Comments on Barefoot and Grounded .com: Barefoot Likely Better Than Shoes If You Step on a...

You mentioned shoe fragments getting deposited int...

2011-05-14T16:16:44.808-05:00

You mentioned shoe fragments getting deposited into a puncture wound as well as various forms of bacteria that may get in. Various pathogens do indeed live inside dirty, dark, moist shoes and can easily enter the wound as a nail passes through the shoe and into a foot. This was shown to be the case in a 1997 study entitled, "Soft Tissue and Bone Infections from Puncture Wounds in Children" by Terese J. Laughlin, DPM, and others (See http://tinyurl.com/3vnfkwa ). They reported on 44 children admitted to a hospital with infected foot puncture wounds during a 7-year period. Of the 44 children injured, 17 had been barefoot. And as you can read in the study, those that were barefoot had significantly less soft tissue or bone infections than those who had been shod. The study supports the theory that infections in foot puncture wounds are much less likely when barefoot than when wearing shoes.

I've been running barefoot for 1 year, and jus...

2011-05-13T22:59:41.405-05:00

I've been running barefoot for 1 year, and just going barefoot nearly fulltime, meaning college, shopping, and at home. For the 5 years I've been running, I've only punctured my foot with glass once, when wearing a heavily cushioned shoe, two years ago.

Like I said earlier on twitter, I can remember 4 d...

2011-05-12T15:00:21.115-05:00

Like I said earlier on twitter, I can remember 4 distinct instances of me stepping on a nail. 3 were shod, one was just a few weeks ago, barefoot. All of these puncture wounds were extremely serious... except the barefoot one. All of them also occured on job sites. Three times I have been moving around quickly not looking where I was going, why would I? I have protection! And then an awful feeling. One time it was so serious that i lt went through my foot and just barely poked out the upper of my shoe.

The time just the other day was going down a loading ramp, the nail was a finish nail, and it was propped up on the treads of the ramp. I stepped into it and I immediately jerked backwards. I brought my foot to view and a nail was sticking just inside the skin, I plucked it out and went about my business. No pain. No blood.