Safety of bare foot running

John Hillage

Barefooters

Jun 30, 2019

6

10

3

50

Jul 12, 2019

#1

• Jul 12, 2019

• #1

Any research or articles on safety (in terms of infection/germs) of barefoot running?

Catching nasty stuff from pavements or in grass (particularly bird, dog or other animal waste).

I am not overly worried- but wonder if I'm being naive and should be more cautious?

Thanks,
John

 

Gordon

Barefooters

Jan 5, 2015

270

308

63

64

Jul 14, 2019

#2

• Jul 14, 2019

• #2

UV light is a disinfectant

 

• 

Reactions: Barefoot TJ

Barefoot TJ

Administrator

Staff member

Mar 5, 2010

21,507

7,048

113

Jul 14, 2019

#3

• Jul 14, 2019

• #3

I wish Ahcuah still posted here. He knows this stuff well.

 

Modenacart

Barefooters

Jan 3, 2014

113

82

28

New Bern, NC

Jul 30, 2019

#4

• Jul 30, 2019

• #4

The only thing I have ever gotten embedded in my foot is a piece of an acorn.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Tristan

Barefooters

Sep 15, 2011

1,855

2,761

113

45

Ohio

Aug 17, 2019

#5

• Aug 17, 2019

• #5

Most of us that have been out and about mostly barefoot for years have not had any foot contact transmitted infections/germs. You're much more likely to pick something up from your hands. Obviously we should avoid direct contact with animal feces, but sometimes we take an accidental step or remnants are small enough to be easily missed or something like that and it is possible to pick up a parasite but this is more of a third world issue (I'm not sure where you are located) it is extremely rare around here.

 

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

• 

Reactions: Random and Gordon

Acorn63

Barefooters

Apr 27, 2019

20

28

13

Joensuu, Finland

Aug 19, 2019

#6

• Aug 19, 2019

• #6

Human skin offers quite remarkable protection against germs or other nasty stuff. I wouldn't worry about animal waste that much (I think I have stepped on more bird droppings that I can count), but of course there is a risk if you get your skin broken (cut, abrasion) you could get an infection - earth surface is full of all kinds on bacteria etc. But as Tristan said, that appears to be very, very rare. I personally don't have first hand knowledge of any incident of that kind.

I don't like bf running on grass because that can hide sharp objects, rocks, wasps, snakes etc. On pavement you can see where you step, and can easily avoid broken glass, dog poop etc.

 

• 

Reactions: Random

Paul NL

Barefooters

Oct 11, 2017

32

33

18

Eindhoven, Netherlands

Sep 5, 2019

#7

• Sep 5, 2019

• #7

I occasional pick up some flowers and / or grass between my toes when running on trails. It is inconvenient but not dangerous.

 

• 

• 

Reactions: Random

trevize1138

Barefooters

Jun 20, 2017

317

642

93

51

Minnesota

Sep 5, 2019

#8

• Sep 5, 2019

• #8

Quite the opposite. I've got some foot fungus issues I keep treating that are the result of being in MN and needing shoes and socks at the office for several months out of the year. The fungal issues start going away during the summer when I can wear sandals to work and I'm outside running barefoot.

Encase your feet and they become nice little habitats for all kinds of organisms to thrive. Expose them to the air and they get healthier.

Last week I did get a small sliver in my foot while on a run. I dug it out in about 10 seconds and kept running. That's been about it for problems with the ground for me this season. I'll take it over the myriad issues I had thanks to shoes.

 

• 
• 

• 

Reactions: Random, Acorn63 and Gordon