American Academy of Podiatric Sports Medicine
This website has information on picking out shoes from a sports medicine perspective.
Defective Running Shoes as a Contributing Factor in Plantar Fasciitis in a Triathlete
This fascinating abstract shows that shoes are part of the etiology of plantar fasciitis.
Proper Attire and Shoes
This small page on, of all places, Duke University Human Resources website, has a short section on the shoe features appropriate for overpronators and underpronators - basically listing what features to look for if you want a stabilizing shoe versus a non-stabilizing shoe for running.
Barefoot Running and Plantar Fasciitis
I always take note when somebody mentions that a particular shoe helped them with plantar fasciitis. I came across this interesting page about a staff member at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, where the staff member mentions trying "barefoot shoes" called Vibram Five Fingers shoes, and getting instant relief from her heel pain. I thought that was pretty uncommon, until I read a portion of a thesis by a student of Applied Physiology and Kinesiology about how running barefoot can be lower impact than running shod and my husband, who was present, independently mentioned the barefoot-style Vibram Five Fingers shoes used by runners. More information on the possible benefits of barefoot running can also be found at Go Ask Alice at Columbia University, The Rise of Barefoot Running at the Canadian Medical Association Journal, and an extensive and fascinating website on the Biomechanics of Foot Strikes hosted at Harvard University. Now, it's true that barefoot running and walking are untested scientifically as of yet and going barefoot is not generally advised by podiatrists in cases of plantar fasciitis. But it makes a certain kind of sense and is pretty interesting...
Running Shoes Studies
If you're seriously into research on this subject, check out the references on this bio page for a physical therapy professor at the University of Delaware. There is quite a bibliography of resources for all sorts of running injuries, but if you search on the page for "plantar fasciitis," you'll come across articles specifically about our condition. None are hyperlinked, but you may be able to access some of this material through your local library's ILL (Interlibrary Loan) department.
This is a Taiwanese clinical trial relating shoe types and foot types to different cases of plantar fasciitis.
This page is from the Wellness Workbook at Estrella Mountain Community College. I'm not so crazy about the section on foot conditions, but if you scroll down the page, you'll see the section that talks about choosing the right athletic shoe. Good stuff!
Choosing Running Shoes Tips
I don't usually like to link directly to PDFs or documents, but here's a very interesting document of a slide show presentation called "All You Ever Wanted to Know About Athletic Shoes But Were Afraid to Ask." I can't discern how authoritative is the advice, but there were some thought-provoking tips, including the fact that no shoe can "correct" overpronation or underpronation, that all brands of athletic shoes make shoes for all types of stride irregularities - so there's no one "best shoe for plantar fasciitis" that fits all - and that the wet footprint test I did is not a good indicator of whether or not somebody overpronates (a better test is looking at the wear pattern on your shoes).
Research Review
This review of conservative treatments for plantar fasciitis discusses, among other therapies, the literature on shoe orthotics and dispels the notion that magnetic insoles work. It also points out how flawed are many of the studies done on this subject due to lack of controls and follow-up and low sample size. I took from it an important lesson - if the therapy sounds reasonable, try it and see if it works, because the scientists sure don't know!
Choosing Running Shoes Tips
I don't usually like to link directly to PDFs or documents, but here's a very interesting document of a slide show presentation called "All You Ever Wanted to Know About Athletic Shoes But Were Afraid to Ask." I can't discern how authoritative is the advice, but there were some thought-provoking tips, including the fact that no shoe can "correct" overpronation or underpronation, that all brands of athletic shoes make shoes for all types of stride irregularities - so there's no one "best shoe for plantar fasciitis" that fits all - and that the wet footprint test I did is not a good indicator of whether or not somebody overpronates (a better test is looking at the wear pattern on your shoes).
Research Review
This review of conservative treatments for plantar fasciitis discusses, among other therapies, the literature on shoe orthotics and dispels the notion that magnetic insoles work. It also points out how flawed are many of the studies done on this subject due to lack of controls and follow-up and low sample size. I took from it an important lesson - if the therapy sounds reasonable, try it and see if it works, because the scientists sure don't know!
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