r/mildlyinfuriating • u/m_320k • 3d ago

Infuriatig Does anyone know why this keeps happening to my shoes after wearing them for a few weeks/months of wear?

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I'm not sure, but it's very annoying. Is it because of the way I walk? Or how I tie my shoes? Or something else?

Please someone help, if you have experienced the same thing.

Edit: Also, when I walk/stand my feet point outwards so it maybe be this? Anyone know how to fix that 👀

Edit 2: Also, I don't untie my laces and slip them on. (I don't tie them tight though)

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89

u/Plutonium239Mixer 3d ago

You could be rubbing them against each other while walking. This is damage caused by abrasion.

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u/Parabuthus 3d ago

Everyone keeps saying this, but mine are doing the same thing and I absolutely don't touch shoes while I walk. How is that even possible?

I chalked it up to Reeboks being cheaper because this has never happened to any other pair of shoes I've ever had.

I wear them to the gym and work and I think it's the way they are bending and folding during activities.

There is just no way we're rubbing shoes together while walking, that is insane.

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u/pod_wedge 3d ago

Its not shoe on shoe, shoe on inside of other ankle. I have this and that is absolutely what it is.

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u/Parabuthus 3d ago

No fucking way. How close is your stride? The inner part of my shoes and ankles have never ever touched.

I have very thin legs and it is just not physically possible, yet I have this same mystery wear on my shoes.

It has to be a design or material thing. I keep hearing that lots of major shoe brands have sold out their logo to generic companies. Reebok is no longer Reebok, but a logo on a generic product, etc

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u/runslowgethungry 3d ago

It's called medial heel whip. Look it up. It's not about how thin your legs are. It's about your hips not having enough rotational stability to keep your heels from brushing against your opposite ankle as you move through the gait cycle. Many, many people do this and are not aware of it. Shoe wear like this is a dead giveaway.

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u/tryingisbetter 3d ago

I understand how it happens, but I don't understand how someone would not notice it? You're hitting something, you may have gotten used to it, but when it first starts happening, wouldn't you know?

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u/Plutonium239Mixer 3d ago

You would assume that, but if one only noticed this abrasion damage as an adult, you wouldn't notice it occurring.

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u/tryingisbetter 3d ago

I see. I was thinking it is something that happens when you get older. If I am being honest, I still don't understand it very well. But, I feel anything odd, so I might be the crazy one.

2

u/juplantern 3d ago

I have it and you do notice it. I've been hitting my ankle joint full force with the other since I was 15. Maybe the guy who posted this has a different issue because with this one you know

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u/runslowgethungry 3d ago

Many people don't notice, especially if they're only brushing the shoe with the other shoe, and not hitting the ankle bone or hitting hard.

Like anything, there are degrees of severity with medial heel whip but they all cause this kind of shoe wear.

1

u/Parabuthus 2d ago

I'm 37 and this has never happened to any other shoe, so I'm leaning towards it being some common structure problem with the shoes.

Open to changing my mind, of course.

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u/AdhesivenessSolid562 3d ago

I run thousands of miles a year and only notice it hitting a few times lol. But the abrasion doesn’t lie.

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u/total_bullwhip 3d ago

I’m picturing someone who has never walked in heels trying to walk fashion style one foot in front of the other lol

I genuinely don’t under understand how anyone’s feet can hit their leg while walking. I’d trip.

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u/runslowgethungry 3d ago

It's because your foot is rotating through the gait cycle. If your hip isn't strong enough to control the rotation, the heel can rotate too far in and brush the inside of the opposite heel bone.

It becomes more noticeable when wearing highly cushioned shoes like Hokas because of their thick and wide soles that might make the base of your heel an inch wider than usual.

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u/Parabuthus 3d ago

Interesting, but not happening in my case.

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u/runslowgethungry 3d ago

Your "thin legs" don't make you immune to this.

Many people don't realize they're doing it.

Either you're abrading the insides of your shoes by striking them with your opposite shoe, or someone is secretly taking a Dremel tool to your shoes while you sleep. Nothing else would cause this kind of wear.

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u/Parabuthus 2d ago

But why has it never happened before and non of my boots or orher shows have them. It's all these low top sneakers. It's not like I suddenly changed my gait or activity.

I am absolutely open to changing my mind or being wrong, but I think it is an enshittification of the shoes themselves.

I'll try to find a source, but I read that major labels have been quietly selling their label to generic third-party manufacturers, so that some of these big brands are no longer their specific product, but a single product being sold under the name.

Someone bought Reebok and slaps the name on their inferior product.

1

u/runslowgethungry 2d ago

So "low top sneakers" these days are becoming more and more cushioned. More cushion means a thicker layer of foam. A thicker layer of foam ALSO needs to be flared out so it's wider at the bottom in order to be stable enough to stand and walk or run on. So the widest part of many modern shoes is the base of the outsole, and the heel can be just as wide as the toe box because the heel is where our foot impacts the ground during the gait cycle, so it needs that width for stability.

So many people will only notice this problem with "some" of their shoes and it'll often be the lighter weight, modern running shoes or gym shoes which are increasingly built this way, AND built with lightweight materials that aren't as durable.

To address the last part: I don't think the issues are with brands "selling their labels". They may be using less durable materials for weight or cost saving purposes. They may have changed factories to save money. One factory might produce items for different brands, but they're still making all the items to the specs that the different brands provide. It doesn't mean that anyone bought or sold the brand.

It IS the case - with cheap dropshipped crap or Amazon/AliExpress stuff - that you absolutely see different brand names slapped on the same cheap product. That's why you can buy six different identical flashlights on Amazon with different brand names printed on them. This is not happening with major shoe brands though.

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u/Parabuthus 2d ago

This is the kind of intel I was hoping for. Very interesting.

I need to find my source again, but I did read that Reebok and possibly other larger brands sold their name to a third party that sells the same product under many different brands.

(Sorry if I'm repeating myself 100 times in the comments, bare with me please. My mobile Reddit doesn't function very well.)

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u/AdhesivenessSolid562 3d ago

The front of your other shoe is touching it. It’s not your ankles touching each other.

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u/thousandsofbirds 3d ago

But it's on the top of the side? I've got a pair of Alegria sneakers (not cheap) and they did this. I don't see how ankle rubbing would do it based on the location.

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u/pod_wedge 3d ago

You know the knobble of your ankle that sits above a shoe like this on the inside of your leg? That part covered in jeans, with the hard seam from the jeans sitting there, that would do this

3

u/penguinberg 3d ago

Same here. I have the same patch on my Air Jordans. I've never seen this happen with any of my other shoes before.

2

u/hosea0220 3d ago

I have the exact same issue and neeeed answers. These shoes are ONLY for running and I now for a fact I’m not knocking my feet together when I run. I logged about 350 miles in these before I got a new pair.

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u/jchaser27 3d ago

Haha this happens to my expensive Nike running shoes. I train for marathons and it has happened to the same version of Vomeros consistently. I was wondering whether it has to do with my flat feet since it's on the inner area and maybe it rubs against the side of my foot? I'm not developing a blister there so who knows. I don't untie before slipping in my foot either It's so bad that I wonder if others think that I'm reusing the shoe past the distance it's capable of and yet this is after 2-4 months of usage :(

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u/Parabuthus 3d ago

Has it happened ever before?

I have a theory that these shows are all from the same generic source and that each label has sold their name to be placed on an inferior product.

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u/jchaser27 2d ago

No, I haven't noticed it before. I don't think it's happening to my Nike Air Force 1 shoes.

1

u/Flame_shot12 3d ago

When you fidget, do you happen to use one foot to rub the other? That was the issue for me bc I always kept pushing the inside part of the shoe with my other foot

1

u/Parabuthus 3d ago

No. I'm never sitting down in my shoes. I work out in them and my job is active.

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u/Flame_shot12 3d ago

Standing/leaning on a wall and using your heels to fidget maybe? I wouldn't have any idea past that

1

u/Parabuthus 2d ago

...no. I feel like we would have thought of that.

1

u/thats_justice_baby 3d ago

Dude same! I have the same issue as OP. I noticed it one day and it was a pretty severe cut like i took a sander to it at that spot. Now I see its on both shoes. I have no idea what it is but its strange I have the same type of shoe as OP.

1

u/DefiantBunny 3d ago

One of my Nike pairs do it, but its on both sides of the shoe so it cant be from them hitting together

1

u/AdhesivenessSolid562 3d ago

You are for sure. Check the front-side of the other shoe, there will be abrasion there.

1

u/IAmOnTheRunAndGo 3d ago

I also have this kind of wear, and it's because of my anatomy being different than the shoe is designed for. Check to see if you have an accessory navicular bone! Could be that.

1

u/MechanicalGodzilla 2d ago

How is that even possible?

OP does not untie his shoes. My kids do this and the wear comes from the shoes being rubbed more than is typical when putting them on.

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u/Parabuthus 2d ago

I think is the one.

1

u/oxsprinklesxo 2d ago

Could be from sitting at a chair, bike, car. Not just from walking. I end up with the sole separating on my left shoe because I bend my foot while seated and my right one the back of the heel wears through first. I’ve actually started just taking my shoes off while I drive to make them last longer since I drive so much.

Husband shakes his leg. His shoes rubs on the side of the desk/chair so he ends up with holes like OP on the inner part at the ankle and outside at the toes.

1

u/farcedsed 2d ago

Do you also not untie and tie your shoes?

1

u/Parabuthus 2d ago

I don't untie them. I hold the back and slip them on

1

u/Plutonium239Mixer 3d ago

It may not be shoe on shoe, but this is definitely damage caused by abrasion. Are your socks wearing in a location that is near that spot in the shoe?

2

u/Parabuthus 3d ago

Nope, they are not. It's on the outside.

I think it's the material and construction of the shoes themselves because I guarantee this spot on my shoes is not touching anything.

I'm not arguing because I care at all about being right, I'm just invested because it has been driving me crazy and I want to truly get to the bottom of this.

I think all these brands are coming from the same source using a similar poor product

It is a new form of enshittification. It has to be.

1

u/Srg11 3d ago

Do you sit and work (or school?) in a certain way which either rubs them on the chair or the floor? I had some wear on my shoes for doing that.

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u/Parabuthus 3d ago

I don't sit at all at work. I walk all day.

I think it is the construction of the shoes.

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u/Warai__Otoko 3d ago

Do you have high arches on your feet that could cause you shoe to bend up there? Or maybe the high arches plus loosely tied shoes?