07 Is is actually healthy to go barefoot?
Description
This article is from the Living Barefoot FAQ, by Paul J. Lucas with numerous contributions by others.
07 Is is actually healthy to go barefoot?
Very much so. I quote from the following article published in _Women's
Sports & Fitness, August 1994_ issue:
A recent study demonstrates that the skin on the soles of your feet
resists abrasions and blistering and that going barefoot is
_beneficial_ to the musculoskeletal structure of your feet and
ankles. ... Kicking off your shoes can help prevent a host of foot
injuries: bunions, heel spurs, and bone deformities, among others.
"Shoes act like casts, holding the bones of the foot so rigid that
they can't move fluidly," [Steven] Robbins [MD and adjunct
associate professor of mechanical engineering at Concordia
University, Montreal] explains. "The foot becomes passive from
wearing shoes and loses the ability to support itself." ...
_-- Cheryl Sacra_
To see excerpts from published papers in medical journals that support
the claims that going barefoot is healthy and that footwear is
entirely unnecessary and, in many cases, detrimental to foot health,
go to:
http://www.barefooters.org/medicine/
Some people hold the ignorant view that human feet are somehow
uniquely inadequate among all the Earth's creatures and that they need
support and protection. Nonsense. The human race could not have
survived and flourished if the human foot were somehow "flawed" and
thus incapable of being bare. Evolution (or God, depending on your
beliefs) has provided well.
The human foot is a masterpiece of engineering and a work of art.
_-- Leonardo da Vinci_
Additional info: Barefoot populations universally have a very low
incidence of running "overuse" injuries, despite very high activity
levels. In contrast, such injuries are very common in shod
populations, even for activity levels well below "overuse."
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