I have two problems with my feet- First, they're sensitive. I always where shoes because of this. I want to get them hard and calloused so I can walk barefoot. Second, gout. I tried it last year but after walking a couple hundred yards somehow it brought my gout back. I was limping for a few days after that. How do I get past these?
If you think of "going barefoot" as a kind of sport, you'll do well. You have to train for it. You can't do it all at once. Sure, if you want to be a professional baseball pitcher, you can always throw a ball. But if you want to be a PROFESSIONAL pitcher, you have to throw hundreds of balls faster and faster. You train a part of your body to do something special. Going barefoot is training a part of your body to do something it doesn't routinely do. Your soles will be dealing with the ground, and your leg muscles will be adjusting to a new kind of stride. And, in your case, also compensating for gout. There is an EXCELLENT book by Daniel Howells called The Barefoot Book. It explains the physiology (as well as all the social brouhaha that comes along) of walking barefoot. Get YOURS today (Amazon, Ebay, etc.) Meanwhile...take it SLOW...EASY....LITTLE BITS. Rome wasn't etc.
Although I've never used it, there have been suggestions on running forums that the application of surgical spirit can help to toughen the skin upon the soles of the feet.
