PODIATRISTS AND SPORTS MEDICINE

05/24/2012     

MN, CA Podiatrists Report Increase in Barefoot Running Injuries

Podiatrist Dr. Paul Langer used to see one or two barefoot running injuries a month at his Twin Cities Orthopedics practice in Minneapolis. Now he treats between three and four a week. "Most just jumped in a little too enthusiastically," said Langer, an experienced runner and triathlete who trains in his barefoot running shoes part of the week. 

Drs. Paul Langer and Bob Baravarian

Dr. Bob Baravarian, chief of podiatry at the UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica, CA said he has seen "a fair number" of heel injuries and stress fractures among first-timers who are not used to the different forces of a forefoot strike. "All of a sudden, the strain going through your foot is multiplied manifold," and problems occur when people don't ease into it, he said.

Source: Alicia Chang, Athens Banner-Herald [5/22/12]