasonal or dress shoes when it comes to treating hip pain. However, I will be happy to recommend a different pair of shoes for your feet:

comfortablewomenshoes@gmail.com 

Several women were able to eliminate their hip pain by simply wearing supportive shoes in the correct size, while some others had to try an orthotic inside their shoes for extra support.

The type of footwear that you wear plays a key role in the cause and further aggravation of hip pain. Something so simple such as wearing proper supportive and comfortable shoes in the correct size can make a world of difference!

In many cases, the correct pair of shoes can help alleviate your hip pain. With that said, there are a lot of causes of hip pain and not everyone’s hip pain is caused by their foot function.