Feet Hurt? Stop Wearing Shoes

[nebula]

I used to love walking barefoot - until RA messed my feet up.

Anyway, I found this article interesting:

Feet Hurt? Stop Wearing Shoes

"Everyone who wears shoes walks wrong," he says, echoing the headline of his recent article, "You Walk Wrong."

Read the article here

(Just replace "God designed" for "4 million years of evolution"

(There's also an audio link)

[artsylady]

In the Middle Ages, for example, people began wearing shoes with higher heels to avoid stepping in other people's excrement.

Now I know why those blasted things were invented.

Actually, I do wear them from time to time.

[sheya joie]

Interesting article. I am actually sitting here reading this while barefoot. I keep my shoes (well, sandals - and they're flats too) by the outside door and slip into them when I'm going out, then kick them back off and leave them there when I come in. And, no, I'm not in Japan!

I did, however, grow up in Kentucky...

Btw, what is the 'RA' that messed up your feet, neb? I didn't quite understand that part.

[peaches]

[odditblue]

It's rattlesnake country 'round here...

I'm keeping my boots on.

[AndrewA]

i hardly wear shoes. As a kid i used to go almost everywhere bare footed especailly in summer. There is a woman who lives locally who i see from time to time, she is a hard core no footwear person, as she wears no shoes or socks ever.

It is a liberating feeling, i suppose next step will be everyone walking around naked!

[Ovedya]

Unfortunately this person is going against at least 40 years of solid evidence contrary to his assertion. While God most certainly did manufacture our feet in a most amazing way (eg. between posterior tibial tendon and the subtalor joint the foot can absorb as much as 80% of impact, which on average equates to about 64 tons every day), God did not design the feet to walk on manufactured hard surfaces. As much as 90% of common foot, knee, hip and low back problems are the direct result of humans walking and working on hard surfaces (concrete, asphalt, hardwood floors, etc). God designed the feet, but He also designed soil, dirt and sand for us to walk on. Soil, dirt and sand all conform to the natural angles of the foot. They also absorb some of the shock on heel strike. Hard surfaces don't do that, so the impact the body absorbs is huge. In the past 100 or so years we have taken those natural absorptive and conforming surfaces and paved them over. We have concrete in our workplaces covered over with shabby and cheap carpeting, we have concrete sidewalks and asphalt street, and we have even brought hard surfaces such as hardwood floors, tile and slate into our homes.

While most footwear does very little comparatively to absorb the shock that our feet, knees and hips experience every day, at least they do something. On the other hand they need to have proper arch supports to help our feet function properly. Sadly most athletic shoes have little to no arch support, and skater shoes have absolutely nothing at all. So the problem with shoes is not that they are not good, it's that they are not good enough. 90% of all shoes are made strictly for fashion, not for function, and that includes athletic shoes.

Years ago it was popular to go barefoot, and even today some physical therapists advocate barefoot walking for foot health. But there is very little evidence that barefoot walking actually improves foot health over a good supportive pair of shoes. While young people - from infancy up to about 12 years old - are safe walking around barefoot, as we get older it become increasingly harder on our feet. Joints lock up and tendons stretch further than they are supposed to and therefore cannot function as they were designed.

It ppears that the research is a little shoddy. When Sternbergh claims that people in other parts of the world walk on hard surfaces he doesn't really mention the types of feet. Yes, in many places around the world there are hard surface, such as hard pan dirt. On the other hand if you look at the feet of the people that live there you find that they are mostly flat. In Africa, for example, the people have what are called "flexible flat feet." Although their feet are flat (Which is a bad thing for most people - especially Europeans) they are flexible enough to accommodate for the harder surface. On the other hand European feet typically have higher arches and are more rigid, and so cannot function well on hard unforgiving surfaces. Apparently his study of foot types doesn't mention these factors.

Also, the article mentions that they studies skeletons. Well that's good, but did they study the changes in foot structure as well? There are 26 bones in the human foot, but there are also dozens more muscles, tendons and ligaments in the foot, all of which function together with those bones. The bones of the feet, while important, merely help to facilitate function; they do not control the motion of the feet. And when you're talking biomechanics you are talking motion.

I'm going to read the actual study to find out what they really looked at, and how they arrived at their conclusions. The NPR article, and even the originating article leave a lot of issues out that serious-minded people need to know about. It's a bit irresponsible of NPR simply to conclude "barefoot walking is more healthy" when some seriously important details are not at all mentioned. If some of our patients here at the clinic read that article and started walking barefoot they would be in serious trouble physically.

[peaches]

Leave it to Ovedya

I am curious about this though:

In Africa, for example, the people have what are called "flexible flat feet." Although their feet are flat (Which is a bad thing for most people - especially Europeans) they are flexible enough to accommodate for the harder surface. Apparently his study of foot types doesn't mention that.

Why are flat feet "a bad thing for most people"?

[treasured]

I use to wear cowboy boots most of my young life .... and go barefoot indoors....then got married and old (LOL)...and so said "goodbye" to my boots. ....Last year, after a torn Achilles tendon ,my Doctor recommended ....you guessed it..Cowboy boots to avoid surgery..the heel throws the weight forward and the boot supports the heel.. I forgot how good they always made my feet feel...so now Tweetybird's Granny is in boots

[Ovedya]

Leave it to Ovedya

I am curious about this though:

In Africa, for example, the people have what are called "flexible flat feet." Although their feet are flat (Which is a bad thing for most people - especially Europeans) they are flexible enough to accommodate for the harder surface. Apparently his study of foot types doesn't mention that.

Why are flat feet "a bad thing for most people"?

If you look at the structure of the foot - particularly the mid-foot, you will see that the joints line up along an arch. The tendons that run under the foot - the posterior tibial tendon and the plantar fascia especially - are designed to support that arch and absorb shock. In the normal flexible flat foot those tendons are really stretchy - like a rubber band - so they can absorb shock pretty efficiently. In the European foot those tendons are not at all used to that kind of shock, so when they are stretched they tear - and when they tear they typically heal shorter, unless some therapy is used to keep them elastic. Children have flexible flat feet. But by the time a child reaches about age 12 those tendons should become more rigid to support the arch.

Note that I mentioned the "normal" flexible flat foot above. In Europeans a flexible flat foot is abnormal, whereas in some Africans the flexible flat foot is considered "normal" and functional. Sometimes it is called a "functional" flat foot.

By the way - "flat foot" is a term synonymous with "foot pronation" Flat feet almost always over-pronate.