Shoe shopping online feels easy. You know your size — or you think you do — you pick something you like the look of, and two days later it arrives at your door. Simple.
Except that for most people, it's not working. A study published in the Journal of Foot and Ankle Research (2020) found that in-person gait analysis and professional shoe fitting led to a 40% reduction in foot pain among participants. You don't get that from a size chart.
Here's what actually happens when a trained shoe fitter works with you — and why the difference is more than just finding the right size.
Step 1: Measurement (Not What You Think)
When you walk into Abraxas, we measure your feet. Both of them. Every time.
Why both? Because most people have feet of slightly different sizes, and the difference can be significant enough to affect shoe choice. Why every time? Because feet change. Pregnancy, weight fluctuation, aging, and injury all affect foot dimensions.
We use a Brannock device to measure:
- Length: From heel to longest toe (which is not always the big toe — in 20% of people, the second toe is longer)
- Width: At the widest point of the foot
- Arch length: From heel to the ball of the foot — this is the most commonly ignored measurement, and it's critical for fit
That last one matters enormously. A shoe's widest point should align with the widest point of your foot. If your arch is shorter than average, you may need to size down even if your toe length suggests otherwise.
Step 2: Gait Assessment
Walk for us. That's it. We watch how you move.
We're looking for:
Overpronation: When the foot rolls inward after heel strike. This is extremely common (estimates suggest 50–60% of the population overpronates to some degree) and is associated with plantar fasciitis, knee pain, shin splints, and IT band syndrome. Stability shoes with medial post support can correct this.
Supination (underpronation): The foot rolls outward. Less common than overpronation but associated with iliotibial band syndrome and stress fractures. Requires highly cushioned, flexible shoes.
Neutral gait: The foot rolls slightly inward in a controlled way. Most shoe types work for neutral gaits; the primary choice is cushioning preference.
Toe-off pattern: How your foot leaves the ground. A proper heel-to-toe roll is ideal; many people shorten this stride due to tight calves or wrong heel height.
We're not podiatrists, and we can't diagnose medical conditions. But we can spot patterns that point toward specific shoe categories — and that distinction has real, measurable impact.
Step 3: Lifestyle Interrogation
What are you going to do in these shoes? That question seems simple, but the answers drive everything.
- A healthcare worker standing on hard floors for 12-hour shifts needs different support than a trail runner doing 20-mile weekend runs.
- Someone with plantar fasciitis needs a specific heel-to-toe drop ratio that most people don't know to ask about.
- A teacher who walks 5 miles a day on school linoleum has different needs than a retiree doing casual walks on the beach.
We ask about your job, your hobbies, where you typically walk, and what you've worn in the past — both what worked and what didn't. The "what didn't work" question is often the most valuable one.
Step 4: The Fitting Itself
Here's something most people don't know: shoes should be tried on at the end of the day, when feet are at their largest due to natural swelling. If you come in the morning after sitting all day, your foot may measure a half-size smaller than it will by 5pm.
We also have you try shoes while standing, not just while sitting. Your foot spreads under weight-bearing — anywhere from a quarter to a half size. A shoe that fits perfectly while seated may be tight when you stand.
Key things we check:
- Thumb width of space at the toe: your longest toe needs room to move without hitting the end
- No slipping at the heel: heel slippage causes blisters and instability
- Immediate comfort: a properly fitted shoe should not need a "break-in period" that involves pain
- Arch support contact: you should feel the insole making contact with your arch, not just your heel and ball
The Width Question Nobody Asks
Most shoe brands make shoes in multiple widths, but most shoe stores only stock medium. This means a significant portion of the population is wearing the wrong width without knowing it.
Wide feet squeezed into medium shoes lead to bunion development, hammer toes, and metatarsal pain. Narrow feet in medium shoes slip and develop blisters and heel calluses.
At Abraxas, we stock multiple widths in key brands and can guide you to brands that run naturally narrow or wide when sizing outside your range.
What Research Tells Us
The American Podiatric Medical Association reports that improperly fitted footwear contributes to 73% of foot conditions seen by podiatrists. That's not a small overlap — that's the primary driver of most of what podiatrists treat.
A 2019 study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that runners who received gait analysis and appropriate shoe recommendations had a 39% lower injury rate over a 1-year follow-up compared to those who simply chose shoes based on preference.
These aren't marginal gains. They're transformative outcomes from what amounts to a 20-minute conversation with someone who knows what they're looking at.
Online Shopping vs. In-Store Fitting
We understand why people shop online. Convenience matters. But here's the reality:
Returns cost consumers an average of $5–15 in hassle time per online shoe purchase. Foot pain from poorly fitted shoes costs far more — in discomfort, medical visits, and lost activity.
The brands we carry are also difficult to fit online because they vary significantly in true-to-size accuracy, width, and construction. A size 8 in Dansko fits differently than a size 8 in HOKA, which fits differently than a size 8 in Blundstone. Without side-by-side comparison and a trained eye, you're guessing.
Come in. Let us do the work. Your feet will notice the difference within the first hour of wearing — and we guarantee that you'll find it was worth the trip.
Sources: Journal of Foot and Ankle Research (2020); British Journal of Sports Medicine (2019); American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA)