Is Minimalism an Option for Plantar Fasciitis

Kevin Kirby · Aug 1, 2013

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Craig Payne has an interesting thread over on his Running Research Junkie website on plantar fasciitis and minimalist shoes which you may all want to take a look at.

I just made a comment to a shoe salesman/minimalist shoe advocate, Jim Hixson, who believes that podiatrists, basically, don't know much about treating plantar fasciitis.

Jim Hixson said:

This seems like another rearguard attempt to prevent a complete rout of the old school of thinking that claims that support of the foot is commonly required for it to be healthy. I would argue that external support is nothing more than treating the symptom, but not the underlying condition, which is exactly what Mark Cucuzzella wrote.

Since it is a well-known fact (No, not wishful thinking or any other logical fallacy on your extensive list) that the body responds to the demands that are placed upon it (Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands), it is nonsense to conclude that providing an external support (shoe, orthotic, walking boot, etc.) does not have a negative effect on the strength, flexibility, balance, and responsiveness of the foot. Certainly nobody would claim that externally supporting another part of the body, say the arm when it is broken, by wearing a cast or a splint allows the musculature around the elbow joint to maintain its strength and range of motion.

Instead of having to list other criticisms of the results, methodology, and logic used by a small subset of influential podiatrists who have a tremendous stake in maintaining the status quo, would you simply answer these questions:

1. Why are humans the only animals that need external support in order to function correctly during locomotion?
2. Would there not be an evolutionary imperative for humans to be able to walk and run without external support?
3. What are the positive effects of traditional footwear other than protecting the plantar surface from dangerous objects and extreme temperatures?
4. Do you think that humans move naturally barefoot or do they require external support?
5. Is natural movement preferable (!), or is it a good idea to wear a shoe that elevates the heel and changes the natural mechanics of the foot?

Obviously these are all leading questions and the answers to these questions will overlap. You can clearly see that I’m wondering why the foot can’t function naturally and efficiently without being supported, stabilized, and cushioned. The default position of a healthy foot is one that is unsupported and I haven’t seen any argument to the contrary that is scientifically convincing.

Unfortunately I think that many supporters of externally supporting the foot sound quite similar to defenders of other outmoded ways of thinking in that they seem to love citing studies that are sometimes so thoroughly flawed that they are worthless. Most of these individuals are podiatrists, not really true medical doctors and they have little contact with foot dysfunction when their view of the world is not suspended. Many of these individuals enforce their rules of logic so selectively and are so lacking in introspection that their results have even less value than selected anecdotes.

While it’s true that some of these podiatrists have published articles, I’ll pull rank and state that I have a background in anatomy and kinesiology and have sold over 35,000 pairs of running shoes in the last 15 years and there is no doubt that when runners and walkers make a controlled transition to minimal shoes the strength and health of their feet improves dramatically. I also know many people who are barefoot, yet none of them have had plantar fasciitis, as long as they gradually created a strong functional base before making their final transition to their natural state, that is to say, barefoot.

Because barefoot is the default/natural condition of the foot, I think that it is a case of wishful thinking when individuals claim that being barefoot or wearing minimal shoes is, well, unnatural. The burden of proof should clearly be on those individuals who claim that external support is preferable or necessary for the foot to function most efficiently and with the least chance of injury. Can you do this?
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Kevin Kirby said:

Jim:

I wasn’t going to bother responding to your nonsense until I read your following quote:

“Most of these individuals are podiatrists, not really true medical doctors and they have little contact with foot dysfunction when their view of the world is not suspended. Many of these individuals enforce their rules of logic so selectively and are so lacking in introspection that their results have even less value than selected anecdotes.

While it’s true that some of these podiatrists have published articles, I’ll pull rank and state that I have a background in anatomy and kinesiology and have sold over 35,000 pairs of running shoes in the last 15 years and there is no doubt that when runners and walkers make a controlled transition to minimal shoes the strength and health of their feet improves dramatically.”

For your information, Jim, we podiatrists are considered doctors here in the USA. Podiatrists do perform foot and ankle surgery, we are on hospital medical staffs and sit on hospital boards and medical boards, we give injections, we repair fractures and other serious injuries in the foot and ankle, we see athletes and non-athletes with very serious and debilitating injuries, we prescribe medication and perform x-rays and fluoroscopy, we prescribe MRI, CT and bone scans, and many of us also publish scientific articles in peer-reviewed international journals and lecture nationally and internationally on foot biomechanics, shoe biomechanics and plantar fasciitis at large, multi-specialty seminars.

Now, Jim, what are shoe salesmen, like yourself, who may have taken an undergraduate course in anatomy and biomechanics allowed to do here legally in the USA?

Can shoe salesmen make diagnoses? No.

Can shoe salesmen treat people with surgery, injections and diagnose conditions by ordering x-rays, MRIs, CT scans, bone scans, bacterial and fungal cultures, blood tests and/or nerve conduction studies? No.

Are shoe salesmen ever invited to lecture at major national and international seminars? I’ve never seen it in my 30 years of being a podiatrist.

Do shoe salesman often overstate what they actually know just to impress a customer and make a shoe sale? Often.

Can shoe salesmen legally do anything that even remotely resembles what a licensed health professional can do? No.

In other words, having a shoe salesmen like yourself, who has never done surgery, made an accurate diagnosis, given an injection, ordered a diagnostic test and has only sold shoes come onto a forum such as this and say that podiatrists are “not true medical doctors”, to me, is quite entertaining. It also clearly demonstrates your ignorance of what the training of podiatrists actually is.

Jim, it also curious that you seem to think that since “barefoot is the default/natural condition of the foot” that you make your living selling shoes when shoes certainly are not the “default/natural condition” of the foot. In fact, you state that you have sold 35,000 pairs of shoes which you yourself claim are unnatural and non-default conditions for the feet, but you still continue to make a living for yourself selling these unnatural items.

Jim, the burden of proof should clearly be on those individuals like shoe salesmen, who, like yourself make a living claiming that external support to the feet, such as shoes, are necessary to make your customers’ feet function most efficiently and with the least chance of injury. Can you do this? Can you justify your existence as a shoe salesman that by you selling 35,000 pairs of external supports to the feet of your customers that these external supports were not just your way of making money off of your unsuspecting customers when you actually believe that they would be more “natural” and by being barefoot?

In other words, why don’t you tell all the customers that enter your shoe store(s) that the items you sell are all unnatural and that they should forget about buying shoes at your store(s), return back to their natural and default state of being barefoot? Wouldn’t that be the most reasonable thing to do instead of continuing to make money off of your customers by selling external supports that you have no research justification for?
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Robertisaacs · Aug 2, 2013

"I'll pull rank"
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Bless him :empathy:. He thinks he has "rank" because he "has a background" anatomy and has worked in a shoe shop.

Also love the logic of "I've sold 35,000 pairs of shoes so I know how bad they are".

As you say Kevin, most amusing.

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Is Minimalism an Option for Plantar Fasciitis

Kevin Kirby MVP

Robertisaacs MVP

Hoka moving towards minimalism

What is the definition of 'maximalism' and 'minimalism' in running shoes?

Barefoot/minimalism running biomechanics

Own your own fully set up established Clinic. All options considered. Geelong, Victoria

Nail Surgery options

Haglund's Deformity On A Basketball Athlete - Is Surgery The Best Option?

Fibrous nonunion fifth metatarsal Jones Fracture options ?

Share This Page

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