Comments on: Do Vibram Fivefingers Increase Risk of Foot Stress Fractures?: Some Thoughts on Recent Research

By: Peter Larson

Peter Larson — Tue, 29 Dec 2015 16:32:13 +0000

In reply to James. I agree totally with all of this. Everyone is different, and the challenge is finding the right match between runner and shoe. I also agree that gait analysis is often a mess - done on treadmill and only looking at what the feet do. I prefer whole body video taken outside.

By: James

James — Tue, 15 Dec 2015 08:38:08 +0000

Hi Peter,
Great article, and I very much appreciate your consideration that there are often too many variables changed in studies such as these to draw a logical and confident conclusion!

At our clinic, we completely agree with your opinions, and add another aspect which I’d be keen to hear your and others perspective on:

Put simply, no one shoe is appropriate for everyone, and everyone will not respond in the same way to the same shoe.

For some of our patients we recommend Vibram Five Fingers, for others Hoka One One’s or Gaitlines, for others it may be a more traditional shoe or trainer but with a particular property such as a wide lateral heel flare. For some patients we suggest a moderate heel would work very well with their body, but for others it would damage them and we have to advise against heels.

The requirements for a shoe are determined on a patient’s pathology, anatomy, and biomechanics.

Thus, from our clinical perspective, there’s no way of knowing whether any of the runners in the studies were actually appropriate subjects to be testing the VFFs in the first place.

To us here at BxClinic it is such a ridiculous and unscientific suggestion that a shoe will perform and support everyone in the same way, and yet it’s even more amazing that very few seem to have cottoned on to this way of thinking!

But then, perhaps as most so-called “gait analysis” and subsequent trainer advice is performed on a treadmill, viewed soley from behind, with no consideration of what’s going on above the ankle, it’s no surprise there’s a lot of strange one-size-fits-all advice being handed out by those insufficiently qualified to do so.

By: Matt Thomson

Matt Thomson — Sat, 11 Jul 2015 21:43:06 +0000

Just don’t use the damned shoes

By: Dee Oh

Dee Oh — Mon, 01 Sep 2014 13:44:51 +0000

I can confirm that Vibram Five Fingers causes stress fractures.

I am wearing a plaster cast, due to a stress fracture in one of the metatarsal bones on the sole of my foot. I didn’t feel the moment of actual impact, but had been carrying this feeling of pain in the foot for some weeks prior. All stemming from when I started doing 5k Park Runs with my KSO Vibram Five Fingers.

I loved the shoe, but now I’m spitting nails….

By: Greg

Greg — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

In reply to Pete Larson.

I did 5 years of training and 5 and 10ks before I felt I was ready to tackle the marathon. I still believe that to be reasonable. I wonder if the claimed success rate might have a bit of "survivorship bias" built into it.

By: Pete Larson

Pete Larson — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

In reply to Jim Philips.

As I mentioned in the post I tend to only get forefoot pain in the Vibrams, not in other minimalist shoes, and I think it may have something to do with fit of the toe pockets and restriction of tow flexion. that's why I think it's really important to weight each footwear condition on its own merits - Vibrams are a lot different than barefoot, and a lot different than some other minimal shoes.

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By: hardcoredds

hardcoredds — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

This is why I like this blog....you look at things like a scientist (seeing as you are one, that makes sense ;) ), and don't just toss around headlines and broken-telephone -style, out-of-context quotes or "findings". Thank you.

By: Lopbandet

Lopbandet — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I had a foot injury caused by vehicular accident 5 months ago with an open III fracture 1st metatarsal shaft on my left foot. I'm still waiting for my titanium plate which is very costly. I'm a bed patient for almost 3 months but my tissue has been healed. Now, I managed to jog in a slow phase even if I had an open fracture. I'm just wondering what would be the danger doing some exercises having an open fracture without any bone grafting or titanium plate attached but my tissue is already healed. Will it lead to a possible bone cancer?

By: Pete Larson

Pete Larson — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

In reply to Greg.

It's unfortunate that that's the case, I really think a year minimum is prudent for a marathon for someone just starting out. I'm coaching a couch to 5k team starting tomorrow, and we are building up really slow even for that. Too many people want instant gratification! Took me years to learn how to best tackle a marathon.

As for shoes, I'm a big advocate of mixing it up - it varies the stress.

By: Brian Martin

Brian Martin — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

Sounds like more evidence to support not putting all your shoe eggs in one basket.

By: Pete Larson

Pete Larson — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

In reply to Ben McDonald.

There was no biomechanical comparison. My guess would be that the calcaneal fracture was due to continued heel striking in the VFFs, but I suspect that 2nd metatarsal issues are more likely associated with bending on toe off and thus initial contact location would not be the problem. Forefoot strikers don't contact on the 2nd met.

This does raise a question about whether explicit form advice in conjunction with a gradual transition might yield different results.

By: Guest

Guest — Tue, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000

I feel that a gradual transition to more minimalist shoes
would help with the occurrence of injuries. However, I’ve never worn vibrams but I do run
in many other minimalist shoes and I’m a forefoot striker. The past 5 or 6
years I’ve had no injuries to speak of. While, it could be just luck that has
not caused me to become injured.

I agree though that any change in shoe by any person should
be with caution. To me it’s almost the same as going from 2 miles a day to
running 12 miles a day with no transition period. You could be lucky but you
are bound to get hurt at some point with such a large transition.