Most people don’t believe me when I tell them that I had horrible knee pain when I was just 19 years old. They look at me and go “what? do you have a disease?” they wonder if I have some sort of genetic condition that caused me to suffer so young. Nope, no disease, nothing crazy. I just chose to wear the WRONG shoes and insoles and had shoe pain. At 19 years old I was working for the electric company reading meters. I would walk from meter to meter each day and type in numbers on a handheld computer. I’d walk usually 5, 6 or 7 miles each day. A lot of walking which is beneficial for health but when you’re wearing shoes that throw your ankle off to a tilt your body suffers.

My shoes were a pair of Nike shoes, and the insoles added to them made it worse. I literally walked my knees out of alignment. I didn’t realize this until years later too. That’s the crazy thing. I walked in these shoes and insoles everyday until every step I took was in constant pain. I thought it was just because I was walking so much and jumping fences that I was wearing away knee cartilage.

Nope. Turns out the shoe and insoles I was wearing were pushing the inner part of my foot up and the back part of my foot up. This put my foot on an angle to the front and outside which hper-extended my knees. It wasn’t until years later that I discovered there are actually shoe companies that design their shoes to fit to your natural foot and to allow for natural movement. This is really important not only for pain prevention but also injury prevention.

Your Current Shoes Can Cause Knee Pain or Back Pain – They Did For Me

It also helps your athletic performance and overall strength of your foot and ankle as it has it’s proper anatomical mobility. Something Nike, Reebok and the other shoe brands haven’t turned onto yet. They’re too focused on design and looks because that’s what sells to the mass public. For me though, I have learned to find shoes that serve the function and purpose of walking first and foremost. I don’t believe that barefoot shoes, minimalist shoes were even around back then. If they existed they were rare and people didn’t understand them yet. Now they do.

That is how I found Xero Shoes, watch this video to learn about how these shoes differ and may help you prevent pain:

You can learn more about their shoes at XeroShoes.com by clicking here.

I got their prio and z-trail shoe models. They are both very comfortable and useful. These sandals are actually the most comfortable sandals I have ever worn in my life. What I like about them is not only the design, function, comfort and mobility in them but they almost wear too good to be true.

The first time I wore them I got home and looked at my feet and thought

“I feel like I can re-establish a connection with my feet better wearing these.”

As corny as it may sound. It’s a minimalist sandal and one of the closest things to barefoot. I bet if you are the type of person that stubs your toe often these sandals will train you to be more mindful of your feet and not be so clumsy. That’s the way I felt anyway! Typically i’m not clumsy with my feet but I was more mindful of my feet wearing these sandals which i’d imagine is a good thing to train your feet to work better and not be as clumsy when you need them.

Xero Shoes are Minimalist – Barefoot Shoes For A Reason

These shoes are designed to be flat on the bottom so that your foot isn’t off balance and throwing off your knee and back in any way. Additionally the room for your toes allows you to use your toes to be strong and stretch to have room as nature intended. The opposite of what heels do ladies! The shoes are lightweight so that it feels natural and easy to move in them.

I hope that you find this information valuable and try a pair for yourself, or bookmark this page for when you need a new pair of shoes. If you have a friend or family member who suffers from knee or back pain you may want to share this information with them. I would have greatly appreciated this type of information when I was in knee pain every single day. If you suffered from shoe pain like me where it hit my knees, for you it may be hurting your back also I highly recommend upgrading your shoes and seeing if that helps, or reduces how often you need to see the chiropractor. You can visit XeroShoes.com here, I hope you find a shoe that suits you.

Be well!