Barefoot Shoes vs Supportive Shoes: What Actually Protects Midlife Women’s Joints?

Dr. Vonda Wright, author of “Unbreakable: A Woman’s Guide to Aging with Power”, shares insights on the shoe dilemma, alongside podiatrist Dr. Timothy Miller with foot-specific views:

Different angles

The podiatrist doesn’t reject barefoot footwear outright, but argues it should be used selectively and progressively rather than adopted suddenly. The rationale is that humans evolved walking on softer surfaces such as grass, dirt, and sand, but today most walking occurs on hard surfaces like concrete, asphalt, and tile, which reflect more force back into your feet and ankles.

This means that, as he explains, repeatedly exposing your feet to hard surfaces without adequate support may place more stress on your ligaments, tendons, arches, and related joints, potentially contributing to weakening over time.

However. That’s your feet. What about the rest of you?

Remember how you’ve probably been advised at some point to do heel drops, for the good of your bone density?

Do you think that still works if your heel is cushioned from the very force you are seeking to transmit to your bone to cue it to grow stronger?

So for this reason, going barefoot or enjoying barefoot-style shoes definitely has its place. No, they don’t have to be the super-thin kind, let alone with separate toes, but what’s useful is having a relatively uncushioned sole and “zero drop“, meaning the heel is at the same height as the ball of the foot.

On the other hand, which everyone here agrees on, flip-flops and similar are not good for anybody*. Not only do they not provide arch support, but also they encourage bad body biomechanics in terms of how we walk, which causes entirely different new and interesting problems. So do avoid those!

^{*Unless for brief uses where you need something to protect the soles of your feet briefly while not otherwise wearing footwear, such as perhaps the shower at the gym, or paddling in the sea. But that’s different from daily all-purpose use!}

For more on all of this, enjoy:

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Want to learn more?

You might also like:

Steps For Keeping Your Feet A Healthy Foundation

…and, for that matter:

Unbreakable: A Woman’s Guide to Aging with Power – by Dr. Vonda Wright

Take care!