LET me tell you a nice story that might help you keep more involved in sport.

I was in the park at the weekend pushing my young son back and forth on the swings and I couldn’t help but overhear a young mum next to me, who was trying hard to get her young son to put his sunglasses on.

It was a “low sunset” in the Ward Jackson Park on Sunday and her boy, about four-years-old, was squinting right at it as she was pushing him into it.

She asked him at least five times to put on his sunglasses, yet he completely refused to do it each time.

Admittedly, I did think to myself that maybe she should just switch him around in the seat to face away from the sun, but she continued to ask him to put them on.

It was only when the mother asked him to put his sunglasses ‘on or else he would get another headache’, that he finally did as she said.

It got me thinking about two things:

1. We often need to be reminded of pain before we’re motivated to take action and do something for the good of our health

2. Most sensible people once shown the benefits of doing something often do it even if it’s begrudgingly.

That might include changing what you wear on your feet.

One of the big problems that we’re seeing in my clinic is an increasing number of people coming to see us with things like back, knee, hip and Achilles problems – all caused primarily by poor choice of footwear.

Sure, all of these “fashion” shoes might look nice, but they don’t do much good when it comes to protecting vital joints and helping you to reduce the risk of wear and tear inside joints.

Two such poor choices of footwear include loafers, because they don’t always correctly fit your feet and that means your joints are more likely to move around meaning more wear and tear happening inside your joints.

Pointed shoes are also a problem. Why? Because we’re seeing toes getting squashed inside of the narrow area which causes toes to point inwards and that is likely to create a bunion, which can be very painful to live with and may even require surgery.

In all there are 13 very common dangerous footwear mistakes that people make and many of them keep runners off the track and footballers on the sidelines.

That’s why I put together a new report titled “The 13 Dangerous Footwear Trends of Today’s Society”.

It reveals the types of footwear that I recommend you be more aware of, and I also offer suggestions for what you can do to lower the impact of what I call “fashion footwear” is going to have on your joints.

I have made 25 free copies available for Echo readers. If you’d like one, please just call my clinic and request a copy be sent to you by email or to your home. The number to call is 01429 866771.