Foot Bone Marrow Edema after a 10-wk Transition to Minimalist Running Shoes

• DOI: 10.1249/mss.0b013e3182874769
• Publication Date: 2013-02-23T15:43:38Z
• Authors: SARAH T. RIDGE; A. WAYNE JOHNSON; ULRIKE H. MITCHELL; IAIN HUNTER; ERIC ROBINSON; BRENT S. E. RICH; STEPHEN DOUGLAS B...
• Keywords: Foot (prosody)

Purpose Minimalist running shoes are becoming a more popular choice for runners in the past few years. However, there is little conclusive evidence about advantages or disadvantages of these shoes. Although performance benefits may exist, injury also occur from added stress without benefit cushioning under foot. Bone marrow edema can be manifestation on This study measured bone runners’ feet before and after 10-wk period transitioning traditional to minimalist Methods Thirty-six experienced recreational underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) period. Seventeen subjects were control group (ran their only 10 wk), whereas other 19 experimental (gradually transitioned Vibram FiveFinger wk). The severity was scored range 0–4 (0 = no edema, 4 than 50% length bone). A score represented fracture. Results Pretraining MRI scores not statistically different between groups. posttraining showed that (10 19) increases at least one wk (P 0.009). Conclusion Runners interested shoes, such as FiveFingers, should transition very slowly gradually avoid potential