What are the Risks of Wearing Minimalist Barefoot Running Shoes?

If you are a running, you have likely witnessed the trend towards minimalist or barefoot running shoes. You may be wondering what are the risks of these minimalist running shoes.  The bottom line is that Minimalist Barefoot Running Shoes help strengthen your feet, but you MUST carefully monitor your time using them.

Here’s a very good article I cam across in Runner’s World.

My favourite line is “Using them more than 35 percent of the time can raise injury risk, particularly if you have increased body mass,” Fuller wrote in an email to Runner’s World. “Namely, the ankle and metatarsals come under extreme stress when using minimalist shoes on such a consistent basis.”

For years, I have been telling patients that minimalistic shoes are a great way to increase intrinsic muscle strength, but not for full time use or on hard surfaces. Whatever your position on barefoot running/minimalist running shoes, the article is definitely worth a read.

If you are having foot pain in Vancouver and would like some help, please contact our office for a consultation. No referral is necessary.