Plantar Fasciitis Shoe Change Response: Thanks For The Data, Folks!

Plantar Fasciitis Shoe Selection?

Is it the shoes or the change?

plantar fasciitis shoe selection research.

Note the small sample sizes for some shoes. Lots more work to be done OR thought, perhaps?

Shoe Data Provide Clues To Pathogenesis?

Plantar fasciitis shoe responses could provide insights as to the underlying mechanisms of this progressive disease.

plantar fasciitis shoes

Benefit-risk graph from my early studies, showing changing shoes is most effective. Confirmed by recent survey data.

Research on my retirement savings continues; sure wish I had a team and a research budget, to help me, like in the old days.

Previous work demonstrated the relative effectiveness of the range of plantar fasciitis treatments available, with shoes coming out on top.

This study was designed to determine which shoes are most effective, when it comes to improving symptoms of plantar fasciitis.

The approach – A survey and questions on Plantar Fasciitis Facebook Pages.

All data are open, if you search plantar fasciitis Facebook pages, and look for the smiling toes image.

best shoes for plantar fasciitisGo to this link, for the plantar fasciitis shoe survey data, which are still arriving.

This is crude research, as I look for clues in my own small way.

You might think you can cure your plantar fasciitis by buying some of the shoes on the left of the graph. Think again! Plenty of people report no success with shoes, and sometimes anything else, for that matter.

There are some plantar fasciitis horror stories out there.

What do I conclude from this work?

  1. It’s not about the shoes, it’s about changing shoes in such a way that ones movement is changed for the better.
  2. For particular biomechanical ills, a particular shoe might just do the trick – but why?
  3. We could benefit from knowledge of people’s biomechanical shoe responses, if they were aware enough to determine what changed about how they moved in the effective shoes (or in the shoes that made it worse). NOTE: in some cases there was as much harm as good, induced by particular shoes, e.g. Dansko, Nike and Brooks.
  4. Due to large sample size, Vionic were statistically most effective, but even in this case, two people reported a worsening of symptoms.
  5.  Due to time constraints, I had no way of tracking which particular shoe type was involved in each case.
  6. This would make a great PhD thesis for a student interested in biomechanics (body movement functions) and nociception (warning pain).

FitOldDog’s Recommendation:

Before you change your shoes, consider improving your body awareness skills. This will increase your chances of success, and may lead to insights that can push this research forward.

plantar fasciitis shoes

Learn to read your body, before things go badly wrong. It’s just a matter of educated listening.

Remember, it’s not about shoes! It’s about body movement, and the detection of weakness, misalignments, and other biomechanical ills.

Wishing you happy feet and happy trails.

FitOldDog

 

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Disclaimer: As a veterinarian, I do not provide medical advice for human animals. If you undertake or modify an exercise program, consult your medical advisors before doing so. Undertaking activities pursued by the author does not mean that he endorses your undertaking such activities, which is clearly your decision and responsibility. Be careful and sensible, please.