Healthy Feet
Shoes can make a huge difference in your overall health, your movement, and your longterm quality of life as you age.
Articles on Feet and Shoes by Karin
- Minimalism: Put Your Shoes to the Test 4-page article published in the Rolf Journal of Structural Integration, March 2018. Aimed at practitioners, yet easy to read. It includes some anatomy terms.
- Healthy Shoe Choices: 2 page simplified article, published in WalkAbout Portland magazine, October 2010.
Videos on Foot Health, Running Technique, and More
- Correct Toes Video Library: Free, short videos on many foot conditions, exercises, shoes, etc.
- Minimalist
Mondays: Free videos on
warm-ups and techniques for safe running. Focuses on minimal shoes, or
barefoot, but helpful for all runners.
Books on Foot Health
- Anatomy for Runners: Book by Jay Dicharry PT. Scientific yet easy-to-understand explanations of foot health, shoe performance, and holistic strengthening to make running safe and healthy. Great color pictures yet not expensive.
- Born to Run: Book by Christopher McDougall. An engaging story of tribe in Mexico who are ultrarunners, using nothing but a handmade sandle for 3-day races. Compelling argument against modern running shoes. Very complimentary to the material I teach in the Shoe Clinic.
Local Resources for Healthy Feet and Shoes
- Pie Footwear (NE Alberta): My favorite store for minimalist shoes (wide toe, flexible flat soles).
- Northwest Foot & Ankle: Podiatrist Ray McClanahan is my primary source for holistic advice about choosing shoes and treating foot problems, especially for runners, walkers, and hikers. They have a small shoe store (appointments recommended) and they give some free advice.
Favorite Shoe Brands
- Lems:
This classic minimalist shoe offers the widest toebox, and soft,
flexible, flat soles.
- Vivobarefoot:
Minimalist shoe with a great toebox and many cute styles. Good for "low
volume" feet (feet that are not very tall top-to-bottom in the middle
of the foot).
- FeelBarefoot:
Adorable shoes handmade in Turkey, yet affordable with fast shipping.
- Altra: Great toebox. This is not a minimalist shoe, as it has a thick sole, which interrupts the foot's ability to sense the ground - please choose only the thinner sole models. Altra is best for for someone with a foot injury that can't tolerate the flexibility of the above brands.
- Splay Shoes - Affordable, lighweight casual shoe, good toebox. Child size 8 up to Men's 13.
Shoes
for Children
This list is a work in progress,
and I appreciate feedback from parents as you try these brands. The priorities for kids' shoes are:
- Abundant toe space, to allow the big toe to be aligned with the inside of the foot. That means the shoe should not narrow between the ball of the foot and the end of the toes
- Flexibility to allow a child's foot to be able to bend it.
- A thin sole so they can feel the ground through the shoe, to develop the foot muscles for the arches, ankle strength, and balance control.
- Soft Star: Moccasins, shoes. Top pick, made sustainably in Corvallis, Oregon
- Freshly Picked: Moccasins, like Robeeze but bigger sizes
- Pedoodles: Up to age 3 only
- Stonzwear: All-weather booties for up to age 5
- Chooze Shoes: Shoes and boots
- Vivobarefoot: Sneakers, shoes, dress shoes, boots
- Altra Zero Drop: Sneakers, choose the models with the thinnest soles
- Unshoes: Sandals
- Teva: Sports sandal - choose thinner soles, such as Hurricane or Tirra models
- Zem Gear: Sneakers
- Pediped: Sneakers, shoes, sandals, boots
- Camper: Boots, shoes, dress shoes, slippers
- Skidders: Shoes, boots, grippy socks, sold at Famous Footwear and Target
- Cat
& Jack: $10-20 at Target. Remove foam
wedge under sole.
Bend shoe bacakwards to flatten "toespring." Avoid the cowboy
boots and dress
shoes with
less toe space.
- Splay Shoes - Affordable, lighweight casual shoe, good toebox. Child size 8 up to Men's 13.
Scientific
Studies About Minimalist Footwear
- New Running Study: Shows that running in highly cushioned shoes amplifies impact loading (which is associated with the risk of osteoarthritis).
- Barefoot Walking Study: Shows that barefoot walking results in less weight load into the knee, (and therefore a decreased risk of osteoarthritis). Danskos and motion-controlling athletic shoes performed badly, while minimalistic shoes performed almost as well as bare feet.
- Barefoot Running Study: Compared running in bare feet vs. athletic shoes. Synopsis and video.
