Hi everyone, I started going barefoot about a month ago, as my feet complained bitterly about any shoes I tried wearing, and would be painful all the time, even in the night. I am loving being barefoot, and my foot pain has gone! Yay! Now however, I have a new problem, which is knee pain. It's getting worse day by day. It is relieved by running, however walking makes it worse, and they are painful all the time like my feet were. Does anyone have any idea as to what could be causing this, and how I could relieve it? Also, I read that when walking you should heel strike even when barefoot, however this feels uncomfortable to me, I naturally feel like I want to walk on the balls of my feet. Would this be damaging? Thank you for any ideas/suggestions!
I 'm no medical expert, but the fact that you are striking your heels could be the cause of your pain. Maybe you should change your gait and come down on the balls of your feet. This is how barefoot runners keep from having knee issues.
Hey! Be happy I saw your text! I do not know exactly your problem, and I am not any doctor, but I'll tell you what problem I have had. I hope it will help you. I suppose you have the same problem I had had many years, ago!: It is simple: Probably you have the knee pain because a cold is "acumulated" in your knees! When I started NOT wearing socks and even walking barefoot many years ago, I had the same knee pain! When I was walking, running and especially the worst were stairs for me! The problem is, feet love cold floor. For feet, cold floor is refreshing. How ever, all the cold is directly going to the knees where is "accumulated" and makes the knee pain, later. I believe, it will help you if you wrap your knees around with some warm fabric/cloth. Your knees need a PERMANENT WARM !!! PERMANENTLY KEEP YOUR KNEES IN A WARM !!! Keep them in the warm for about the next 1-6 months NON-STOP (including at home) untill the knee pain will stop / be gone! You need not stop walking barefoot. Just maybe little bit, when you feel the floor is really cold, take a break and wear flip-flops (for the parts of the pavements that are cold. (I know, some parts of pavements are warmer, some of them are colder, in the streets.) Also you should wear trousers or longer shorts, long under your knees. You know, in the winters, last 5 years, in the streets, I wear flip-flops withOUT any socks, every day! And no problem with my knees because I wear LONG shorts in the winters to keep my knees in the warm. The rest of the year I walk quite barefoot every day everywhere barefoot. And no problem with my knees if I wear LONG shorts = long under knees. But on the other hand if I wear shoter shorts = short ABOVE knees (= my knees are naked) when the weather is colder (even in the summers), the knee pain has been coming back, even after many years when I had had that problem . So, my advice is this: I believe, it will help you if you wrap your knees around with some warm fabric/cloth. Your knees need a PERMANENT WARM !!! PERMANENTLY KEEP YOUR KNEES IN A WARM (including at home) !!! Keep them in the warm for about the next 1-6 months NON-STOP untill the knee pain will QUITE be gone! After the knee pain will be quite gone, still take special care about knees so that they cannot get cold.
Thank you very much for your replies Barefoot-boy and BarefootIsNatural. Barefoot-boy - I think I will follow my instincts and walk on the balls of my feet from now on most of the time. BarefootIsNatural - That's really interesting, I never knew knee pain could be caused by the cold! Thank you for taking the time to write such a detailed post based on personal experience.
When I first started going barefoot, I experienced pain in different places--heels, calves, occasional knee, and some arch. Also, I walked so much going to and from work (about 80 minutes total), that I had to alternate days with flips for a while, as my soles were not adjusting fast enough. I just persevered and continued barefoot as much as I could take it. After 6 weeks, all problems started improving. By the end of 6 months, the pains were all gone. I do believe that the changes going barefoot causes, requires time for adjustments, which in my case were significant. I did not try to force myself to do anything with my gait--except to stop twisting my right foot on the push-off, which apparently I had been doing in shoes. One other thing I have found. I drive more than one car, and in one of the cars, I get right knee pain, which I believe is caused by the position my right leg must be in, to press the accelerator pedal. My solution is to try and keep my foot flat against the pedal, rather than pushing with primarily the toes. I also use the cruise control as much as possible in that car. After those changes, I seldom get knee pain from driving that car, anymore.
I've been going BF for over a year, and my normal walking gait has a heel strike. That is normal for WALKING. Walking only imparts a tiny fraction of the forces on joints as does running, so it's not critical to use a forefoot strike when walking. I only use a forefoot strike while walking during my running warmup and cool down. Otherwise I just heel strike while walking, and I have not had any knee pain issues. So I think the OP's issue is probably something else.
Where on the knee is your pain? A side, behind patella/kneecap? In the back? What is it like when not in motion? When your foot is flexed toward the ground? When flexed toward the shin? One knee or both? (I make assessments for rehabilitative massage therapy)
