Anybody With Experience With These Shoes?

[yozz]

Yesterday I went shopping with my wife and her sister. We were originally planning to have a look at some Pikolinos shoes because they usually give a rather good fit, but they did not have anything that was either to our liking, or in any of our sizes. So we left the shop and ran into the shop next doors which, o miracle, was selling shoes as well. Just not high heel shoes. The brand was MBT and my wife and her sister both had heard about this brand as being very good shoes for when the doctor tells you to take a walk every day. Now I always have problems finding shoes in the mens section because of my size, so for years I only buy in the women section. And the ladies talked me into buying the shoes pictures below. I tried them on in the shop and the guy was very helpful. They have a rather round bottom and you have to walk in a rather particular way to get full benefit from them. We paid and left and walked through the shopping center for a while when both the ladies decided that actually they wanted shoes like that as well. So we went back and bought each of them also a pair. At that point I decided that I might as well wear them on the way back. Indeed the walking is rather `different'. You have to put down your heel first, and that rather clearly, and then basically roll your foot forward. And apparently, after walking for quite some time in them, you will get some sore muscles the first few times. But I am not that far yet, because the trip back was by car.... Has anybody tried such shoes before? Y.

[ilikekicks]

Sketchers makes shoes like this now and call them ' Shape Ups '.

http://www.skechers....iv-blissful/wpk

They make them in many colors/styles. I actually have a pair I bought about 3 years back and they are very comfy. Took a day or so to get used to them, but they are fine afterwards.

Edited May 4, 2012 by ilikekicks

[Rockpup]

I'd probably avoid them, as there is a class action lawsuit against Sketchers due to injuries. Just a warning.

[meganiwish]

I really like them, and the first ones. I don't do trainers, so these would be perfect. Injuries?! What people injure themselves with their own clothes and then sue someone?

[at9]

What people injure themselves with their own clothes and then sue someone?

Americans.

[yozz]

It baffles me also a bit. But then, there are probably people who fall down the stairs and then sue the manufacturer of their socks. It mentions in the manual that you should get adjusted to them slowly because they make you use different muscles than with ordinary shoes. This I noted already. They are rather funny because in a sense they have negative heels. Y.

[Rockpup]

You can also work out those muscles by wearing heels as they require more work for stability. http://www.10news.com/news/30211433/detail.html

[yozz]

Well, that was instructive. It took a while, but I also read all the comments. What it boils down to (in my vision) is that Sketchers advertises them roughly like "finally get in shape without going to the gym" and you can imagine how many people fall for that. But then most people wear them the whole day. Many are very happy with it and claim that they have no more backpain etc. and others claim that they made them twist their ankle or caused pain in their knees or made them even need surgery. For the rest many comments are a lot of name calling. As a scientist my first question is: are the claimed problems related to the shoes? People hurt their ankles also in normal shoes. I did once. My sister has even orthopedic shoes to help her and even then occasionally she just falls on the ground. It is part of getting older. It would also be nice to see some statistics of incidence of problems vs bodyweight. And the same for regular shoes. (and maybe also for flipflops or high heels). The shoes I bought have an information leaflet with them that explain how to walk in them and that one should gradually break them in. In my eyes they are purely for during "exercise". That is, when my wife wants to take me for a one hour walk each day. And if I feel that they start causing problems, I am not going to continue wearing them as apparently some of the people in the lawsuit did. On the other hand, some people claimed they wore the shoes for a long time and then suddenly they broke their ankle (and it was not clear whether they had discomfort before). Sounds to me a bit like a woman getting a baby and claiming that she never noticed that she was pregnant. Personally I think that the same shoe can have different effects on different people. What are good shoes for one, may be bad shoes for others. Often I have bought shoes that seemed fine in the shop, but after a few days they ended up in the closet. Maybe most of us have a closet like that. There were a few people in the comments that mentioned that they had bought the shoes, they did not like them, and they brought them back the next day. OK, I hope I did not bore you with the little report on those 13 pages of comments. I will try to be careful with the shoes. Y.

Edited May 5, 2012 by yozz

[Rockpup]

Fair enough, everyone's physiology is very different. Some people have back pain from heels, some find relief when wearing heels, some people find pain from Sketchers/MBT/Etc shoes, others find relief, some people find pain wearing Vibram Fivefingers (almost barefoot), others find relief. I think one saying for any footwear/exercise/diet/life experience might be "YMMV", your mileage may vary.