Negativity from Podiatrists

[The Ramzev]

I posted this as a response to another thread but I thought that maybe it could hold it's own as a subject for discussion:



I think most articles about BF running will have the negative opinion of a podiatrist, if it doesn't the writer really isn't doing their job well. There will be totally positive articles, but if I were a writer doing an article about barefoot running I would talk to podiatrists and physical therapists, chances are I'll get an alternative (negative) opinion.

We have to remember, barefoot running is fairly new and these guys have been in their field for years, we're not going to change conventional wisdom overnight. It's not their fault, there's not really too much research yet to counter their ideas, there's some, but chances are they're not actively researching it.

Maybe instead of targeting the podiatrists we could do a campaign with the top 20 Podiatry/Physical Therapy schools, offer clinics for their students, get some of the BF friendly DRs. to do some guest lectures (i.e. Howell). I don't think there's too much to change with a guy who's been looking at feet for 20 years, but if we can instill a positive opinion with students the future of barefoot running articles could be brighter.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

And this is what I posted

And this is what I posted there. Hee.

Very well said, Ram. I think that's what most of us are doing anyways. It's just going to take time.

 

[Abide]

With the money issue, or lack

With the money issue, or lack there of, it is going to be difficult. Demand for their profession would likely dissipate, or they have to go at hypocritically. Patients that are open to barefooting would get that advice and the patients who are not would get another story?

 

[stomper]

Sheesh, where to begin about

Sheesh, where to begin about podiatrists?

I believe that practically all medical professionals honestly are interested in helping their patients. But my experience suggests that they mostly do so using habits and tradition--i.e. what they've been taught to do--and not on the basis of what research does or doesn't say.

I'm used to reading scientific articles from my work, and occasionally have had to inform my caregivers about things they were doing that were based in tradition and not research. That doesn't mean they're especially bad caregivers, just that they're more concerned with interacting with their patients than understanding the intellectual part of medical practice.

But--unfortunately--podiatrists seem especially bound to the tradition of seeing bodies as flawed and in need of correction. It will take a while to change the direction of that ocean-liner sized prejudice, no matter what research says.

 

[barefoot kean]

Stomper is correct. No doctor

Stomper is correct. No doctor of any kind wants to do anything other than the best for their patients, they do the best job they can within their realm of knowledge. And if they dont know they are even nice enough to refer you to someone else. As far as BFR is concerned its just unfortunate that the paradigm for the last 40 years or so is that feet suck and "need" all of this man made stuff (ie shoes and shoe related items) to survive. If this is to change the only way would to do as ramzev said and to start at the med-school level. Even then the information would be against everything they have learned their whole lives, so it would be hard to make it stick. But in the long run, im guessing over the course of 20 or so years, if there is a big enough push it is possible to change the modern day paradigm. It will just take a whole bunch of independent studies and money. A whole lot of money. If the shoe companies are going to lose out on profit then there is a void in the market. That too needs to be dealt with. Also, there is also social stigma to deal with. So long story short, we need to get podiatrist on our side while they are in med-school.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

I'm sure I was born pretty

I'm sure I was born pretty much complete, fortunately. Somewhere down the road, I became defective. Hmmmm. I wonder where.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

I'm not worried about the

I'm not worried about the shoe companies losing out. They can switch to making more healthy options, like minimalist footwear options, to stay competitive and viable in the market place. Sure, it will cost them more upfront to make the switch, but in the long run, the majority of them will pull through.

 

[Barefoot Mary]

This reminds me of the story

This reminds me of the story of the woman who cut the end off her ham before she put it in the oven. Her daughter asked her why she did that. She said, "I don't know...that's how my mother did it." So they went to grandma and asked her why she cut the end off her ham before putting it in the oven. Grandma said, "I don't know, that's how my mother did it." Then the three women went to the Great-Grandma and asked her why she cut the end off her ham before putting it in the oven. She told them it was because her pan was too small and the ham wouldn't fit in it!

Podiatrists are still doing what they've been doing for years, since shoes are the mandatory norm in society... and the solution to every problem. To barefoot people the treatment has become irrelevant, though.

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Ha!  I've heard that analogy

Ha! I've heard that analogy before, Mary, and it is very fitting here. Classic!

 

[pbarker]

 "the treatment has become

"the treatment has become irrelevant"

That is a very powerful point.



It is just so frustrating knowing the treatment is causing the problem in the first place.

 

[JosephTree]

People are never going to

People are never going to give up running shoes en masse. Giving up overeating, alchohol and cigarettes wlil likely happen first. Oh, right, tobacco use has dropped radically! Maybe foot doctors do have reason to fear for their livelyhoods...but not in the immediate future, I think. Meanwhile, they'll come around when the research gets so overwhelming they can't avoid it without looking like eejits.

 

[Longboard]

barefoot kean wrote: No

No doctor of any kind wants to do anything other than the best for their patients, they do the best job they can within their realm of knowledge. And if they dont know they are even nice enough to refer you to someone else.

I remember being a naive college kid.

Enjoy it while you still have the chance.

Reality is a whole different world

 

[stomper]

barefoot kean wrote: No

No doctor of any kind wants to do anything other than the best for their patients...And if they dont know they are even nice enough to refer you to someone else.

I remember being a naive college kid.... Reality is a whole different world

Easy, old man! Let him down easy. Have you had your light beer yet? Let me get you one.

I said something similar to Kean about good intentions, but personally I've rarely observed medical professionals saying "I don't know". In fact within the health insurance network that many people in my town use, there's a kind of black art of persuasion you have to practice to get appointments with other caregivers. Part of the resistance is bureaucratic and has to do with system costs, but part is this medical culture that values sounding and acting authoritative so highly, it comes through as the most important part of the job.

The caregivers do it even when (like with most podiatrists and barefoot running) they really have no idea what the heck is going on. They'd rather just guess and get you out the door than say they don't understand. The MD's I know seem prone to speaking authoritatively about everything that way (baseball, fishing, second empire furniture, etc), which gets a little ridiculous and really requires the occasional b-slap.

That's the way I see it as a relatively informed consumer anyway. Now if a medical professional could only explain why I am trolling this board at 2AM...

 

[Longboard]

stomper wrote:Easy, old man!

Easy, old man! Let him down easy. Have you had your light beer yet? Let me get you one.

November is typicaly my month to explore the fuller bodied brews, had a porter as well as an IPA, which is why I wasn't still around at 2:00 a.m.

I liked being a naive college kid, it was even more fun than being a care-free little kid.

I meant it as a complement to Kean, he should enjoy his time in higher education to it's fullest.

He even gets to play with model airplanes! I'm still trying to talk him into Oshkosh next year.

It's medicine as a business taking priorty over patient care that pi$$es me off!

Between the needs to please insurance companies as well as practice defensive medicine, quality of care has become really poor. Making a buck gets trickier, and the patient is the one ending up $crewed.

I have a brew or two with four or five various docs of my age at least weekly, and they are filled with horror stories of what goes on in their fields. They are all caring doctors, and are saddened at what many in their profession have become.

I personaly am aware of four unafiliated podiatrists who had lost their licenses to practice in the 80's and 90's for out and out fraud as well as true medical malpractice.

 

[stomper]

Longboard wrote:November is

November is typicaly my month to explore the fuller bodied brews, had a porter as well as an IPA, which is why I wasn't still around at 2:00 a.m... It's medicine as a business taking priorty over patient care that pi$$es me off!

Hey, are you ever in Oregon? I know there are good beers almost everywhere in America now, but when I first came here I was amazed, transformed, really, by the beer. An all around winter favorite, never quite duplicated anywhere else, is Black Butte Porter from Deschutes Brewery. It is nutty and full-bodied, without the sickly sweetness or overfussy fanciness of some other attempts at "finer" porter. Was one of the reasons I decided to stay here. Give it a shot if you happen to see it. A votre sante...

 

[pbarker]

From podiatry to beer.

From podiatry to beer. Awesome. We have many micro brewery where I live. But still enjoy Guinness. Maybe we can all have a beer with The Doc. Cheers

 

[Longboard]

pbarker wrote:From podiatry

From podiatry to beer. ....... Maybe we can all have a beer with The Doc. Cheers

In the early days of internet chatrooms, most conversations ended up drifting towards sex.

With the maturing of the web, most forums tend to end up talking about micro brews.

 

[Longboard]

stomper wrote:  A votre

A votre sante...

No link to a video repeating the correct pronounciation repeatedly in song?

 

[Longboard]

Stomper's a

Stomper's a star!

http://societyforbarefootliving.wordpress.com/

 

[Barefoot TJ]

Stomper is the man!  I know. 

Stomper is the man! I know. ;-)