Until today, the most available solution for spur pain was resting the legs, reducing the amount of sports training and local massage in the painful area. A new study at Tel Aviv University recommends actually walking with bare feet at home or on a moving track, like a gym treadmill
'Spur' is the unofficial name for inflammation in the lower part of the heel, and is considered the most common cause of foot pain. It is mainly suffered by people who stand for many hours during the day, athletes or professionals who perform intense physical activity by standing, jumping or running for long periods of time (especially on hard surfaces), and also those who are overweight, have flat feet or those who wear shoes that do not fit at their feet. Until today, the most available solution for spur pain was resting the legs, reducing the amount of sports training and local massage in the painful area. A new study at Tel Aviv University recommends actually walking with bare feet at home or on a moving track, like a gym treadmill.
Go barefoot and feel happier
According to the researchers' recommendation, you should start with a daily walk of 10 minutes on average, and gradually increase the number of minutes per day, according to personal fitness and subject to consultation with a physical therapist. The research was conducted under the leadership of Dr. Yosef Masheravi from the Department of Physiotherapy at the School of Health Professions at the Sackler Faculty of Medicine, and in collaboration with student Miriam Reinstein and the United KPFH.
During the study, the researchers accompanied for a month about 50 patients, who suffered for a long period of time from spur pain. The researchers divided the patients into two groups: in the first group, the group members walked barefoot on a treadmill, twice a week, first for 10 minutes and then for up to 30 minutes continuously. The members of the control group walked on a treadmill with shoes on their feet.
The findings of the study indicated that walking with bare feet significantly reduced the intensity of pain in the heel compared to the control group, and resulted in a higher improvement in the patients' level of daily functioning. The significant improvement is reflected in the ability to go up and down the stairs or carry shopping from the supermarket home. Some of them even started running short distances. At the same time, walking with bare feet improved their quality of life even in areas not directly related to pain and physical function. Among other things, the group members who walked barefoot reported that they felt more energetic, more peaceful and full of energy, less tired and happier.
Dr. Mesheravi concludes: "The spur is characterized by intense pain in the foot that makes it difficult for the patients to go about their normal life. The study showed that being careful about walking in general, and walking with bare feet in particular, helps a lot in alleviating the pain and makes it possible to perform simple actions such as going down the stairs and going to the supermarket, which otherwise could not be done. We estimate that when walking barefoot, most of the load is transferred to the front part of the foot, therefore the pressure focused on the heel decreases and there is a greater reduction in pain."
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