I grew up playing soccer, so my toes were squished constantly in tight soccer shoes. My parents also had flat feet, which didn't help with my foot genetics. On top of that I wore every day common foot wear that squished my feet in even more.
Every time I would go and buy shoes they would feel great and comfortable upon wearing them in the store, but after about 5 days they began to hurt some part of my foot, whether it be my heel, arch or my toes. Some of the most comfortable shoes I bought tended to be basketball shoes or skateboard shoes, probably because they added the most padding and material to cushion my feet. Little did I know at the time they were actually making things worse. While they felt good and were comfortable they were not actually improving any aspect of my foot nor the pain I had. I was just accommodating the problem, not fixing it.
It took me awhile to actually clue in and realize that maybe the problem I was having is because I wasn't allowing my feet to naturally do their job. Imagine the toes behaving like fingers. The fingers move around in all directions and need degrees of freedom to express themselves, grab onto objects and perform mostly all your daily activities. Now imagine if you had thick gloves on, how would that impede your daily activities? For sure it would make it difficult to grab things, write, cook dinner, etc. Now imagine your feet have gloves on- oh wait, you probably already do! Every day we wear thick shoes with tons of padding, cushion, material, shock absorbers and high elevation soles. Your toes are boxed in, your feet can't breathe properly, they can't expand naturally and they can never feel the ground which means certain muscles in your feet can become weak.
Your feet were meant to have nothing on them. And in the past if we did wear some type of foot protection it wouldn't be for 8-10 hours a day. Your feet were meant to expand, breathe and feel the ground and surface to provide information to the rest of your body. This proprioceptive engagement is meant to provide the brain with information about the environment such as temperature, texture and materials.
After searching online for a different type of shoe I stumbled upon vivobarefoot.com and purchased the Primus Lite 3. The shipping was fast and the shoe fit true to size. They have a size chart on their website you can use to determine your best fit. Unfortunately some shoes do not have half-sizes only full sizes. In my everyday footwear I usually wore a 10.5 depending on the shoe company, but with the Vivobarefoot shoes I was a size 10.
As soon as I put them on it was magic, my foot fit perfectly and was the most comfortable shoe I had ever worn. I couldn't believe it because there was very minimal material, no thick sole and there was no cushioning. You can literally fold the shoe up and squeeze it into your jacket pocket. It allows for complete flexibility of your toes, feet and ankles. It changed the way I walked as well. I first noticed how my heel would strike the ground much earlier then the front of my feet which took sometime to get use to. I also noticed how my foot was able to read the ground I was walking on. I could feel the change in surface texture, and feel every little rock and bump on the ground. It's as if I finally connected my feet to the environment around me. It made me more aware, cognitive, alert, stable and stronger to the environment around me - as walking should. I also noticed huge improvements in my posture, especially my upper back and neck. I stood up more straight, was slouching less and my head migrated more into a more vertical plane.
You may be wondering if this improved my flat feet? The answer is yes! I noticed that I was actually able to supinate more (create more of an arch) in my feet subconsciously. This took sometime to get use to as I had 20+ years under my belt of flat feet. So I had to re-educate my muscles and nervous system to fire in the appropriate places. I still have to do some exercise to strengthen the weak muscles in my feet, calved and hips from overpronating for so long in conjunction with wearing barefoot shoes for maximum benefit.
Are barefoot shoes for everyone? I would say not entirely. If your feet are already compromised because of injury, structural limitations, movement limitations, inflammation, general weakness or frailty then you may need more standard commercial grade shoes. Even in these situations I would still go barefoot for maybe 10-15 minutes, then change your footwear to a more commercial grade shoe, then swap back again. For most people in these situations walking barefoot is almost like an exercise for your feet, and to just go from 0-100 and all of a sudden walking 8+ hours a day in barefoot shoes would probably smoke your feet and create a lot of soreness. These muscles have never been used and worked out for a very long time, so you may need time intervals in them.
Can you run in them? Theoretically yes you can. However, just like stated above, if you go from 0-100 you may end up crating soreness and injury in your feet, ankles and calves. If you have gone your whole life running in a comfortable shock absorbent shoe, then all of a sudden going for a run may be very uncomfortable. This is especially true if you run on hard surfaces like concreate or asphalt.
I was thinking about creating a PROS vs. CONS checklist but decided against it. There aren't any real pros or cons associated with how you should actually walk and move. I suppose a con would be that if you live in Canada, you can't really wear barefoot shoes outside. Your toes would freeze in about 10 minutes. But this isn't necessarily a con of the shoes, this is an environmental factor. In the same way I wouldn't wear winter boots in the Caribbean. It isn't a con of winter boots, you would just have to exhibit some common sense. Another supposed con would be that wearing them for long periods of time can stress the foot and cause pain and/or discomfort. But that just means certain muscles in your feet, ankles, calves or hips aren't ready for such a drastic change. You may need to slowly work your way up to spending all day in barefoot shoes. You may also need to exercise certain muscles in your toes, feet, calves and hips to calibrate them with your new footwear.
Think about barefoot walking or barefoot shoes as an exercise for your feet. In the same way as going to the gym and all of a suddenly start deadlifting a random weight, the next day your lower back, spine, arms, legs and hips could be wiped. You would have to begin slowly, carefully and cautious in your approach.
In my opinion the more natural you can get and more connected you can get with your environment, nature and surroundings the better you will think, perform, move and feel. Barefoot shoes are no exception, and are definitely worth the investment.
I do not have any affiliation with Vivobarefoot or any barefoot shoe company. The opinions expressed are solely my own.