It's easy to look to the body as an example of perfect symmetry. Everything comes in twos: two eyes, two ears, two arms, two hands, two legs, two feet. And we expect these ?partners in crime? to work together in a way that makes life easier. If your left eye doesn't see 20:20, perfect vision in your right eye can make the overall picture clearer. Different sized feet, however, are rarely able to compensate for each other without throwing your entire body's alignment out of whack. Feet, after all, are the foundations of the body. T

he angle at which the foot strikes the ground is designed to support the body's weight and to protect the joints, bones and muscles of the legs and back. Foot injury, foot deformity or minor differences between the feet can cause the misalignment of your foot and ankle, which will adversely affect the entire alignment of your body. Foot pain, sore ankles and walking with a limp are all conditions that can be easily attributed to something ?wrong? with the feet. But so are lower and upper back pain, sore knees, pain in the hip joints and numerous other physical complaints that can have negative long term consequences.

When it comes to mismatched feet, it is important to care for each foot in turn. One foot should not have to suffer in order to make the other one comfortable. And forcing a foot into a shoe that is too tight or too large, or one that does not provide the proper orthopedic support, will only lead to additional foot maladies (corns, calluses and hammertoe, to name a few). Unfortunately, shoes come in perfectly matched pairs (unlike our imperfectly matched feet). Purchasing two pairs of shoes in order to acquire one pair of shoes that meets the needs of your feet is a frustrating and expensive experience. And it is one familiar to all too many people. Sixty percent of the American population, for example, has feet that technically are two different sizes.

Conditions that may cause mismatched feet or require a person to purchase only one shoe include: clubfoot, foot problems related to diabetes, lymphedema, hammertoe, bunions or bunionettes, corns, calluses, amputation, different sized feet, foot problems related to polio, foot injury, foot deformity, different sized limbs (i.e., legs), plantar fasciitis (heel spur), neuropathic ulceration (foot ulcers), morton neuroma, hallux rigidis (stiff big toe), flatfoot, and cavus foot (rigid high arch).