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A new study adds to growing evidence that various combinations of footwear and foot strike might be a way to address chronic pain in a specific body part.
In this case, research found that running barefoot can lessen impact forces at the knee. The findings suggest that runners with a history of knee pain might get some relief with bouts of barefoot running.
For the study, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, researchers measured knee ("patellofemoral" in researchese) movement and ground reaction forces when 22 experienced runners ran barefoot and in a neutral cushioned shoe.
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"Running barefoot decreased peak patellofemoral joint stress by 12% in comparison to shod running," the researchers wrote. "The reduction in patellofemoral joint stress was a result of reduced patellofemoral joint reaction forces while running barefoot."
As sport podiatrist Craig Payne has often pointed out, there's an important caveat to keep in mind when considering findings like the above. "It is not possible to reduce the load in one tissue without increasing it somewhere else," writes Payne. That is, reducing forces at the knee by running barefoot means another body part incurs increased load when running barefoot.
In this case, although forces elsewhere in the body weren't measured, it's likely they increased in the ankle. Such an occurrence would be consistent with other studies showing that cushioned shoes with conventional-height midsoles tend to increase forces on the knee, while minimalist shoes and running barefoot tend to increase load on the ankle.
One take-away from this study is to consider introducing barefoot running to your program if you have a history of knee pain that hasn't improved despite other attempts to address it. This pinpoint approach has been shown to be effective in other situations, such as research we reported on last year that found that switching to a forefoot strike helped relieve compartment syndrome, and a different study we reported on last month that found that rearfoot strikers tend to have more loading at the knees and forefoot strikers more loading in the ankles.
Related:
How Different Foot Strikes Affect Different Body Parts
Scott is a veteran running, fitness, and health journalist who has held senior editorial positions at Runner’s World and Running Times. Much of his writing translates sport science research and elite best practices into practical guidance for everyday athletes. He is the author or coauthor of several running books, including Running Is My Therapy, Advanced Marathoning, and Meb for Mortals. Scott has also written about running for Slate, The Atlantic, the Washington Post, and other members of the sedentary media. His lifetime running odometer is past 110,000 miles, but he’s as much in love as ever.
