With three treks under my belt, I have learned a little something about hiking shoes. I’ll explain the good and the bad about different types of shoes and what you should avoid buying.

You work hard for your money, so you want to know that the shoe you invest in is going to be right for your feet. I would firstly advise that you don’t buy the cheapest option on the market.

However, you should not necessarily opt for the most expensive either. I would advise that you set some money aside for the shoes because they can be very expensive.

The shoes that you see in the thumbnail are what I wore on my latest tramp. I bought these shoes for an urban hike in London. Where I sustained no damage to my feet at all. For this type of activity those were perfect, for my tramp in New Zealand they were terrible.

Therefore, when you are buying your own hiking shoes you must consider your terrain. How often are you going to be using your shoes? Do they need to be waterproof? Does the colour or the brand of the shoe matter to you? What are the weather conditions likely to be?

Something that you should do is look at reviews online for what other people have to say about the shoes that you are interested in. There might be many positive comments, but seek out the negative ones too. Those are arguably the most important, because if there are any major faults with the shoes they will be highlighted in these comments.

During the day our feet expand and contract**. What I was never told was that you should always size up with hiking boots to allow this process to happen. The reason that my boots in the thumbnail didn’t help me much on my New Zealand trek was because they were my normal size 7 and not a size 8. If they had been a size 8 I might not have had as many problems.

As my shoes weren’t appropriate for my trip I ended up losing three and a half toenails. They all lifted gradually from the nailbed and it was a very painful experience initially. Also, the sight of my feet is horrifying now, with only one of them fully formed again it will be a reminder for months that I should have had different shoes.

My checklist for buying new hiking shoes:

[] Always size up. If you are normally a size 9 go for a 10

[] Consider your terrain, do you need to have waterproof hiking shoes?

[] Buy your shoes in a sale to bring down the cost

[] How many times do you expect to be using your shoes?

[] Do some research on which type of shoes would be best for you, and if you have friends or family members who have hiking shoes ask them their opinions.

How to treat your feet after a hike

Firstly, I would say congratulations for making it through the hike! Whether it was a two our walk or a two week trek, you did it and that is amazing. Once you get back to your home (or wherever you are staying) the first thing I would advise you do is to inspect your feet.

Very carefully take your shoes and socks off. I say carefully because at this stage we don’t know what the state of your feet are. If you have been on a short walk I would say that the worst thing that you might have is blisters.

After you have done this inspect your feet. You will know what looks normal for you. Give your feet a salt water bath. Grab yourself a container of any kind, a bucket will do as long as both of your feet can fit in there and fill it with the hottest water you can stand. Do not use boiling water under any circumstances.

Put some salt into the water, this can be table salt, or even bath salts. You need to use enough so that once your feet are submerged you will be able to feel it. Let the salt dissolve into the water for a few minutes whilst you prepare a towel that you’ll use to pat your feet once you remove them from the water.

Place your feet into the water. It will most likely sting from the salt but this is what you should be feeling. Keep your feet in the water for as long as you can stand it and then remove them (between 5/15 minutes). Very gently pat your feet dry, and then discard the salt water.

You should continue to do this process for at least a week after you have done your hike until your feet start to feel better.

I couldn’t wear closed shoes for the next week because of the extent of nails that were in the process of lifting, anything I did was painful for my feet. I wore sandals until I felt ready to put socks back on and shoes.

Don’t let the minor foot injuries put you off going again. Hiking is a truly wonderful sport. Now that my nails are improving I’m looking at buying my next more appropriate shoes for Australian terrain!

The reference for this comment comes from me speaking to podiatrists. Credits to the photograph on this page goes to Fidel Fernando via Unsplash the photograph in the thumbnail is my own

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