Shoes hurting your feet? Do something about it. Take 'em off!

Hunh! Take 'em off?

That's right!

Remember when you were a kid? Did you run about barefoot most of the time? Were the soles of your feet like leather, and were you proud of it? What was your reaction when your mother told you that you had to put on your shoes? Were you wounded and confused? Oh, why would she do such a thing?

Or...

Are you old enough to remember the sixties and the era of free love? Do you remember tune in, turn on, and drop out? As much as frayed jeans and peace signs were the symbols of a restless generation of protest and anti-establishmentarianism, so were bared feet. Do you remember?

Oh, ho, you say. But that was then, and the world has advanced, and now we know better. It's a new millennium, and shoe vendors like Nike, Rebook, and Fila have spent millions of dollars on marketing and research. Big-money sports stars assure us that the right shoes are the edge. Surely we are at the zenith of shoe technology, eh? Right? Shoes are good for us, right?

Why would we want to actually toss away the results of our (advanced) societal development, our beloved preconceptions, and all that impressive research?

Consider this:

• A 1949 study by Samuel B. Shulman of rick-shaw operators in China who spent long hours running barefoot pulling passengers found that these men performed their jobs "without pain or pathology."

• Steele F. Stewart in a 1972 study reported that "Millions of Indians, both American and Asian, and Congoids wander their native savannas and rain forests without protection, inconvenience, or complaint. Footgear, therefore, would appear to be unnecessary."

I see you folding your arms in obstinacy. Is the notion of going shoeless so hard to accept? Let me expound.

Let's review a brief litany of pedal woes:

• Athlete's foot - a fungal infection, usually of the web between toes, that requires moist surfaces to propagate.
• Bunion - a painful swelling of the foot, usually at the bursa (joint) of the big toe.
• Corn - a horny thickening of the skin in a small area, commonly on a toe, caused by friction or pressure.
• Hammer toe - an abnormal condition of the toes in which they are bent permanently downward.
• Hallux Valgus - a misalignment of the big toe.
• Hallux Varus - bursitis at the first or fifth metatarso-phalangeal (big toe or small toe) joints.

Those sound pretty horrible, don't they? Have you suffered from any of these?

Well, guess what? Your shoes may be causing your problem.

That damp, moist, sheltered environment that athlete's foot needs to thrive exists in two places on this earth: the team shower and inside your shoes. Solution - take off those shoes and dry out those feet!

Bunions are caused by the interaction of your toes and your shoes. Solution - lose the shoes, lose the bunions.

And so with corns. The body's natural reaction to areas that are exposed to friction and pressure is to provide additional layers of skin. That's why our hands and feet are always peeling - they have more layers. But what if the area of friction and pressure is not in a desirable place, such as the side surfaces of the foot? Un-huh, that's a corn.

What about hallux valgus? An interesting thing happens to people that adopt a barefoot lifestyle, but let's go back a bit. Do your big toes touch your second digit (the next toe)? No doubt your thumb doesn't touch your index finger, and your big toe should not touch the adjacent toe either. So why does it?

Thank your baby shoes, and all those shoes that have been forced on you ever since. That 1949 study concluded, "Baby shoes cause great harm to growing, formative feet. The so-called 'sentimental' value of baby's shoes might well be dispensed with."

Thanks, mom! They sure look good in bronze, don't they?

Start barefooting, and guess what? Soon your toes splay outward, and your big toe moves out away from your second toe. This improves your weight distribution when you lift off and finish a stride, thus removing the stress from your big toe.

And the bursitis? This painful malady affects people who exercise certain joints (most often the hip). In the feet and toes, you can reduce this by reducing the constrainment that prevents your toes from moving naturally.

This is worth looking at. Do you have a relatively soft pair of shoes that you've just about worn out? Look at them. Is there an outline of your big toe on the upper surface? That's because of the way you learned to walk in your pre-shoes days. Stride shoeless toward a mirror. Do you lift your toes when you step forward? Now look at your shoes. Do they restrain this lifting motion?

Think of the implications.

But you run, you say, and you're convinced of the superiority of your new, exorbitantly expensive Nikes, Filas, Rebooks, and et cetera. May I quote from a 1990 study by Steven E. Robbins? He wrote: "The lower extremity is inherently durable, and, when unencumbered by footwear, it can endure running without signs of chronic overloading, because a vigilant system restrains shock. The use of modern athletic footwear, in addition to being inferior to older footwear in moderating shock during running, renders the lower extremity susceptible to injury because of design flaws introduced by the preoccupation with optimization of plantar comfort."

Un-huh, now what in the world does that mean?

It means that modern running shoes do such a good job of preventing the natural feedback that would warn you off of impending foot damage that the damage can occur before you're aware of it.

Okay, you grumble, with your job and your lifestyle, barefooting would be irresponsible, impossible, and/or ill-advised.

Maybe not.

Secretaries, office workers, administrators (female): you look great in those heels, but what are they doing to your poor feet? (And your hamstrings? Can you even touch your toes?) Kick off those killers! Pad over to the water cooler in those walking units God gave you, and collect those admiring glances.

College students: oh, come on! A previous generation did the hard work for you, and you won't find a prohibition in the student handbook. Air them doggies. This is your freedom. Express it!

Teachers: if you step out of your loafers and approach the blackboard (or white board) in your socks (or hose) the class will love you for it! And they'll soon come to resemble you. (Ain't that America?)

Factory workers: do what OSHA requires. Some of us will always have to extrude plastic, and who wants a pallet of plastic beads on our tootsies? Ouch! I'd want at least three layers of hardened steel over my vulnerable toes!

Those in uniform: wear shoes when you have to.

Girls in general: hey, impress the guys. Your feet are part of the package, and a part you can actually display! (Open-toe sandals are noteworthy, too.)

Guys in general: clip those toenails. Get a pedicure!

Okay, interesting, but you're thinking of lots of objections to this barefoot notion. Let's see:

• Stepping on glass - sure, that's a hazard, but how do you avoid stepping off curbs in front of taxis? Of course, you look where you're going. The glass hazard is like that, too, but most of it gets blown into the gutters with all the other refuse, anyway, and it's not as bad as you might think.
• Hot asphalt - well, that one's valid. I live in Georgia, and +100 temperatures (in the shade) are not uncommon. I try to dash from shadow to shadow.
• People will talk, comment, be offended, et cetera - perhaps, but that's fun, too. "Where are your shoes?" "At home, where are yours?" "Why aren't you wearing shoes?" "Because I'm grown up now, and I don't have to!" "Your shoelaces are untied." "Thanks!"
• I do a lot of driving - it ain't legal to drive barefoot, is it? Actually, it is, at least in the fifty states in the US.
• The stores I shop in don't allow bare feet - that may be true, but they must have it plainly posted at each entrance if they don't. These are generically referred to as "No shirt, no shoes, no service" rules. Some store owners mistakenly think that health department rules are involved.
• What about restaurants? Hey, avoid eating with your feet, and you shouldn't have a problem at most of them!
• Un-huh, and movie theaters? Go unshod, but be careful where you step.

Oh, you protest you're not ready for such a major lifestyle change! Hey, you don't have to embrace the notion of barefootedness all at once. (If you're a tenderfoot, that might even be painful.)

Why not try barefooting part-time? Lose those shoes the minute you're off the clock. Try to remain shoeless until you're back at work.

Look down. Look at those hard-working doggies! Flex your toes. Really stretch 'em. Aren't those terrific feet? Aren't you happy to have them? They need your love, so love them.

Walk on grass. Curl your toes into soft, green, clipped grass and smell that aroma. Feel the sensations that you've so long suppressed flood you.

Go to the beach (or whatever passes for a beach where you are). Tread the boardwalk. Dip those toes in the surf.

Make love in the back yard. Grab your lover's thumbs between your big toes and second digits for a useless, but sexy surprise.

Be young again - as young as you can be. Have fun, and revel in this small gift that God gives each of us.

Be barefoot!

Samuel B. Shulman. "Survey in China and India of Feet That Have Never Worn Shoes", The Journal of the National Association of Chiropodists, 49, 1949, pp. 26-30.

Steele F. Stewart. "Footgear -- Its History, Uses and Abuses," Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research, 88, 1972, pp. 119-130.

Steven E. Robbins and Gerard J. Gouw. "Athletic Footwear and Chronic Overloading," Sports Medicine, 9(2), 1990, pp. 76-85.

And for more information, see www.barefooters.org

An ardent and stubborn barefooter, Stonecypher is the publisher and owner of this ezine.