Barefoot running

Dear Jaguar

Although I am not a physician I have extensive experience in orthotics manufacturing and subsequent prescription of orthotics for athletic activity.

To give you some of my insight into this area I wouldn't mind taking a stab at answering a few of your questions.

In your second question you ask, ".. why should shoes be worn?" - In my opinion there is no need for shoes except in circumstances where particular injury may occur to the foot, or where performance aspects of footwear are needed.

The shoe is a simple orthotic allowing greater ambulation across various surfaces. Depending on the goal, whether working on a construction site or playing competitive basketball, a shoe would protect your foot in one instance and provide greater athletic achievement in the other. Unfortunately, we as humans spend an inordinate amount of time on man-made surfaces which are not very accomodating to the foot, therefore shoes are almost always a good idea. However, the shoe dramatically changes the dynamics of natural movement and gait thereby creating structural imbalances that can lead to acute or chronic injury.

Your 3rd question is of significant importance to me since I am currently writing a book about the subject. In my opinion it is very important to enhance the fit of the shoe and its performance aspects by supporting the foot in its strongest position, subtalar neutral, with a semi-rigid orthosis or orthotic so that the impact of force is generally distributed over and through the substantially stronger structure of the skeleton reducing the force and stress to joints where both acute and chronic injury are most likely to occur. Because most surfaces are unaccomodating and reflect forces back into the biomechanical chain rather than dissipating it, it is wise to strengthen the biomechanical elements that deal with such forces.

You see, subtalar neutral alignment is very important in natural barefoot ambulation. It requires a tensing of the muscles throughout the whole body and especially the foot, as seen when the toes of the foot are dorisflexed (lifted) and a more natural hunching of the torso is achieved while utilizing the heel less and the lateral foot more to contact the ground surface. ie.. think about how you would walk barefooted across a parking lot full of glass, or a slick surface such as that of an ice rink. The difference in mechanics should be apparent.

A good orthotic will provide excellent support for the subtalar joint, give greater stability and performance allowing better energy transfer and more powerful movement, and provide the sole of the foot greater interpretaion (proprioreception) as to what is actually happening with the foot, knee and lower back as this relates to injury prevention.

Your fourth question relates similarly to the third in that a good subtalar neutrally supportive, semi-rigid, full length orthotic provides balancing for the skeletal structure of the foot, knee and lower back thus reducing the stress on the softer tissues of the joints during weight bearing activity. It will also reduce excess movement of the joints which can cause excessive friction and wear as seen in chronic foot, knee and back ailments, and significantly reduce excess rotational movements of the tibia during pronation which can cause more acute injury as seen in Maniscus and Ligament tearing.

I hope that this information helps to answer some of your questions and perhaps provides you with a greater need for further investigation into this topic in order to share your findings with others with similar questions.

Please check out these related websites and find out about the new technology used for the fabrication of the most accurate and effective orthotics available.

www.amfit.com
www.swingreaction.com/sports2/orthotics.html

Sincerely,

Scott Cogswell
Sport Performance