MASAI BAREFOOT TECHNOLOGY

[Jan49]

Hi............do any of you know much about MBT (Masai Barefoot Technology) shoes?  I bought a pair (£150) last November when my two year old pain was diagnosed as osteoarthritis.  They take a little while to get used to as you need to centre yourself and then roll foot forward - when I first got them I was a bit like tigger which was great but totally exhausting on your calf muscles.  The idea of them is to reduce pressure on hips, knees etc.  I do only wear them for a short while now (as the leg muscles really pump up) but I was wondering whether they will be good for me post-op or should I use them with caution? Any advice would be appreciated...........thanks Jan49

[Bionic]

I haven't heard of them, but my sense is that you don't want to use these shoes anytime soon after your surgery.  I'm now 5 days post-op, and the primary challenge with walking is maintaining stability.  You want to be as sure-footed as possible, and progressively move toward a normal walking style.  I think that anything that moves you away from a normal walking style is going to be counterproductive.  This is not the time to compensate for weakness but to work at strengthening.

Also, after surgery your arthritis will be gone, so the shoes won't be especially useful to you, except maybe as a way of building muscle tone in your lower legs.  But I would postpone any efforts along these lines until several months post-op.

[snoots]

Hi Jan,
Bionic has given you good advice.
I have owned a pair of those shoes for 3 years and after my HR last April I left them in the closet and wore regular soled slip on romeos. The MTBs tend to be a bit of a trip hazard during recovery as the trajectory of your foot isn't as high as usual and the thick part of the soles tends to scuff the ground . I started to wear them again at about the 6 month mark. I had some joint pain issues in my foot and have read other hippies complaints about this. As soon as I put the MTBs on the foot pain disappears so don't give up on them just yet. Give it some time and wait until your gait is normal and the bone is good and strong.


Terry