Dr. Ray McClanahan, DPM has been a podiatrist for more than 25 years and believes that most foot problems can be corrected by restoring natural foot function. His practice, Northwest Foot & Ankle in Portland, Oregon, allows him to care for those who find their highest joy when in motion. His professional goal is to provide quality natural foot health services with an emphasis on sports medicine, preventative and conservative options as well as education on proper footwear.
Dr. McClanahan is an active runner and athlete. In 1999, he finished 14th in the U.S. National Men’s Cross-Country Championships and had a near Olympic Trials qualifying 5,000 meter mark of 13:56 in 2000. He then qualified for the World Duathlon Championships in 2001.
He is also the inventor of Correct Toes, silicone toe spacers that help the foot rehabilitate from the negative effects of conventionally shaped footwear. The device, made of soft, flexible silicone, encourages the toes back into their natural alignment found at birth. With progressive and consistent use while active and weight bearing, toes align and feet strengthen, restoring their original position and function. Check out our full interview with Dr. McClanahan below!
Tell us about Correct Toes. Who do you recommend the product for?
I invented Correct Toes to fix my own bunions and hammertoes. My second toes were sitting on top of my big toes. I was operating weekly on many people with the same problems. After reading the writings of Dr. William Rossi, I realized that surgery was too aggressive and invasive of an approach for problems that can be prevented, and reversed with natural methods. Part of the bunion operation is to cut a muscle completely off of the big toe! I did not want to have this done on my feet, so I invented a soft silicone toe orthotic to slowly and gradually move the toes and feet back into their ideal natural alignment. I recommend the product for people who want to heal their feet and bodies naturally, by aligning their toes and feet in their natural alignment. Sadly, most humans who live in industrialized societies have deformed their feet since infancy.
What are the most important aspects of biomechanics and posture that runners, hikers and active people need to be educated about when it comes to their feet?
The most important aspects of biomechanics and posture that active people need to understand, is that most athletic/active footwear that is available to active people is built with fashion in mind. When you look at hiking/running/walking shoes in the typical outlets, you will see that most of them possess 2 features that are fashion features, not functional features. The first is elevated heels, which causes shortened calf muscles and Achilles tendons. The second is tapering toe boxes, which squeezes our toes into a triangular configuration that is narrower than the balls of our feet. Our heels should be exactly level with the front of our feet. Our toes are naturally meant to spread wider than the balls of our feet. There is also a feature built into footwear called toe spring, which is the artificial lifting of the toes above the ball of our feet. This creates weakening of our arches, displacement of our fat pads and chronic muscle imbalances. Things to avoid in footwear. 1. Elevated heels. 2. Tapering toe boxes. 3. Rigid toe springs. 4. Stiffness. 5 Heavy materials.
What would you say to someone who feels hesitant or intimidated about trying Correct Toes and ditching their conventional footwear?
To the hesitant, I would say – “what do you have to lose?”. Correct Toes have a 30-day money back guarantee, so money will not be lost if people do not like Correct Toes. In the world of medicine, $65 is extremely inexpensive for a natural cure, when compared to commonly offered treatments such as orthotics and surgery, which are not natural and do not provide a permanent cure. This is the only product that is capable of placing deformed human feet back into their ideal natural alignment, while they go about their day. Ditching conventional footwear is a huge issue for people, given the money they have invested, but more importantly, the risk of social/professional/workplace backlash that is likely to happen. If people do choose to use Correct Toes and natural footwear that accommodates Correct Toes, they will then have no problem ditching their conventional footwear, because now their conventional shoes will cause pain within a few minutes of putting them on. Their body will make their decision for them, and the smart ones realize they no longer want to live with their foundations deformed.
What movements and stretches for the feet do you recommend people do every day? Are they different based on type of work and activity level for each person?
Movements and stretches will be of little value if people do not live barefoot, and in natural footwear. A prime example of this is all the people you see stretching their calf muscles, then wearing shoes with elevated heels, which is shortening their calf muscles.
If natural footwear is worn, there are several stretching and strengthening exercises that are helpful. We have several videos on our website demonstrating these. Toe extensor stretches are very valuable, as most shoe wearing people spend their days with their toes elevated in the air, above the balls of their feet.
This causes the muscles on the front of our calves to get short, and the muscles of our arches to get long and weak. Once people have done the toe extensor stretch and are able to flex their toes downward, then they can begin doing arch strengthening exercises like the short foot/doming/Janda exercises.
“Movements and stretches will be of little value if people do not live barefoot, and in natural footwear. ”
With so many people shifting to working from home in the past year, there's more of an opportunity to ditch conventional footwear and even spend the whole day in socks or barefoot. What can people do while they're stuck at home to work on their foot health?
Golden Harper, the founder of Altra, and I recently wrote a blog post about foot health while staying home (Read it here.)
We have seen two issues with people working from home: 1. Healing of common foot pains and deformities, because people are not going to work in, and working all day, in their fashion work shoes. 2. People are going barefoot suddenly more than they are used to, and because their feet are weak and used to being supported by shoes, they are developing foot problems. Some people are also hurting their feet by increasing their exercise program way too suddenly and getting overuse problems.
Follow Dr. McClanahan’s work at the below links and follow Correct Toes on Instagram @correcttoes.
https://www.correcttoes.com/foot-help/video-library/dr-ray-mcclanahan/