Dressing aids – Shoes

Because of the need to bend over and reach, putting on and taking off shoes can be one of the most difficult of dressing tasks. The challenge is made even more complicated by the need to tie shoelaces, or push the foot into a shoe. The good news is that there are some clever footwear aids that can assist with these tasks and they are described below.

Coil shoelaces, shoe remover and shoe horn

Coil shoelaces offer an alternative to traditional "bow" tie shoelaces. This can be useful since many older people, along with those who experience bending, gripping or dexterity problems, find tying shoelaces problematic or fiddly.

With these special coil laces there is no need to tie a shoe lace anymore. Instead, the laces are threaded through the shoe’s eyes (in the normal way) and then pulled to a comfortable fit or tightness. The lace is then released and the coil action causes the fit or tightness to be maintained at the set level. They are simple to use and simply pulling the coil (to straighten the lace) releases the shoe’s grip on the foot.

These coil laces will fit through the eyes of any standard shoe and one size fits all. This means that they can be used as shoe lace replacements for any pair of shoes that currently use conventional shoelaces.

Coil shoelaces come in different colours and they can be purchased as pairs, or in packs of mixed or similar colours. They can, depending upon use, be expected to last for a similar period of time to regular shoelaces.

Another shoe wearing aid is the shoehorn and you can find out more about the extended version of this device below.

Extended shoehorn (shoespooner)

A shoehorn or shoespoon is used to help the foot slip into the mouth of a shoe with minimum effort and without harshly rubbing against the foot or damaging the shoe (especially the counter of the shoe).

The extended shoehorn is very similar to a regular shoehorn, however it has a greatly extended handle that enables it to be used from a fairly straight standing up or sitting down position.

For this kind of shoehorn to be effective it generally needs to be at least 16 inches (400mm) in length (and ideally longer). Some of these extended shoehorns have a spring action between the handle and the horn. This gives the device greater flexibility and allows it to bend as the foot slip into the shoe.

Shoehorns (shoespooners) are normally made of wood or a plastic material so that they do not damage the counter of the shoe.

Shoe remover

The shoe remover is a simple device that looks almost like a miniature see-saw. One end has a cut-out or recess that will hold the back section of the shoe to be removed, whilst the other end is used for purchase by placing the other foot on it.

You use it by removing one shoe at a time.

The advantage of this aid is that a shoe can be easily removed without the need to bend down or stoop in any way. It is also lightweight plastic, so it can be stored away easily after use.

When combined with an extended handle shoe horn, these two devices completely remove the need to bend down when putting on or removing easy fit (i.e. non lace or buckle fastening) shoes.