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I envy the feet and ankles of people who can do that. It would hobble me.
I have orthotics now and boy would I love to not have them. If there was something I could have done to fix my feet without orthotics (or foot crack as I like to think of them), I'd try it first.
Why don't you like them?
I've seen barefoot runners suffer mid way through marathons on very hot asphalt and in very cold conditions. I've seen others be just fine with both. Not for me though. I like my Hookas.<boing>
But, it's possible the flat arches aren't the issue the chiro is suggesting.
1. Chiro's also routinely diagnosis leg length discrepancy even though you can't accurately diagnosis it on physical exam alone. No surprise that I would trust a good PT over a chiro, I suppose. That said - "fixing your arches" by barefoot runnin?
Because its a pain to find shoes that will fit them, when you do find shoes that fit them I find that they're tippy - I can't tell you the number of times I've rolled over on my ankle because of the extra height and instability they cause. Its a pain having to move your orthotic from shoe to shoe. And because your feet get trained to the orthotic, it becomes difficult to walk without them. I've become very limited in the types of sandles I can wear now - birkenstocks, some Nike's, Chacos, etc. Essentially only things that come with built in arches will provide the support I need. Crocs on the other hand work very well - if you can handle looking goofy. If you wear women's dress shoes you'll need a second pair - one for dress shoes and one for active shoes (runners). That would be another $300 or so for me up here.
I totally gave up on custom orthotics. I generally wear 7 - 7.5 in regular shoes and 8 or sometimes 8.5 in running shoes. I had to go up to 9 in running shoes! And my heels slipped even more (bigger shoe and sitting higher)I like the New Balance inserts, and the one I have been using worked really well in my old running shoes, but is not working in my newer ones - probably because the shoes fit slightly better, which puts my feet in a slightly different position on the insert. The inserts have never worked in my casual shoes, even those with removable insoles. They raise my feet up just enough...I hate my Birks. They are only sandals I have with metatarsal support but they are really hard and irritate the bone at the base of my little toe. And the suede rubs blisters in random places.
Dansko clogs?
The people who seem to benefit the most from bare foot running are the ones who do small amounts a couple times a week. Like a mile or two, then the rest of the time wear shoes. I had orthotics but prefer the Sole Heat Moldable insoles, work better than orthotics, imo. I am also a maximus shoe lover.
I'm a big boy, I did the barefoot running thing for a whole summer wearing 5-fingers and loved it. I never got hurt and to this day it changed my stride from being a heel striker to landing on my forefoot. My issue wasn't one of injury, in fact this was the only way that I never got hurt, instead my calves could not keep up with me and would cramp up. My feet got much stronger, and my arch increased with that strength. I also spent a lot of time walking around in the 5 fingers and really preferred them to shoes. That said, I run in Gel Kyanos these days. I would suggest just adding some very light running barefoot at first, half mile nice and easy once a week to start to strengthen those muscles before you do too much barefoot.Also, I would never trust a chiro to diagnose anything.
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Topic: flat feet and barefoot running (Read 29816 times)
