To start off with, I'm a 65-year old man who has fallen several times within the last year. Two of these times I broke my nose. I think that part of the problem, at the least, could be that the shoes I've been wearing very much of the time. The shoes are Nike walking shoes, with treaded rubber soles. I got these shoes in 2015, and have worn them very often, especially within the last year.

I'm also wondering if the following fact might be a part of the problem. The toes of these shoes, especially on my left foot, sometimes will "catch" or "grab" the sidewalk (or parking lot, or street, etc.) a bit as I'm walking. I'm wondering if this could be contributing to my frequent falls.

On the bottoms of both shoes, up under the toes, there are three little dark pads that appear different in color. I've never seen that in shoes before, btw. The rest of the sole area on both shoes is much lighter in color. Could these little pads possibly be the reason the shoes "grip" the ground at the toes? Could these little black pads be what is causing the toes to "catch" the walking surface?

It's important to me to get shoes that could lessen the chance of falling. If anyone can help answer these questions, I would appreciate it very much.