Growing up playing hockey we were always told that to succeed we would have to do whatever it took to win. To lay it all on the line. To sacrifice our bodies for the sake of a victory and the team. Well, being the good teammate that I was during one game in an attempt to block a shot I skated into a 90 mile an hour slap shot. I was successful as the puck ricocheted off my foot and into the corner. My teammates cheered. I winced on the ice in pain.

It turns out my foot was broken, I couldn’t walk but I could skate so I (very stupidly) continued to play for months. My foot was either in my skate or in an aircast for 3 months. Needless to say, my foot has never recovered and to this day every time I take a step the arch in my left foot collapses inward towards the floor sending stress into my knee and pelvis.

My foot problems stem from an injury, however for the majority of people this isn’t the case. So the question is why are so many people suffering from foot problems?