I have been sifting through studies and other info about Parkinson's foot strike and gait. What I need help with is since Parkinson's patients have a softer heel strike and tend to walk/run more forward on the foot, should we be wearing these shoes like Nike Free ("barefoot" style) which are designed for that or stay away from those and get heavy cushioning in the heel and consciously bang the heel as we walk? I feel best walking barefoot because shoes make my foot feel stiff. On the other hand, my PT who I am not seeing at the moment gave me an exercise which involves walking with that purposeful heel strike. Brilliant science-minded people, what do you think?

Canna,

The "minimalist" movement promotes very flexible shoes with low heels. I find that I have much more energy and balance with these shoes and we are designed to strike at the midfoot not the heel. I discovered this when out hiking last Spring wearingg my regular trail shoes (stiffer and built up heel) - my foot started dropping and the then moist ground looked invitinng so i just took my shoes off and was really suprised at how much easier I couuld hike and if i slowed a bit my foot wouldn;t drop

check out some youtube videos on chi walking! I have some New Balance minimus trail shoes that I LOVE, LOVE LOVE- also some Teva "zilch" sandals

Randy Eady (another "brilliant, science minded" person known as "the foot whisperer" has a LOT to say about this. Check out his blogs and facebook site "Ancient Walking to Primal Rythyms"

Trust your own body - it is a precious source of information. Let it be your compass - doctors are just people with opinions! Why hand over your authority to someone else?

Have a lovely day
sharilyn

Well I can tell you that if you can come with something you're gonna be able to retire on it! My problem is that due to the contraction and I think the rigidity in my calf muscle it tends to pull my foot downward, in turn causes me to plant my foot more to the outside and I tend to walk on the outside of my shoes. This has resulted in it being very painful for me to walk barefooted, and I wear out the sides of a shoe before the bottom is even touched. It also causes tailor's bunions-very painful. I look for something like a court shoe which tends to be thicker on the sides than the running shoe. It is also heavier and sturdy. I like a tight fitting shoe vs loose. I don't know of others but I can't tolerate flip flops or sandal type shoes or anything backless. Good luck.