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I recently started going to a chiropractor for the purposes of preventative care and hopefully helping along some of the niggling injuries I’ve picked up while playing soccer.
I’ve only had three visits so far, but I’m really enjoying the process. I make a point of asking him questions about what is going on with the body and I make sure to listen when he has anything to explain.
Yesterday, he had something very interesting to say.
I’ve been very up front with him from the start about how I want to be an athlete and have a supple body forever. I did not hold back with my intent because I wanted him to understand how committed I am to taking care of myself.
I was telling him about my numerous foot and ankle problems from the past and showing him that my left ankle dips lower than my right ankle.
“Ah yeah, you’ve got a collapsed arch,” he said.
He told me he could try to manipulate my ankle joint and we’d go from there.
After doing several adjustments across my full body, I got up from the table and we were talking about my feet and ankles again.
“I notice you wear those shoes that don’t have much arch support,” he said.
I told him that I’m a big proponent of letting the feet be feet and making them work. He seemed to agree with the rationale. I figured while I was there, I would just ask him point blank about minimalist footwear as a whole.
Without quoting him exactly to avoid butchering his words, he said:
Minimalist shoes are great for active things like playing sports or a job where you are moving the whole day. You might want to wear a better-supported shoe when you are doing something stagnant.
For example, if you are a bagger at a grocery store, wearing a shoe with arch support makes sense because your feet and legs will get very tired standing in the same position almost the whole day. But for a person trying to be active, he said, it makes sense that I would wear minimalist footwear because my foot is rarely staying in the same position.
According to him, when you are active is when you should not have much support because you want the feet to be strong and be able to do the work without becoming reliant on a crutch (the arch support).
He added that not only does the support become a crutch, but your feet and ankle only knows one way of moving then so when you take those shoes off, your feet don’t know what to do. They become less adaptive. He emphasized the importance of working the smaller, intrinsic foot muscles which can only be done if you don’t rely on a supported shoe and by getting onto different surfaces.
He noted that many of his patients wear a supportive shoe all day and even at home. The only time they take them off is when they’re going to bed. I could tell by his expressions he was not fond of that because again, he wants the smaller muscles in the feet to be active and strong so they are self-reliant.
This can only be achieved by being barefoot (which he recommended to me) and wearing thin footwear like minimalist shoes.
I walked out of that appointment very happy.
First of all, it’s so exciting meeting people who also know what minimalist footwear is, let alone wear it themselves. Second, it’s great to talk to people who know a little bit about them, especially the biomechanics of wearing them like a doctor would know.
I was pleased to hear that he stood by my choices. It makes me glad that I have been so up front and honest with him about what I am doing and why regarding my health.
I was also thrilled to hear some input about when it might be a good time to wear supportive footwear (like the grocery bagger example) because this is not something I have found much of in my research.
My chiropractor’s opinions and advice were reminiscent of podiatrist, Dr. Ray McClanahan which lets me put more trust in him that he is well-informed and researched. I say this because it is not uncommon for doctors or health professionals to tell you that any “new age” thing you might be trying is not wise and you may regret it in the future.
With all that being said, I hope you enjoyed this little input from my personal chiropractor. I will continue asking him questions and listening to all his explanations so hopefully I can keep learning and bringing you some insightful and practical advice.
For an entrance into the world of minimalist footwear, I always recommend Xero Shoes and 90% of the time, that’s what I’m wearing myself.
I just got myself a pair of Oswegos from Xero and I am absolutely loving them. I bought them as a shoe that I could wear with or without socks and I nailed it with this choice. They got broken in while I was cruising around New Mexico and I can’t wait to put them through a full summer of activities.
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