I had this question posed on my FB wall from a professional colleague.
Thought I would use it as an interesting insight into how we might change our reference point with clients….
What do you think?
Matt, what do you think about the roller soled shoes? They work the foot in a triplanar fashion and the ground reaction force moves up the kinetic chain improving posture and circulation. A therapist recommended I get them. I waited and just go a mimic from sketcher's called shape ups. They currently appear to be worthy of recommending them to some of my patients. I need to study them a little more. The only down fall I can foresee is that they disconnect the body from true gravitational forces. It is important that we experience the bones in our feet touch true ground without interference of a rubber shoe. I suspect that is one reason you have all patients take off their shoes and ambulate.
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Tags: awareness, ergonomics, mindful therapeutic exercise, mindfulness in rehabilitation
The answer to a lot of the “whys” you ask above is quite simple. Since the foot evolved over millions of years in a world with no roads or sidewalks, it’s clear that it is massively over-engineered for the way it is used in a world where the uneven surfaces have all been leveled and paved. In addition to that, we reduce the foot’s sensory feedback by wearing shoes.
When the adaptability and sensitivity of the foot is no longer needed for locomotion, proprioception and the deeper muscles that support the arches inevitably weaken, eventually leaving only the superficial, non-contractile plantar fascia responsible for preventing total collapse of the foot.
I’ve used the MBT shoe as a way of re-introducing the foot to “uneven terrain” and re-awakening clients to a fuller sensory-motor potential. I don’t think of them as shoes, though, but as re-training devices that are worn on the foot. Ultimately, it’s not about the shoe – it’s about how the foot behaves in the shoe – any shoe.
They didn’t work for me personally. I have forefoot issues(long 2nd metatarsals and an old injury to the right 2nd MT-P joint) and found the MBT shoes to be excruciating painful, agravating this old injury.
I have friends who swear by them!
Matt, Leslie
Thank you for your comments. Yes, the current environment of level pavement and stiff soled shoes are contributors to the dulling of the sole sense, however determining the answers to those “why” questions on an individual basis is just as important as well. Training tools–yes, but then I also ask, at what expense? I do not recommend these shoes to my clients as I have found that the good intentions of new awareness through these shoes as learning tools just brings me more patterns of dysfunction to work with and unecessary costs. I prefer to work with my clients to encourage new sensitivity and awareness so that they can then adapt to their old shoes with new insights and a fresh perspective on their footsteps on the pavement out the door.
This is my first visit here, but I will be back soon, because I really like the way you are writing, it is so simple and honest