Some 300 million pairs of crocs, those seemingly ubiquitous multi-coloured foam rubber shoes, have sold in 90 different countries since they hit the shops in 2002. But are they as bad for your feet as they are for your reputation?

It’s a close-run thing, according to one Danish foot expert.

“Many of our patients complain of foot pain by the end of the summer, which often occurs after excessive use of crocs,” Charlotte Vestergaard, a foot therapist at the foot therapy clinic Klinik For Fodterapi in Herluf Trolles Gade in Copenhagen, told Ekstra Bladet.

Think of your feet…and the children
Vestergaard said that crocs should not be used as primary shoes. The problem is caused by the methods people use to keep the ugly footwear on their feet.

“In our effort to keep them on, we clutch our toes together and overload our tendons,” said Vestergaard.

“The constant curving of the toes can create and worsen conditions like hammer toe.”

So, if the milk of human kindness is not enough to prevent you from wearing crocs when others are forced to look upon them, please consider your health.