Please help, fellow barefooters! For five years I’ve been barefoot. I ride my bike to work in flip-flops or converse and if a gym requires it, I’ll throw on some Vibrams. I’m not unreasonable about it -if a trail run in the mountains starts to tenderize my feet, I’ll take the Xero sandals out of my pocket. Shoe-free, I walk around my office, run stairs with my baby in a backpack, throw kettlebells, do box jumps, push a sled and sprint in the sand. Four months ago, after a long barefoot hike, I started experiencing bad heel pain. I assumed that I got bruised on a rock since it’s happened before. But when it got worse, I discovered I had plantar fasciitis. Desperate, I went to a podiatrist who of course blamed it on my barefoot lifestyle and aging (I’m 43). She said the “padding” had worn down in my heel and the fascia was now inflamed. She put me in super-padded running shoes, a bunch of anti-inflamatories and I started physical therapy (ice, mobility, ultrasound, electric stim). A month later I went in for a cortisone shot which helped. I still feel it, but it’s not unbearable like it was. I got out of the super-spongey shoes and into some Innov8’s (3mm and 0 rise) that I wear daily and to train in. Still no jumping, running, etc. because I’m so nervous about it regressing back to where I could barely walk or hold my baby. There was a general consensus that flip-flops are horrible, so those are gone. Any other barefooter’s have experience with this otherwise shod-person’s problem? I had the sense that the podiatrist had little to no idea what she was talking about.
Posted on: Tue, 02 Dec 2014 01:51:57 +0000
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