Are Running Shoes Bad for Your Feet?

One of the many reasons conventional running shoes are bad for your feet is they’re too narrow and inflexible, especially in the front of the shoe whereby routine use of these shoes, especially at a younger age, causes an abnormally narrow foot-shape, and even worse, a bunion!

Its not just a narrow toe-box that causes bunion development, its also the elevated cushioned heel that mis-shapes the joints and bones in the forefoot, especially in the base of the big toe.

Are Running Shoes Bad for Your Feet?

A 2011 study in Harvard Womens Health Watch found that a narrow shoe that also has a large heel-toe offset forces the body-weight forward, exerting unusually high pressure on the base of the big toe. The excessive weight in the forefoot squeezes the toes into the front of the shoe when walking or running.  In consequence, a bunion develops when most of the body-weight is repeatedly forced onto the forefoot while the narrow and inflexible toe-box of the shoe cannot accommodate the protrusion at the base of the big toe.

The good news is the best treatment for a bunion is to ditch your narrow footwear and wear minimalist shoes. Overloads to the forefoot are prevented in minimalist shoes because these shoes are flat, flexible and wide which allows the forefoot to expand and the toes to spread, bend, flex and extend.

Why Minimalist Shoes Are Better!
Minimalist shoes are barefoot-inspired shoes that are essential for optimal foot health because they enable the feet to function properly while improving the shape of your foot!


Furthermore, minimalist shoes flexibility gives the feet more power to physically engage and interact independently which strengthens the micro and macro-structures in the feet. 

Lastly, one of the most appreciated assets of minimalist shoes is the more you wear them, or even better, the more time you spend barefoot, increasingly reshapes your foot into a wider, more capable foot, while preventing bunion enlargement!

In that regard, here are my reviews on all the best minimalist shoes that will help reverse the damage caused by conventional footwear!


References

Loli PJ. What to do about bunions. Harvard Womens Health Watch, 2011, pp.4-7


If you’d like, you can support Run Forefoot and help keep it going by making a donation in any amount of your choosing:

Or, you can also support Run Forefoot by shopping at the following top minimalist shoes brands, and be sure to bookmark the links:

Be Lenka: https://www.dpbolvw.net/click-7600968-14330828

FeelGrounds: https://www.feelgrounds.com/?p=RunForefoot

Xero Shoes: https://xeroshoes.com/go/Run_Forefoot

Iguaneye: https://www.iguaneye.com/?ref=8tfXVc92

Soft Star Shoes: https://shrsl.com/3mp1b

Wilding Shoes: https://bit.ly/3lIygQP

Earth Runners: https://earthrunners.com/?rfsn=6763579.f7f9c9

Vivobarefoot: https://shrsl.com/3kvih

Zappos: https://goo.gl/J1CeAd

Bretta Riches

"I believe the forefoot strike is the engine of endurance running..."

BSc Neurobiology; MSc Biomechanics candidate, ultra minimalist runner & founder of RunForefoot. I was a heel striker, always injured. I was inspired by the great Tirunesh Dibaba to try forefoot running. Now, I'm injury free. This is why I launched Run Forefoot, to advocate the health & performance benefits of forefoot running and to raise awareness on the dangers of heel striking, because the world needs to know.
Bretta Riches

P.S. Don't forget to check out the Run Forefoot Facebook Page, it's a terrific place to ask questions about forefoot running, barefoot running and injury. I'm always happy to help!