With scorching summer temperatures, some students across campus shuffle to class or work in the lightest clothes possible, including their footwear - flip-flop sandals.
"(Flip-flops) are better because you can flip them off your feet easily," said Lansing resident, Ryan Howard. "You don't have to worry about socks in this 90 degree weather."
But current research suggests that flip-flop sandals can cause back, leg or foot pain.
Wearing flip-flop sandals with paper-thin soles everyday to school causes heel pain, said Dr. Marybeth Crane, spokeswoman for the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons, in a press release.
"Flip-flops have no arch support and can accentuate any abnormal biomechanics in foot motion, and this eventually brings pain and inflammation," she said.
Other doctors also said flip-flop sandals might cause back or foot pain if there's been an injury to the foot prior to wearing the sandals.
"If there's any tendency for back or foot problems, then not having proper support can bring those problems out to the symptomatic level," said Dr. Charles Roost, a chiropractor in Lansing.
Young people might not have the problems that older flip-flop wearers might have, said Richard Liscombe, owner of Foot Gear, 108 Division St. Many older women are wearing flip-flop sandals everywhere they go as if they are great footwear.
"Whenever you wear shoes that are minimalist there's usually no support at all," he said. "And so people who are older who start adapting to this minimalist look are going to have some problems associated with (foot pain)."
Some students said wearing flip-flops for longer periods of time does cause them pain.
"I wear (flip-flop sandals) a lot in the summer because it's hot and lets circulation to my feet," said Kristen Cantile, a zoology junior. "I do already have a back problem. If I walk for a long time they do cause my calves to hurt and my feet."
But some doctors said flip-flop sandals don't cause problems and might actually help some people.
There are seven small bones called tarsals that react with two bones in the leg, said Dr. Jerome F. McAndrews, national spokesman for the American Chiropractic Association.
"If we walk abnormally with our foot-movement restricted, that's where the problem is," he said. "In a way, for a normal moving foot, (flip-flop sandals) are good."
Research found by the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons in 2003 found that flip-flops cause a certain type of heel pain.
"It is estimated that 15 percent of all adult foot complaints involve plantar fasciitis, the type of heel pain caused by chronic inflammation of the connective tissue extending from the heel bone to the toes," the report said.
Other factors along with flip-flop sandals can cause other pain in the feet or back.
"Obesity in younger people has become a major health problem, and heel pain is a consequence of it," Crane said.
Another way flip-flop sandals can be problematic is when you try to go fast or run, Liscombe said.
"You might slip off the side of it and might twist your ankle or you might just hurt your foot by having something that's too lose," he said.
Although flip-flop sandals are the current fashion trend, doctors suggest wearing supportive footwear.
"The best things are to have a shoe with solid side support and good arch support," Roost said. "If there are specific problems, you can have orthotics made to work on the problem you may have."
Dr. Cindy Bullock, a podiatrist in Albuquerque, N.M., said that there are three ways to test whether footwear will be supportive.
"First, when you take the shoe and try and bend it, it shouldn't completely collapse in the center," she said.
"Second, twist the shoe in opposite direction so the toes go in and the heal goes out, if it collapses then it doesn't have support. And third, take your hand and put it on the heel counter, if you press in with the thumb and heel counter and it collapses then there's not enough sturdiness in the heel."
