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Scott Cuyjet, RN, MSN, FNP-C, practices adolescent medicine in the San Francisco Bay area.<\/p>\n
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<\/p><\/div>When a patient who does something drastically different from the norm comes into a provider\u2019s office, the initial thought\u00a0might be, “That person is crazy!” These snap judgments and resulting body language can keep us from learning the rational, or irrational, explanation behind the behavior. I am fortunate that\u00a0during my NP training, I was reminded that in living in the San Francisco Bay Area I might see things that are much different from what I was socialized to believe were “normal.” I remember in women’s health being told by my instructor that during a pelvic exam, she encountered rings pierced down both sides of a woman’s labia with a chain through them and a lock. The patient had to call her partner and ask permission\u00a0to unlock herself for the exam. In my current practice, I encounter patients from all walks of life, so I challenge myself to remain open about differences as long as my patients aren’t hurting people without their permission. If I approach them judgmentally, they usually clam up. On the other hand, if I approach them with an open mind, they are usually willing to share.<\/p>\n
In my own experience as the patient doing something out of the norm, I am a barefoot\/minimalist runner. And I\u2019d like to share my own story here with some background information in case you encounter one of “us” in your practice. That way you can be better prepared, so you don\u2019t have a negative gut reaction that comes out verbally or nonverbally.<\/p>\n
My journey into barefoot running started in May of 2005, after my first and only marathon, which gave\u00a0me a horrible blister on my right arch, and a painful second half of said marathon. It was after this that I read an article in Runner’s World<\/em> magazine about a man named Ken Bob Saxton who lives in Long Beach, California \u2014 an article that changed how I run to this day. After reading the article, I went to his website<\/a>, and read about other barefoot runners throughout history and how their\u00a0form is more natural and gentle. The thing that was most intriguing about running barefoot was that all of the people on his bulletin board claimed they no longer experienced injuries like shin splints, joint pain, twisted ankles, and blisters. I had been chronically plagued by knee pain since I started running at the age of\u00a08, which I was told was from my flat feet causing me to over-pronate.\u00a0So to minimize my discomfort, I had tried every over-the-counter orthotic, custom orthotic, and motion-control shoe \u2014 with little to no relief, but I kept running anyway. I also had two pairs of shoes that I alternated between each day and tracked their mileage so that the midsole would not get too compressed and make me even more prone to injury. Lastly, I looked for the softest surface to run on so I would not hurt myself while \u201cpounding the pavement.\u201d<\/p>\n A minimalist runner on the other hand, or foot, is one who wears the least amount of substance between his\/her foot and the ground while running. It may be the Vibram Five Fingers<\/a>, the Nike Free<\/a> or one of\u00a0its competitors, or a modernized version of the huarache\u00a0sandal worn by the Tarahumara Indians in the book Born to Run<\/em> (such as\u00a0Xeroshoes)<\/a>. One can purchase minimalist shoes for general wear as well.<\/p>\n I wear my Vibrams when I am running in an unknown location, on a trail, or the temp drops below 40 degrees, but most of the time I am barefoot. I tried some huaraches\/Xeroshoes,\u00a0but they did not work for me. To maintain general foot strength, I stay barefoot as much as possible, or close to it. I wear vivobarefoot<\/a> shoes at work and flip-flops\u00a0everywhere else. I also ride my single-speed bike barefoot or in Vibrams. In 2012 there was a\u00a0lawsuit<\/a>\u00a0brought against the Vibram company for, “[Allegedly making] false and unsubstantiated claims about the health benefits of its glove-like footwear.” In this\u00a0article<\/a> I found, the author states, “A friend of mine owns a running shoe store and he reports sales of Vibram Five Fingers have all but ceased,”\u00a0but I feel that the people injured either were being used by liability lawyers to make a buck or did not use any common sense.<\/p>\n![\"barefoot\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/frontlines-clinical-medicine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2015\/12\/barefoot.jpg\")
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