Barefoot Shoes Explained | Physical Therapist Perspective

I’m pushing 70 and have significant cervical and lumbar spine stenosis and bulging discs. I’ve been a barefoot babe all of my life and haven’t worn heels in years. I frequently wear Birkenstock’s and when I recently got a pair of minimalist shoes and I put them on I told my husband how comfortable they are. I had bought a traditional pair of wide width sneakers before the barefoot shoes and they were so uncomfortable that I sent them back. I guess my widening feet are due to being barefoot.

I have a mild bunion on my left foot that hurt a lot in normal shoes. I switched to barefoot shoes (Xero) and no longer have pain. HOWEVER, I cannot wear normal shoes now without even more pain.

I developed a bunion after a fractured tibia. I was hoping these would help , guess no or well...

I've been wearing a pair of Vivo shoes for 3 days now, I was on my feet at work for about 20 hours in them. I brought my old shoes as backups but even though my feet were aching quite a bit I kept them on. The first day it was mainly the balls of feet aching and my calves getting used to the extra range of motion because I was walking like was literally barefoot by planting my toes first. Second day it was actually harder on my heels than the first because I relaxed a bit too much and my gait returned to normal. Third day (today) I began to notice myself walking in a way I've never really walked before, it was what Dr. Tang here said, that you plant just before your heel - while my feet still ached at the end of the day today it wasn't anything like day one and at no point was I feeling pensive about walking around.

I'm glad to see you suggest such shoes, they aren't cheap but they seem beneficial, my feet are already stronger. The moment I sat down tonight when I got home my feet relaxed, before I even took them off. Not like with other shoes where after I take them off my feet feel like they have to spread out a bit before I can relax them entirely. It is also good to see that you didn't say much about arch support in these shoes, it makes sense to me because arched feet are entirely natural, and if my feet are feeling strong it stands to reason my arches wouldn't be affected negatively by these shoes.

Thanks for the video.

I have the flattest feet and have had a life long issue finding shoes that dont hurt after a few hours. Because of that im barefoot as much as i can be. Been looking into if we have weakened our feet in the long run with current shoe designs. Another reason why im looking for more options is stairs. I dont know if this is everyone but going up stairs barefoot my pinky toe instinctively moves outward for more area to grip/stand on and when wearing shoes i can feel said toe pushing against the side trying to do what it normally does. Im not an anti shoe hippie by any means or some crazy conspiracy person, need them for types of terrain and weather but just questioning if we have been sticking with a poor design for so many years given how many foot and knee injuries could be caused by our current shoes.

I used to wear the fivefingers all the time, I eventually moved away because walking on hard surfaces like concrete gets tiring. Nowadays I hike in a minimal approach style shoe. I've been looking at barefoot shoes for the slackline though.

I've been using barefoot shoes for a couple of months. I use toe separators with them to speed up the process of reshaping my foot. It's a process.

If you already have bunion or plantar fasciitis barefoot shoes are very bad for the foot. It comes from a personal experience and has taken me three months of physio to partially recover from the damages done to my foot by wearing barefoot shoes. Always get proper advice before committing to wearing these shoes.

Not Dr. Michael 🐂💩 Tang!!

I like barefoot shoes when out on trails. But not when walking on pavement or standing on hard floors at work all day. My feet are not designed for ultra hard, super flat ground with no variation.

I don’t know about all the science and data, but in my real world use my feet feel much better after 8 miles of walking in a flat shoe that they do wearing my work shoes over an 8 hour day.

I just ordered bare foot shoes, bc I always walk barefoot at home. And everytime I undo my feet of my shoes I feel relieved.

My military combat boots DESTROYED my feet. Switched to minimalist and boom, i got iron feet

I heard about this concept a few years ago. But I have high arches, so I figured I need arch support. Maybe not…
I am still considering my first pair of barefoot shoes. I think my favorite part is the zero drop aspect. I have a pair of casual boots that have a minimal drop and I will wear those on the weekends. But come Monday morning when I put on my work boots with a higher heel, I feel it in my calves and lower back. That’s why I am considering barefoot, to make my lower back stop working to find a new center of gravity.

Barefoot shoes may not heal bunions, but they definitely take away the pain!

Way too expensive 🤧

I wore toe spacers for one hour and already felt it in my legs and all the way up to my neck 😳 not saying that's a good thing or not but it sure proved to me that what's happening to your toes is affecting your entire skeletal system

Hey Doc, I have to say that your squatting form doesn't look good at all!!
And instead of wearing shoes that ``hide your weaknesses``as u say, I recommend u to look up the root of your problem :)
Peace, my friend and thanks for ur videos!!!

I'm going to be asking my doctor in a couple weeks if he thinks changing to barefoot would improve my knees and lower back. I'm looking at pairs of shoes and there are some pretty decent looking ones for the price of 60 bucks. It looks super cheap to just to try for a while

After going to barefoot shoes my lower back pain disappeared in just 2 hours, a muscle injury behind the knee that I had for 3 months healed in 15 days of wearing barefoot shoes. First day I was heelstriking a lot and my knees really felt it but in a week everything was fine and could already run a mile with minimal discomfort. Just don't overdo it if you very incomfortable.

It has really helped with my posture. Really liking it so far with the barefoot shoes. :)

I wonder which barefoot you like best?

Sarebbe l'ideale si potesse seguire con i sottotitoli in italiano!

the food is the lowest part of the body whit all the weight on each food... strangthen your feed is so ecentiell. stay flexi!

where shohed you start?

from Cyndi
I am an 87 yr old woman and have been walking every day in barefoot shoes for 9 mos.
After 2 mos., my standard sneakers felt really weird, so I donated most of them to charities.
Am very happy that I made the transition. My balance has improved. If anyone wants to try these shoes and doesn't want to spend a lot of money up front, you can buy an inexpensive water shoe to see if no-support shoes work for you. That's what I did.

I just walk barefoot all the time. Or flipflops. Makes more sense

So what you’re saying is crocs

Looks like flip flops would do the same thing

Nice video. I like your candidness about these shoes exposing weaknesses. I love mine for working out, but for running its a recipe for calf strain every freaking time. Crazy thing is I went up a full shoe size after wearing Xeros for awhile.

So, when performing loaded squats, do the lifting shoes place more stress on anterior knees/patellar tendon? Just curious.

Ive been walking with converse vans etc my whole life i bought a pair of vivo primus lite knits to the gym but when i tried them outside the shoes stayed on my feet ever since i didnt have to get used to walking in them i just felt my feet was relaxed now i need a few new pairs

Took me a year to adjust to minimalist shoes.
Accidentally got into the minimalist shoes when my wife got me a funny looking Vivobarefoot. Started wearing it in the same way as a "standard" shoe without the knowledge that it's a minimalist shoes and it hurt... a lot!
Eventually learnt more about these shoes and started being mindful how to use them until it became muscle memory.

Today I have replaced all of my shoes to minimalist. Also noticed my toes had splayed since changing shoes.

any thoughts about whether or not barefoot shoes make sense for planar fasciitis?

"Barefoot shoe" is both a misnomer and an oxymoron.

Omg, so I have plantar fascititis. I got some zero drop shoes. Any other shoe your toes are squished in. I put the zero drop shoes on and instant relief. It's definitely weird and my calfs are tight because I feel like I need to relearn how to place my feet on the ground. I'm done with regular shoes

Dude did you ever go to la fitness in Pembroke Pines 184 next to the Walmart lol I swear I’ve met you before

I know this is kinda of an old video, but I would like your input on something:
I've heard people arguing that using running shoes in day to day life is not a good idea orthopedically because running shoes are curved upwards on the front, making our toes be curved instead of flat, like they should be when you are not running.
What are your thoughts on that?

Want to try these but both my podiatrist and PT said avoid them. However, I used to always walk around barefoot in the yard and in our house (wood floors and carpet). I got Plantar Fasciitis about 7 months ago and it got compounded with Achilles Tendonitis and a trapped nerve. I've spend a fortune in orthotics, extra support shoes (New Balance, Hoka, Birkenstock, Taos and Aertex). Spent 6 weeks in a boot and 4 weeks on a knee scooter since the doctor wanted me to be completely non-weight bearing. After all of this, plus 4 weeks of PT, my feet felt like they were getting worse instead of better. The tendonitis has resolved with stretching thankfully. My daughter has been wearing barefoot shoes (although she didn't have foot problems) so I have been watching the videos but this was the first one I've seen from a medical professional.

the guy that makes videos about squatting made a weightlifting shoe that has a larger toe box, i wonder if this doctor knows about it already

You need to gradually transition to barefoot shoes and also do exercises to correct any weaknesses in your feet. Wearing regular shoes weakens and distorts our feet so it takes time and work to adjust. It's worth it.

Доктор, да у вас плоскостопие.

I grew up walking barefoot alot and regular shoes have always been uncomfortable for me. I got my first barefoot shoes recently and so far has been amazing

There are two reasons to have barefoot shoes. One it’s not socially acceptable to walk around barefoot (which is a tragedy) two if it is cold or you want just a little bit more protection from the ground and you don’t want to jam your beautiful feet in goofy normal people shoes.

You work for big shoe company.

I’m on day 3 of wearing Xero shoes and they have been pretty good so far. I walk on concrete for a good portion of my day and my heels have not hurt at all in them yet. When with my old shoes my heels would hurt by the end of my shift