Dr. A. Eloise Cortal | Regenerative Injection Therapies | Prolotherapy & Platelet-Rich Plasma Injections
  • home
    • Dr. Cortal bio
    • conditions treated
    • mission statement
    • publications
    • media page
  • Injections
    • other injection therapies >
      • trigger point injections
      • therapeutic scar injections
  • Physician Training
  • when & where
  • new patient
    • insurance
  • blog
  • testimonials

Barefoot shoes? What is all this nonsense about?!

1/6/2014

1 Comment

 
If you have ever had foot, toe or ankle problems then you understand.
Painful feet at the end of the day.
Limping while walking, especially after a night out in those killer heels
Considering, or wearing, special shoes or inserts that make you feel 80 years old.

No matter what your foot issue is, it's frustrating. 
And it's not like they're not optional body parts- although I have been asked (pleaded) to refer someone for toe removal.  No, there wasn't any trauma or severe birth defect.  Just a lifetime of increasingly severe toe pain and deformity.

Are orthotics the only option?

Well, let me introduce you to an alternative that has many fervent supporters: the barefoot crowd. 
The footwear and concept behind it also goes by "minimalist" or "primal"- though there shoes are pretty high-tech and there's nothing "caveman" about it.

I was first introduced to this concept during my medical school years by a Portland functional medicine Chiropractor Tim Irving DC, and have since continued to learn more, try it out for myself and now have recommended this footwear to countless patients who have seen the same positive results for themselves.

So what is minimalist footwear
?

It is shoes that all have a few common characteristics.

First, the toes, ball of the foot and heel are all the same amount of distance from the ground. It's called "zero-drop," as in if your toes are 3mm from the ground, the ball of your foot and your heel will be as well. 
That means no heels here, ladies.

Second, the soles tend to be very thin, just a few millimeters in thickness.  To make up for that, the soles are very dense but flexible.

Third, and this is one of my personal favorite attributes, the "toe box" or part of the shoe that surrounds your toes is much wider than standard shoes.  So just the last 1/3 of the shoe (by and around the toes) is wide.

A wide toe box isn't the same thing as wide shoes, which are also wide in the arch area and even heel area.  In fact, minimalist shoes usually seek to hug the arch area and back, but are roomy in the toes.

And yes, if you're wondering, I love this feature because I have wide feet- and my toes hate being cramped.  My mother says we can blame her German side for the wide feet.  And that's ok by me.


Picture
Why? Why the weird shoe shape?

The creation of minimalist shoes stems from research and publications by Dr. William A. Rossi DPM, a podiatrist who encourages people to wear footwear that mimics natural, barefoot movements.  He has published numerous articles in major podiatrist publications about the ill effects of arch support, cushioned soles and other commonly held beliefs about shoes and their components. (see the resources section at the end for future reading)


So who's into this?


From the pro-barefoot camps came barefoot running, either literally barefoot or with minimalist running shoes.  That caused more demand in the production of barefoot running shoes, thus the majority of barefoot or minimalist shoes are athletic and geared towards runners.



So what can this minimalist footwear do for me?
(I am not a runner!)

There are a wide variety of foot, toe and ankle disorders that are caused by, or greatly worsened by our footwear.  Traditional, stiff overly supported shoes lead to toe and foot joint diseases of many types.  Some of the most commonly treated conditions by natural footwear supporters such as Dr. Ray McClanahan (Portland podiatrist) are: bunions, hammertoe, plantar faciitis, corns, calluses, sprained ankle, and even problems in other parts of the body such as knee, hip and low back pain.


Where can I find minimalist shoes?

There are a few locations in Portland such as at NW Foot & Ankle clinic, and footwear stores such as Pie Footwear and Fit Right NW- though you have to specifically ask for minimalist shoes at the stores.  The greatest variety (just like anything) will be online, Amazon mainly.

Top brands for barefoot shoes are Vivobarefoot, Vibrams, Altra and Lems.  If you want to try out this type of footwear, make sure you inspect the shoes for those features I listed above.  Many other companies have jumped on this band wagon and offer their version of "minimalist shoes" such as the Adidias Adipure "minimalist" shoes that have a miserably squished toe box and cheap foam non "zero drop" sole.  Because these phrases aren't trade marked, there's a lot of fakes out there.


Can I just start wearing minimalist shoes tomorrow? 
(my friend tried those and said her feet hurt afterward)

Since this article just explaining minimalist shoes ended up being far longer than anticipated, the following article will be devoted to reviewing a few brand from personal experience, along with tips and tricks to wear minimalist shoes without suffering any transitional aches and pains.  This will be particularly helpful for you who want to wear minimalist shoes in everyday life and those exercise activities besides running (because I am not a runner and there are countless barefoot running blogs, experts and clubs out there).


Thank you for reading, and as always please don't hesitate to ask me any questions.
'Til next time,
Dr. Angela



Resources:
Dr. Rossi's articles
Dr. McClanahan's explanation of natural foot shape and his use of corrective toe braces, Correct Toes, in conjunction with minimalist shoes.


photo credits: http://minimalistrunningshoes.org/vivobarefoot-gobi
1 Comment
https://calgarypodiatry.ca/
4/3/2023 08:07:56 pm

Awesome! Thanks for sharing this information. And if you want to gain more insights into feet surgeries, treatments, and appropriate exercises, you can visit this site https://calgarypodiatry.ca/

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    I'm Dr. Eloise Cortal, and I want to help you and your joints feel their very best.
    Get on my email list!

    Archives

    August 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    November 2023
    October 2023
    August 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    August 2022
    August 2021
    July 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011

    Categories

    All
    Acupuncture
    Acute
    Advertising
    Allergies
    Alternative
    Alzheimer's
    Anti Inflammatory
    Anti-inflammatory
    Antipyretic
    Anxiety
    Appreciation
    Asprin
    Attention
    Autism
    Babies
    Birth Defects
    Bitters
    Blood Sugar
    Body
    Bone Density
    Bone Fractures
    Calcium
    Cam
    Cancer
    Carcinogen
    Cell Phone
    Chemicals
    Children
    Chronic
    Chronic Disease
    Cortisol
    Crops
    Day
    Daylight
    Dementia
    Depression
    Diabetes
    Diet
    Digestion
    Disease
    Dry Cleaning
    Eating
    Energy
    Environmental Exposure
    Epilepsy
    Exercise
    Exposure
    Fever
    Food
    Foster United
    Fruit
    Functional
    Genetics
    Global Health
    Glycemic Index
    Glycemic Load
    Grocery
    Health
    Healthcare
    Healthcare Reform
    Healthcare Workers
    Healthy
    Heart Disease
    Heart Failure
    Heartmath
    Herbicide
    High Blood Pressure
    Hippocrates
    Hospital
    Hypertension
    Illness
    Immune Function
    Immune Response
    Infants
    Inflammation
    Insurance
    Intention
    Iq
    Iron
    Legislation
    Lifestyle
    Lunch
    Marketing
    Meals
    Medicine
    Meditation
    Melatonin
    Metabolism
    Natural
    Naturopath
    Naturopathy
    Neighborhood
    Night
    Nutrition
    Obesity
    Oregon
    Organic
    Pain Management
    Paleolithic
    Pesticide
    Pesticides
    Portland
    Pregnancy
    Primary Care
    Produce
    Publicity
    Quality
    Quiz
    Radiation
    Research
    Rhythms
    Rose City Health Clinic
    Roundup
    Seizure
    Sleep
    Stress
    Sugar
    Supplements
    Sweets
    Tai Chi
    Time Management
    Vegan
    Vegetables
    Vitamin D
    Vitamins
    Weight Loss
    Well Being
    Well-being

about the doc

Dr. Cortal's bio
Regenerative Injections Therapies (Prolotherapy & PRP)
Other Injection Therapy Services

patient info

new patient page
insurance/payment

contact

when & where

verified by healthprofs.com
Privacy Policy
© Copyright 2011-2024, Dr. Eloise Cortal

website content is for educational purposes only and is no substitute for medical advice
(see the Terms of Use Agreement for this site),

you must establish a doctor-patient relationship to receive that!

Photos from Gane, taylor dahlin, kcxd, philwirks, BaileyRaeWeaver, skampy, Christofer Andersson
  • home
    • Dr. Cortal bio
    • conditions treated
    • mission statement
    • publications
    • media page
  • Injections
    • other injection therapies >
      • trigger point injections
      • therapeutic scar injections
  • Physician Training
  • when & where
  • new patient
    • insurance
  • blog
  • testimonials