A Footwear Experiment

Barefoot is still the best!

It's been five plus years since my last post. I've been busy with life, and through many changes: fledging a young adult into the world, retirement, learning to make mosaics, becoming a watercolor painter in earnest. And through it all, my knees and feet have survived pretty darn well.

Watercolor sketching at the beach 

Last year I unwittingly did a foot experiment. My feet had been feeling great, so I gradually wore other normal shoes more and more, and my Vibrams less and less. Nothing crazy, no high heels. But not my Veebs. Eventually I noticed that my feet were hurting, mostly in the ball of the foot. The pain became more and more persistent until I could no longer avoid it. I tried lots of things: massage, epsom salt foot baths, ice, rest. Those things helped a bit, but the pain wouldn't go away.

A lovely beach hike

Then I finally realized that I had stopped wearing the Vibrams altogether.  I put them back on. Wore them for one day. And after just one day, the pain was gone!

My four favorite pairs of Vibrams: all Komodos

So now I make sure to wear them at least a few days a week. My foot muscles need exercise, just like the other muscles in my body. And they need stretching, and massage, some tender loving care every so often.

One of my favorite places to walk

I'm still an avid fan of "The Veebs."  My Vibram shoes have proven to be a lifesaver for me. I'm now on my fifth or sixth pair of Vibrams. It's definitely time to buy a new pair!

A New Kind of Torture

As they say on one wise website, runbare.com, "If you’re smiling, your doing something right and if not, then stop, rest, and recollect."

My new kind of torture is the pain in the ball of my foot.  This pain is mostly in the left foot.  It comes with every step.  In mid-November, it was starting to bother me, so I started listening to my feet.

What did I do?  I switched from my Vibrams and Vivo Barefoots back to New Balance running shoes and Clarks some days.  I added padded insoles.  Removed a corn.  Rested as much as possible.  Which is hard to do when you teach elementary school, and trying to keep tabs on all 30 students for 6 hours.  I iced, I massaged, I soaked in the hot tub.

In early December, I decided I was rested enough to go on a hike.  Thinking this was just a 3 mile jaunt, I was optimistic, so wore my veebs but brought my running shoes just in case.  Ooh, man!  It turned out to be 6+ miles, and steep trails.  I cried the last half of the hike.  Haven't been able to go for a hike or even a walk since.

Luckily, I loooove to swim, so I'm still active a few times a week.  I also had two weeks off for the holidays, and cancelled the plans to walk around San Francisco and hike the hills.  Lots of movies, reading, and crafting.  Back at school this month, I use my rolling chair and my stool as much as possible.  I sit on desks, tables and counters whenever I can, reminding my students that only I can do this, because I'm an "old lady." 

But it's getting me down.  Yes, even sunny, optimistic me.  Pain can do that.  I've spent some sleepless nights, laying there wondering what I'm going to do for the next fifty years if I can't hike or walk.  At the end of a long day teaching, especially after a field trip, my temper tends to flare as the soles of my feet throb with every step.

What now? 
The torture continues. 

I've thought of going back to the podiatrist, but she was the one who told me there was no therapy, that I would have hammertoes, and eventually surgery.  She convinced me to order expensive custom orthotics that make my toes float in the shoe, so I can't avoid walking the old heel-strike way. Besides, they don't fit in any of my shoes.  I may consider talking to her again, but only after doing my own research. 

So today I dug out my old over-the-counter orthotics with the metatarsal bump that I bought at Footwear over a year ago.  Some relief.  Icing and resting more.  And doing some online research. 

Anybody out there have an answer?

Count Your Blessings

There's nothing worse than not being able to walk. 

Well, maybe there is something worse.  Not being able to see would be pretty lousy, and not being able to talk would really put a cramp in my style.  But in all of my fifty years, the times I've felt the most depressed were the times I couldn't go for a walk.

So, on when I'm feeling down and hopeless, I need to remember, at least I can walk now.  And some day, when I can no longer walk, I will still be able to swim, or draw, or sew, or read, or talk, or SOMETHING. 

It's always a good time to count your blessings.

Don't Lose Hope; Follow Your Passions

Sometimes we are motivated by the most unlikely events or people.  Other times we have such a strong intrinsic motivation that outside forces do not easily dissuade us.

This week Sir John Gurdon won the Nobel prize in physiology or medicine with Shinya Yamanaka for their work as pioneers in stem cell research.  Mr. Gurdon was not encouraged by his teachers to be a scientist.  On the contrary, his dreams were dismissed as "ridiculous."

 Gurdon school report, aged 15

"I believe Gurdon has ideas about becoming a scientist; on his present showing this is quite ridiculous; if he can't learn simple biological facts he would have no chance of doing the work of a specialist, and it would be a sheer waste of time, both on his part and of those who would have to teach him." bbc.co.uk/news/health

View this Sir John Gurdon video.

This story brings to mind my experience with a Spanish professor in college.  I was a Spanish major, and loved speaking Spanish in high school, but had very little success in Dr. Lopez's class.  I was nowhere near ready to discuss literary criticism of the works of Federico García Lorca or Don Quijote.  I decided to take a semester in Bogotá, Colombia to immerse myself in the language and culture.  When I asked Dr. Lopez for a letter of recommendation, he laughed at me. "Susan, you will never learn Spanish."  Rather than be dissuaded by his lack of confidence, I knew I had to prove him wrong.  And I did.  Upon returning to the U.S. after my semester abroad, I approached my old professor and showed him how my Spanish had improved, no thanks to him.

As a patient, I continue to reject the prognosis of my podiatrist.  She examined my sore and swollen feet, and she told me there was no way to prevent the onset of hammertoes.  She asserted that my toes would eventually curl up permanently, my foot pad would move forward and stop protecting the ball of my foot, and I would eventually need surgery.  I am proving her wrong.  My foot strength and flexibility continue to improve through "barefoot walking."  My vibrams continue to be my shoes of choice for walking, hiking, even for work.

As a teacher, this story reminds me to encourage my students in their passions, and to withhold judgement about their future abilities.  For goodness sake, my kids are only 9 and 10 years old.  Their brains and bodies are developing at an astounding rate.  Each one develops his or her academic and social skills at a different rate.  A student may not be successful in a certain area this year, but later may jump ahead of the pack.  Why dissuade them from following their passions?  What I want to do is feed their dreams, encourage their growth, and push them on to higher heights.

Love My Foam Roller!

I've been pretty good about doing my leg exercises daily.  When I'm consistently building muscle in my thighs and calves, I tend to have less knee pain (patellofemoral and torn menisci).  The last two days, I've been almost pain-free.  And didn't wear my knee bandage or take any meds!

But with muscle-building come muscle knots and soreness, and sometimes less flexibility.   I was reminded by a coworker to use massage on the aching legs.  Enter my magical friend: Rollo the foam roller.

The foam roller lives in my living room, right next to my yoga mat and my exercise ball.  I see it every morning and evening, but I ignore it.  So thank you to that friend for the reminder!  I'm using Rollo again.

from runnersfeed.com

On the calves.  Aaaah.
On the quadriceps and hamstrings.  Aaaah.
On the IT band.  Aaaaouchaaaaah.

What's the IT band?  The iliotibial band runs from the outside of the hip down to the knee.
According to Wikipedia, "The iliotibial band is a superficial thickening of tissue on the outside of the knee, extending from the outside of the pelvis, over the hip and knee, and inserting just below the knee. The band is crucial to stabilizing the knee during running, moving from behind the femur to the front while walking."

Here's a short IT Band video from SparkPeople.com.  I also use it on my midback, and even my neck.  I roll over the roller until I find the sore knotted muscle, and stay there for 30 to 60 seconds, breathing through the pain.  A great way to start and end the day.

This Running Times article by Clint Verran explains the importance of massage, and shows several foam roller poses with photos.  Of course, anyone can have muscle knots, not just runners.  We walkers and swimmers get them, too.  Even sedentary types get those knots in their shoulders and back, from poor posture and/or stress.

I like Clint's key points for foam roller exercise:

"1. Roll back and forth across the painful or stiff area for 60 seconds.
2. Spend extra time directly over the knot or trigger point itself.
3. Roll the injured area two to three time a day. For prevention of injuries, two to three times a week is recommended.
4. Avoid rolling over bony areas.
5. Always stretch the area following foam rolling."

 I bought Rollo at my health care provider for $25, but have found some online for as little as $8.95.

Time to go party with Matty (the yoga mat) and Rollo!

A New Kind of Pain

I've been in denial.  So what else is new?

For the past couple of months I've had a new pain in my feet.  I'm used to getting toe cramps and cramps in the arch of my foot.  I like to think of these as good pain, as in "No pain, no gain."  I'm giving my feet a workout every day, so of course the muscles are going to be cramped and sore sometimes.  Massage and ice usually take care of these.

But this new pain has worried me.  It's a sharper pain, and it's in the top of the foot.  Initially just in the right foot, but now in both.  I thought it might be from overworking my feet, because I wore my minimal shoes all summer, and walked so much on vacation.  I iced my foot a few times, and wore regular shoes(my old Clarks) for a few days.  It seemed to help.

When the pain returned, I became more concerned.  What if I'm doing some permanent harm to my feet?  What if all this barefoot walking stuff is baloney?

I considered going to the doctor.  I should go to the doctor for a pain I'm worried about, right?  But the podiatrist is the one who told me my feet were hopeless, that I was fated to suffer debilitating hammertoes which would someday require surgery.  She's the one who told me there was nothing I could do to stop it.  So what's she going to tell me?  I can just hear it, "Those silly five finger shoes are not supportive enough.  You need to wear custom orthotic inserts.  And get ready for surgery."  Of course, this is just what I imagine, but really, she doesn't know much about barefoot walking.

Susan, you've gone rogue, remember?  You are NOT willing to give up on these feet.  You're on your own.

So I started paying attention to this pain.  I treated it just like my chronic mid-back pain, and my occasional shoulder pain.  To my morning ritual of yoga stretches and leg exercises, I added icing the top of my foot.  I iced it before bed.  And I took 600 mg of ibuprofen 3 times a day to reduce swelling.  I even added a gentle stretch: while standing, I curl the toes of one foot under and hold it for a count of 30.  And guess what?  The pain is greatly diminished.  Not gone, mind you, but manageable.  And at age 50, that's the best I can hope for, right?

Reminds me of a Louis CK shtick about his ankle when he turned 40. 

Louis CK

I'm going to go ice my foot now.

Barefoot Walking Video

For the walkers out there, here's a video for you.  I got tired of watching barefoot running videos, and decided to make my own walking vid. 

How to stretch your feet, massage, and walk barefoot (or almost barefoot) without hurting yourself.
Start slow!

Let me know what you think!
I appreciate all comments.

Walk Like the Tarahumara

I am no runner. I've tried running, ran track in high school, ran with friends in college, but I didn't like it much, and running didn't seem to like me.


So why am I reading about barefoot running? Well, there's precious little information out there on barefoot walking, while barefoot running is all the rage. The physics of both are very similar. And so are the benefits.

 I'm reading about my new shoes, my huaraches, and found this fascinating video about the Tarahumara Indians of Mexico, the people who run hundreds of miles barefoot or in huarache sandals. If you're not a runner, bear with it. The information about wearing less supportive shoes is useful for all of us who want to avoid knee and foot injuries.

Video: The Tarahumara

So what do you think of barefoot walking?
Already tried it and love it? 
Hate it?

Think it sounds ridiculous?
Risky?
Nuts?

Have an experience or advice to share?

Leave a comment and let me know. 

Thanks!
~Susan

A Real Barefoot Walk

Tying up the cherry tomato

Dirt washes off!

 

Cool grass

My first barefoot day!  I gardened barefoot.  When the concrete got too hot, I stepped on the soft, cool grass or the dirt.  I finally had to stop because it became too hot to work outside. 94ºF.

Ahhh!

Later in the day, I took my first really barefoot walk around the neighborhood.  I've been walking in "barefoot shoes" for several months, so I'm used to the different gait, but this was a completely different experience.

When walking barefoot, it's very important to walk softly.  You very quickly learn to avoid heelstrike, which is landing heel first.  With cushioned shoes, we normally do land heel first, so it takes awhile to relearn how to walk.  I've searched for good barefoot walking videos, and have found none that were helpful.  Lots of barefoot running videos, but I'm not a runner.  It helps to watch barefoot running, though, because you see the idea.  As my dad, the track coach, says, "Your heels just kiss the ground."

•shorter strides
•your foot lands under your body, not in front
•you land first on the ball of your foot, then the rest of the foot comes down
•your foot acts as a shock absorber

(from birthdayshoes.com, originally from trackertrail.com)

One really helpful description was found on birthdayshoes.com.  They liken barefoot walking to walking like a native american tracker.  This is called fox walking.

By far the best barefoot walking site I've found is runbare.com by Jessica Lee and Michael Sandler.  They explain better than I ever could the benefits of going barefoot.  And their site gave me the push I needed to start REALLY going barefoot.

Smooth concrete

The most challenging element yesterday was the ground surface.  I have always been a tenderfoot.  I remember as a kid trying to walk barefoot across the gravel driveway, "Ouch, ouch! Ouch! ouch!"  I found that walking on the sidewalk was fairly easy.  I just had to look out for sticks and other sharp objects.

Smooth concrete squares felt so much nicer than rough concrete.  Who knew?

Regular concrete

Ouchie asphalt street

The trouble was the asphalt.  It has those big chunks of gravel mixed in, for a very rough surface.  So every time I had to cross the street, "Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!"  Sometimes a little particle of sand or gravel would stick to the bottom of my foot and irritate it, and I'd have to brush off the particle on the grass or stones.




The most amusing moment: when two little kids on bicycles exclaimed, "She's going barefoot!"

Here's hoping my feet get tougher fast!

The Foot Bone's Connected to the...

The Anatomy of the Foot 

I recently read that the knee is quite complex, because it has so many tendons and ligaments, and allows us to move in so many different ways.  Many human joints are intricate, but the foot is by far the most complex.  If you don't believe me, consider this: the foot contains 26 bones, 106 ligaments, 19 or 20 muscles, and 38 to 40 tendons.  Wow.

This video by Dr. Nabil A. Ebraheim illustrates well the complexity of the foot:

No wonder it's hard to design shoes to support our feet! 

So I'm not supposed to wear shoes?  That's not what my doctor told me!

As it turns out, wearing shoes may have helped to cause my foot and knee problems.  And many doctors, physical therapists, and podiatrists may not know about options other than orthotics and surgery.

The shoe paradox, according to Adam Sternbergh's article "You Walk Wrong" in New York Magazine, is that "wearing shoes simply creates the need for wearing shoes."  Or, as my sister once told me, our feet started to atrophy the moment we started wearing shoes.

Schierlitz, Tom. You Walk Wrong. By Adam Sternbergh.  New York Magazine April 21, 2008. Makeup John Maurad and Jenai Chin. 

In a study conducted at Rush University Medical Center, walking barefoot or with minimalist shoes could be healthier for more than just our feet. Dr. Najia Shakoor, the principal author of the study, says, "Our study demonstrated that flat, flexible footwear significantly reduces the load on the knee joints compared with supportive, stable shoes with less flexible soles."  So there's scientific evidence to support the knee/foot/shoe connection.

Next blog entry: What Shoes to Buy

Sisterly Advice

After crying, I cursed.  After cursing, I thought about my options.  My most productive thinking happened at 2 or 3 in the morning, as it is wont to do.  I thought about my mom's foot surgeries some years back, and the pain and diminished mobility those surgeries caused.  When Mom had her first surgery, those pointy-toed dress shoes went to Good Will, and I swore I would not let that happen to my feet.  For the past 15 years I have been wearing what I thought were healthy shoes.  I'll buy used, cheap clothing, but usually spend around $100 for good quality footwear.

So I was flabbergasted.  How could this happen to me, the sensible shoe person?

Then I remembered that last summer my baby sister was wearing those freaky new shoes with fingers.  And had embraced barefoot running.  She mostly ran on thin, handcut pieces of rubber tied to her feet.  I had sort of chalked it up to her weirdness.  My sister is always the pioneer, trying some strange new thing, sometimes inspiring me to follow.  But she had mentioned having the onset of hammertoes.  Now I made the connection, that perhaps this was one of her not-so-crazy ideas.  This might be my other option.

As it was an ungodly hour, I couldn't call Sis.  So I messaged her.  I checked the internet for exercises, shoes, and any alternative treatment for hammertoes.  And barefoot running, even though I'm not a runner.  Found the shoes, Vibrams, and several exercises to work the toe muscles.  I stretched the toes, as if for a yoga standing pose.  I did calf raises, moving myself up and down on my toes.  My sister messaged back the next day with a detailed summary of her foot journey, and loads of encouragement for me. 

I found a pair of Vibrams at a nearby healthy shoe store.  They were almost impossible to put on.  Took me forever to force my curled up, crippled little piggies into the individual toe spaces, while the shoe salesperson looked on.  Once they were on, I walked around the shop.  They felt so good.  Like having gloves on my feet.  That was my first pain-free day in months.  Was the lack of pain due to the exercises or the shoes?  I don't know.

That was three weeks ago.  Since then, I wear my Vibrams every other day.  My sister warned me to take it slow, to wear them only a one to two hours every other day.  I try.  But when I'm at school, focused on my students and my lessons, I forget to change shoes.  Sometimes I find myself driving home in them.  That's an 8-10 hour day, standing or walking about half the time.

I have to take extra time in the morning and evening to massage my feet.  Rolling a small ball under my foot is great, also pressing in the top of the foot with my thumbs, and pushing and pulling the toes.  I also wear toe socks often, and sometimes when resting wear toe separators; the ones used for pedicures.  I do get cramps in my feet and calves, and massage really helps.

As I can't walk as much any more, I'm so grateful to have swimming.  I swim at the Y 2 to 3 times a week.  And the spa is heaven.  Jets of hot water rushing through my poor little toes and sore muscles, mmm.