Should I abandon minimalist running?

Antonio

Barefooters
Sep 17, 2015
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Hi!
I have a story to tell, and many questions to ask. I hope this is the right forum.

I recently visited a podiatrist, who delivered a diagnosis that implicitly involved leaving minimalist/barefoot running and wanted to ask the forum about it.

The story: I have been running for about 1.5 years, and after an ITB I decided to try minimalist running. I bought a pair of Vibram FiveFingers and started my transition. Being the stupid I am, I ramped up too quickly and I ended up with an inflammation (I believe a metatarsalgia). I then decided to visit a podiatrist, mostly to check whether my pain was due to an inflammation of a stress fracture.

The podiatrist told me, in a nutshell, that my right leg is slightly longer than my left; because of this, walking has historically caused pronation and stressing my feet with minimalist running has caused the inflammation. He recommended the use of orthotics, which naturally sort of defeats the purpose of minimalist/barefoot running altogether. What has frightened me, though, is that his recommendation for orthotics was on a permanent basis Personally I don't like the idea of wearing orthotics, but his explanation made medical sense to me. My current plan is to use cushioned shoes until the inflammation stops, then re-start transition -- slowly this time. So I am not giving up on minimalist running.

The questions:
- Is that a good choice?
- Is mine a sensible plan?
- Should I abandon minimalist/barefoot running, or do I have a few chances of successful transition?
- Do you know of any success story with similar challenges?
- Are FiveFingers good for the situation, or are there more suitable shoes?

I really appreciate any information, for which I thank you in advance.
 
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So people like Adam Sandler, who found that they could only run barefoot with their huge leg length discrepancies are wrong, and the podiatrist, who makes most of his money selling orthotics, is right? If you buy his schtick, he's got an income stream for life. That might just bias him a bit. If he diagnosed your LLD by having you lay on a table and messing with your feet, odds are it's a muscle imbalance in your hips or core. If he took x-rays and actually measured the bone lengths, that's different. Let us know how it turns out.

Regarding the suitability of FiveFingers, I think they're very dangerous until you relearn to run with good form. I wouldn't wear anything at all on my feet until then.
 
Minimalist shoes in general are dangerous. They block sensation from your feet so that you can run poorly, but they offer no support, so if you do run poorly, you get hurt. Happens all the time. Happened to me. If I had a dime for every person wearing VFFs that I've heard(literally) clomping along, I'd have a lot of dimes. A good way to get a stress fracture. You can still run not so well barefoot, but running poorly hurts, so it limits you. If you're motivated to improve, you can't beat the feedback bare soles give you.
 
gordon has very succinctly summarized 95% of the advice you will find around here.

the expanded versions are fun and interesting, but the consensus of experience is pretty much that "as long as you're doing it, you might as well do it right and then add shoes later". i've never done the minimalist shoes to speak of. well, i had some VFFs on the advice of my wife and they wore out before the 90 day guarantee, so i ended up barefoot and with a credit at the store where i bought them. anyways, my wife swears up and down that her particular VFFs feel almost identical to barefoot, but she still heelstrikes and clomps along pretty heavy from my perspective and thus i don't really believe her like i should. of course, i'm the self-absorbed near "purist" who claims to feel a difference between barefoot and, say a piece of cloth made out of a bedsheet on my feet.

anyways, part of the remaining 5% advice is to go teach yourself running by being barefoot on the gnarliest gravel you can find. at first, you will merely look like a drunk cat on hot coals or something and someone will call the police on you. but, it is quite likely to teach you to bend: your ankles, your knees, your hips. by the time you get all those bent appropriately ("we do not play defense with our behinds in the air!"), you would need a pretty substantial asymmetry in your legs for it to matter. if i had to hazard a guess, you could probably make up for a 2 or 3 inch mismatch pretty easily. i'm thinking that is more than you would be able to overcome with rudimentary shoe inserts and hence would be a feasible option for you to try.

i'm a fairly tall fellow and since i started running barefoot i started feeling short. first, i'm down that inch or two of foam from the shoe. then i'm bending my knees and hunkering down another inch or two once i start moving/scooting along. so, don't expect it to look or feel like your old gait, but it will likely be much more adjustable and hence accommodating of anatomical peculiarities.
 
Absolutely agree that you should start barefoot, not with minimalist shoes as they are still shoes and block 99% of the feeling your feet get from the ground.
I only started barefooting 2.5 months ago myself and have slowly worked my way up to running 2 miles comfortably now. You have to take it slow, but the benefits in the long term are worth it.
Each time I increase my distance I get a real buzz, it's like learning how to use your body properly after all these years!
My advice, for what it's worth, would be:
Ditch the VFFs or any other shoes for running. Before running, do a few weeks of foot strengthening exercises (I actually used and still use the ones from the VFF website!!), and also walk around inside and outside as much as you can barefoot.
Start running slowly, only running a couple of hundred yards every other day. Each week increase your distance by only about 10% or so (maybe more in the early weeks when a 10% increase would be like 20 yards!).
If you feel any pain at all, stop and walk home.
Listen to your body. If something doesn't feel right, wait another day before running again.
Don't increase your distance until you can comfortably run the current one.
If you want more volume of exercise, go cycling or swimming to maintain your fitness, do not run in shoes just so you can run further; you need to relearn how to run properly.

Hope it all makes sense and is useful!! Enjoy!!
 
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There have been plenty of people here who have leg-length discrepancies and are running barefoot and/or minimal successfully.

Perhaps take some time to heal, then get back to running...barefoot this time. Barefoot, skin-on-ground, will give you the proper feedback to run correctly, whereas anything between your soles and the ground will interfere with those very important signals, signals that tell you exactly how to step, where to step, with how much weight to step, etc.
 
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Wonder what a chiropractor would say about leg length discrepancy... Actually I know what they'd say and I digress.

Did the podiatrist actually measure your leg length?

You said you injured your foot because of "ramping up too quickly"? What does this have to do with leg length discrepancy? Seems you know what you did to your foot, so try not doing that.

P.S. a chiropractor would say it's misalignment from your back... so who to trust? You never can know.
 
HH,

yup. i've said it before and will say it again. my profs will tell us one thing then come to a completely opposite conclusion. i take rehab courses and now these kids are starting to see what i've known for a while and are frustrated from it. sad thing is so many don't go to rehab courses so they don't know the truth. that's why you'll have so many DCs and podiatrist, even MD's saying such odd things. they haven't kept themselves educated.

leg length inequality (LLI) are mostly caused by muscle imbalances which can act on your back. the most likely cause? weak stability muscles. muscles tighten/weaken and will change LL.the mind/body, are great compensators. if there is proximal instability it will result in distal problems. weak core=leg/arm problems.

i've been improving my LLI by just doing the McGill big 3. curl ups, side planks, bird dog. there was a decent video in another post from Dr Cucuzella. I tried to find one of the curl up but all were horrible examples.getting my obliques and glutes firing is going a long way into helping me feel better. less ankle, leg, back, neck, and who can remember what other problems.

if you want help seek out an R2P provider or at least someone who has some DNS qualifications. good luck and don't give up. problems just don't go away on their own, especially by ignoring them.
 
Thanks Gordon,
Why do you think FiveFingers are more dangerous than wearing nothing? Is is something with FiveFingers or minimalist shoes in general?

I like the way Jason Robillard describes minimalist shoes in his The Barefoot Running Book... describing them as tools for the advanced barefooter (paraphrasing, it's been several years since I read it). For someone new to barefooting I suggest it to read. Basically minimalist shoes, which are supposed to be 'the best of both worlds' are just as likely to be 'worst of both worlds' if you're a beginner with poor gait (not saying you are, just generally speaking). Even though minimal, they still separate you from the ground and reduce your sensations much like regular shoes and allow you to still use poorer form. Yet they offer less protection so if you continue to use them with poorer form there is greater risk of doing damage. FiveFingers in particular also are somewhat fit and foot-shape specific so they may not work as well for some people that are outside of their foot shape. I use them initially for walking and trails when it was colder out but admit I just thought they were cool looking at first. Now-a-days I like an open and roomy toebox I can move and splay my toes better if I am going to wear minimal shoes.

Best is to learn barefoot first. I'm not going to say go out on the harshest of surfaces as many do, smooth obstacle free surfaces such a paved road or bike path are good enough to learn and practice the basics, and that is what I did though my road is rather rough. Once you've developed good form and got a feel for barefooting and have rehabbed the feet and strengthened them, then you can try minimalist shoes when needed.

In any case hope your inflammation subsides and whatever you do take it easy at first!