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Foot health > THE TEST
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 During the experiment, the conditions of use of a shoe worn on the foot, to evaluate the foot's comfort by measuring the temperature inside the shoe, were reproduced in the lab.
 Walking tests were set up lasting 4' on a treadmill at a sustained speed (7.5 km/h) and at constant room temperature (20°C): the subject being tested wore one shoe with a rubber sole and one with a leather sole.
 Using an infrared thermal test chamber (AVIO - Thermal Video System TVS 600 Series), we were able to detect the temperatures of the different zones of the foot and highlight the points in which overheating was greatest.
Results
 It is obvious that the foot overheats differently depending on the material used: the temperature reached by feet wearing shoes with leather soles is definitely lower (approx. - 4°C) than that recorded on feet wearing shoes with rubber soles.
The infrared thermal test chamber shows that, a minute after the end of the activity, the foot wearing the shoe with the leather sole during the test registers a temperature of 27.13 °C at point C and 26.33°C at point D. At the same time, the foot wearing the shoe with the rubber sole registers decidedly higher temperatures: point A reached a temperature of 31.98°C and point B 31.80 °C.
The lower heat registered on the foot wearing leather soles is determined by a series of intrinsic characteristics of the material, such as a high porosity coefficient, which guarantees correct transpiration, high thermostatic capacity, which gives well-being and thermal protection to the foot, and a good sweat absorption capacity: these elements together make it possible to maintain the equilibriums that keep the body functioning correctly.
Test carried out in collaboration with ICEC, Istituto per la Certificazione dell'Industria Conciaria (Tanning Industry Certification Institute)
Consequences for the body of excessive overheating of the foot
From a medical viewpoint, the consequences for the body are important: sole leather, with its natural flexibility, aids the squeezing of the "second heart" and prevents the foot from overheating, preventing the alterations of the microcirculatory system.
In practice, it allows excellent, perfectly physiological, spontaneous thermal regulation.
Walking with leather soles
prevents heat excesses
aids the return of venous blood to the heart
prevents the onset of varicose veins and edemas of the legs
prevents the onset of funguses and mycoses
prevents problems caused by sweating
tones up the muscles
prevents the problems that cause pallor of the foot
prevents dystrophy of the toenails
prevents the feeling of heaviness in the feet and ankles
The doctor's opinion
The results of the experiment were shown to Prof. Paolo Maraton Mossa, Professor at the University of Pisa and Director of the Centro Pilota di Chirurgia del Piede (Foot Surgery Pilot Center) in Milan, who was asked a few questions.
What pathologies might a person who does not wear shoes made out of natural materials, like leather, encounter?
"Numerous diseases of the foot develop directly or indirectly from the shoes we wear. The pathology appearance mechanism gets its start from the microclimate that is created around the foot when the local temperature rises because we wear shoes made out of synthetic materials, which do not let the foot breathe: the skin overheats, stimulating a compensatory increase of sweat which, because of the nature of the material, cannot be eliminated, causing the skin to become damp and soft, leading to maceration of the skin.
In this way, the rubbing that usually occurs between the foot and shoe no longer finds an integral barrier able to effectively resist it, causing blisters and painful cuts.
In addition, the resulting warm-damp environment breaks the equilibrium of the microbial flora and of the protective hydrolypidic film of the skin, thus facilitating the onset of mycoses".
How does excessive overheating of the feet affect the body?
There is a close relation between the increase in foot temperature and venous and arterial peripheral vascular diseases.
The factors on which the return of venous blood to the heart depends are intrathoracic depression (every time we create a vacuum in the chest while breathing), muscular contraction from below upwards and the squeezing of the venous plexuses located under the sole of the foot. It is in fact the latter factor, anatomically represented by important venous lacunae, that is called the "second heart". The foot's venous system, closely connected to the arterial system through the capillaries and the microcirculatory system, allows blood to return properly to the heart and prevents peripheral venous vascular diseases, as well as other probable central vascular symptoms.
The increase in temperature inside the shoe alters the equilibrium of the microcirculatory system, since it causes a vasodilatation of the arteries, without consequent constriction of the veins.
This mechanism, if not compensated for by adequate spontaneous thermal regulation of the foot, inevitably leads to venous stasis or to an arterial nourishment deficit.
This situation is further aggravated by heat during the summer and by cold during the winter, since both tend to interfere with spontaneous thermal regulation.
Sole leather, with its natural flexibility, aids the squeezing of the "second heart", on the one hand and, as per the experiments mentioned, prevents the overheating of the foot, on the other, preventing alterations of the microcirculatory system. In practice, it permits excellent, perfectly physiological, spontaneous, self thermal-regulation.
It is easy, therefore, to deduce that walking with a flexible sole, without heat excesses, serves to tone up the muscles and, above all, aid the return of venous blood to the heart, helping prevent the onset of varicose veins, edemas of the legs, and a feeling of heaviness in the feet and ankles. It is also useful for preventing alterations to the arterial zone, which cause pallor of the foot, sweating problems, and dystrophy of the toenails.
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