Joint Stress and Running Shoes May Be Related

Even if shoe companies advertise their latest footwear as including a host of modern technologies, you may still be better off running with normal shoes, or no shoes at all, a new study seems to suggest. Excessive cushioning, arch support and motion-control technologies may all sound well and good, but the paper shows that people going out to jog in running shoes are still at high risk of developing joint stress on account of the effort. Details on this problem appear in the December 2009 issue of the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation's journal, PM&R, LiveScience reports.

According to the research team behind this investigation, existing running shoes are detrimental to ankles, knees and hips, and may lead to severe side-effects, if used continuously over many years. They even say that you could be far better off running in high-heel shoes. Apparently, this category of footwear puts less strain on the aforementioned joints than shoes designed specifically for running. Still, the research group says that people shouldn't abandon their sneakers just yet, except when running on grass. Jogging barefooted on concrete is just as damaging to the joints.

“We've evolved to run on compliant surfaces, not on asphalt or concrete. You run on something hard, your body has to work that much harder to help absorb those forces, and that can lead to stresses and strain, wear and tear, really throughout the whole body. I'm concerned, I don't think this study should promote running barefoot. I think people should run in what they feel most comfortable running in […] and whether that's in a pair of running shoes, or in a minimum kind of running shoe, that's just fine,” study leader Dr. D. Casey Kerrigan says. She began the investigation while working at the University of Virginia.

The expert adds that most surfaces we are used to running on, such as concrete and asphalt, are not compliant to our needs. Running on soft ground is something we do best, from an evolutionary standpoint. Seeing how we first touched the ground in savannas, this only makes sense, biologists believe. Kerrigan has been involved with such studies for a long time. Her team was also behind a recent study that suggested wearing high-heel shoes posed health risks for women. The knee joint was the one most affected, the work revealed, especially the areas where the condition known as osteoarthritis was most likely to develop.