How important is the type of shoe for containing or preventing knee pain?

There is no 'one size fits all' when it comes to shoes or lack thereof. Andrew Feldman, MD discusses his personal preference when it comes to shoes and the importance of listening to your body.

Transcript

00:00

Now we have all these people running barefoot, you know? And I see them running in the winter in Central Park, which

00:06

is a little bit odd for me, because their philosophy is that it's not a matter of the padding

00:12

or how you strike the ground, but it's the motion that your foot hits the ground. [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:23

I've always been and still am a very big believer in how your foot-- and I'm a marathon runner, I've run several marathons-- on how you hit the ground

00:31

and the absorptive quality of both your shoes and/or an orthotic and/or the surface you run on,

00:38

or whatever. Now we have all these people running barefoot, you know?

00:46

And I see them running in the winter in Central Park, which is a little bit odd for me, because their philosophy

00:52

is that it's not a matter of the padding or how you strike the ground. But it's the motion that your foot hits the ground.

00:59

And they try to stay away from either being a heel striker or a toe striker and try to hit the midfoot. They feel that a shoe or something like a shoe

01:09

can restrict them. I've seen a lot of injuries in those guys, too.

01:16

So I don't know what's best. In my opinion, I think you need to get a shoe that fits you properly, something that's well-padded

01:22

if you're gonna do impact, and listen to your body most of all. [AUDIO LOGO]