I suffer from aching lower back and knee soreness (results of motorcycle crash and football injury some time back). Went in to buy some trail type walking shoes aNd the shop recommended I consider MBT's as great physio for backs and knees.

They're v expensive but am happy to pay the price if they work. So any views on them?

Cheers

Why were you riding your motorbike when you were playing football?

Some interesting research papers produced regarding these shoes.

Im unconvinced.

You planning on buying them for running or walking?

If i was going to try a shoe gimmick i'd go for barefoot-esque ones (Vibram, Vivo etc.) rather than big plastic banana shoes.

Did you ask the shop why/how they'd be great "physio" for your knees and back?

i think ^ that might be a fair synopsis of the research i have read. potentially in more laymans terms…

thinking of them for the daily dog walking. The shop were pretty 'loose' with their description as to the physio effect (stretching muscles, improving posture, working new muscles).

the shop recommended I consider MBT's as great physio for backs and knees

Was the "shop" a specialist rehab clinic? No? Didn’t think so. 🙄

Would it not be wise to speak to an expert first? As most chronic injuries are due to muscle imbalances, tightness, and incorrectly treated symptoms. Can’t see a pair of shoes correcting all of those. Maybe get the issues dealt with once and for all?

Having said that, feel free to spend your money on some “cure” shoes if you think they will work 😉

research for barefoot running is farely sound (vibram etc.) though the benefits of vibram over a pair of 3 quid plimsoles is not entirely clear…

not sure what mbt are about really. interesting traction issues too i would have thought…

though the benefits of vibram over a pair of 3 quid plimsoles is not entirely clear…

I came to the same conclusion. I might invest in a pair of these: 😆

http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/0708223/Trail/searchtext%3EAQUA+SHOE.htm

MBT's … or similar types of ortho walking shoes – any views?

Yes, they make you look like a tool.

Seems like a good deal to me finbar 🙂

nope – the shop is a dedicated independent sports shop, with (I think) fairly keen, knowledgeable staff.

I have physio (and have daily stretching routines) regularly … the medical view is that the issues are not resolvable, merely have to be managed (and TBH, I'm lucky-ish to be as active as I am). So I guess I'm constantly on the look for 'aids' that help my situation, rather than seeing these as 'cures' if that makes sense. I wasn't imagining MBT's to be a revelation, simply might hep 'things' along a little 😕

well the hole point of the shoe revolution (someone in a moment will come on and say its not a revolution as its been around for ages – but there does seem to be a recent uprising/interest) is to move to forefoot running. this reduces heel strike, reducing pressure on knees, ankles etc. and point loads under the heel. – better for muscles and joints.

the MBT does not (really) do this.

If you can afford to try them then give them a go.
Mrs Wiksey has had some MBTs for a while now and swears by them although when when walking up hills she has been known to swear at them 🙂
Basically they manage to replicate walking on sand so as well as improving posture they mean you need to put more effort into walking.
If you have a close look at them they're quite odd in that the rear half is very squishy so should reduce impacts during walking.
Oh, one warning, when you stand "still" people will wonder why you keep rocking backwards and forwards.

My GF's orthopedics consultant recommended some to her following surgery, to help improve/maintain her balance following it. They've helped her.

My physiotherapist has recommended some to me to try & improve my balance & ankle stability following a long-running (sic!) injury, but the only ones I like (don't look too stupid) are £175 – no way I can justify that, so am looking around at different options for decent shoes, etc. Haven't found much though, although some Merrells seemed almost there.

The ones I've looked at didn't have a grippy sole at all, so using them outdoors might prove interesting!

I like the view of them 4 mins into this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_usxrvKvus

I imagine they might work as a rehabilitation aid, but it doesn't strike me as a sensible choice for long term use. Of course that's just based on my personal prejudices rather than anything else 😉

I am going to come in with a counter view to the last two recommendations.

My osteopath was giving them some major critisism (we were talking about orthototic inserts etc and MBTs came up) and saying that she currently has 3 patients, all with back issues that have been made worse by MBTs and hence she wouldn't recommend them.

Personally (and from experience), I would look at (for the back issue) core strength – whislt physio/osetopath treatment is great for stretching out tight hammies and loosening up my lower back, taking up pilates is the best thing I ever did for my back – obviously dont know the specifics of your issue, but the £130 or whatever a pair of MBTs costs can go along way to getting some excercises which will benefit your back (and prolly your riding) no end

A fair point, my experience of them is only related to foot & ankle injury rehabilitation, nothing higher up. They do try & impress on you that you should be shown how to get the best from them – I guess just walking in them isn't enough!

When they came out the papers had experts saying don't touch them with a barge pole.. plus they seem ridiculously expensive.

My GF swears by them and she uses them for work (involves lots of walking and carrying).

I'm an Osteopath & think they are a clever idea on a number of levels:
The soft heel reduces shock loading on the legs (important for me as I have an arthritic knee).
The soles are designed to mimic walking on an uneven surface whilst on an even one – this can help improve proprioception.
They encourage pulling yourself forward using gluteal & hamstring muscles rather than falling forwards (using the hip & knee to decellerate the fall), thus reducing the tendency for the pelvis to tilt anteriorly (with the associated compensatory increase in the lumbar lordosis).
I believe that a lot of arch support comes from the hip muscles, particulary gluteus medius, the instability of the shoe encourages this.
………But you need to be show how to get the best out of them, pay attention to how you use them & they're not cheap.

The soles are designed to mimic walking on an uneven surface whilst on an even one – this can help improve proprioception.

I'd have thought having a large lump of rubber between you and the ground would give you pretty poor proprioception. It would certainly give you something, but wouldn't a bare foot on ground give you far better proprioception in so much as you know exactly where your foot is and can feel exactly what it's doing?

I'd have also thought that your foot arches essentially becomes redundant if your using what is basically a rigid soled shoe that doesn't allow your foot to flex and take loads the way that nature intended to.
Again, I have no expertise in this area, so it's just conjecture.

these look far better for you, sad thing is they are even more expensive, but got to be better for you, after all we didn't spend over a million years wandering around with shoes on did we.

I believe that a lot of arch support comes from the hip muscles

Really – how come when the hip muscles don't go anywhere near the foot.

IM how does a wobble board/ cushion work in that case?
TJ If your talo-crural joint is properly orientated it takes much less effort to maintain the medial longitudinal arch both standing and particularly as you move forward over it walking. The ball & socket of the hip joint is where this is best controlled – a big joint with big muscles. Try it, allowing the femur to medially rotate will reduce the MLA. Weak gluteals is IMHO the reason behind so many people being diagnosed as over pronating, this in turn being caused by too many people spending too much time sat on rather than using their a$$es

IM how does a wobble board/ cushion work in that case?
They work at improving the support muscles in the leg and ankle, or at least that's what it feels like on the one I have. They don't appear to help you learn how to run or walk naturally/correctly though.
It strikes me as odd that we're still at the stage of putting odd shaped things on our feet (be it rocker shoes, orthotics or marshmallow shoes with springs in them) to cure all sorts of alleged bio-mechanical issues in our feet when we've seen the fallacy of doing similar things with backs. Time was if you had a bad back, weak muscles, poor posture you'd be recommend some form of back brace, corset to help support it because these will help make up for nature's failing. Now I think it's generally accepted that with exception of rehabilitation it's far preferable to learn how to improve your posture and to remove these issues in the first place. My gut feeling is the same is true for walking and running, and anything that gets in the way of the foot functioning how it's evolved to seems daft. As I stated earlier they might work as some form of rehabilitation aid, but as a daily choice just seem madness.
In my completely unqualified opinion naturally 😉