If you look closely at runners' feet these days you'll notice a change is afoot. A British publication, The Independent, reports the new trend in "minimalist running shoes" might be causing a rise in barefoot running-related foot injuries. Defenders of the new shoe wear say don't blame the shoes; blame your feet http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/barefoot-running-leads-to-injury-epidemic--how-to-avoid-it-2300984.html) Yet American podiatrists are concerned about the barefoot and minimalist running trend; one major runner's publication describes that injuries are in epidemic proportions due to the rise in this trend—which includes the Vibram Five Finger shoe. The answer may be to many tools in your shoe wear toolbox to treat the particular problems you have.

The magazine Men's Health claims that poor form and weak feet may actually be the cause of running injuries http://www.menshealth.com/fitness/). One leading expert on a condition named Morton's Toe, Dr. Burton S. Schuler of Panama City, Florida, would agree that form is important, but bone structure is also involved. Morton's Toe, or short first metatarsal bone, causes the foot to pronate abnormally, and many people suffer pain and injuries when they have a short first metatarsal bone—yet they don't realize how this condition impacts them http://www.whyyoureallyhurt.com). So, as Schuler explains in his book Why You Really Hurt: It All Starts in the Foot, if you simply walk with this condition you can have problems; imagine the problems you can have with this condition if you are a runner.

The website http://www.running.competitor.com) would agree with Dr. Schuler's view that runners with "biomechanically disadvantaged feet" need footwear that considers the foot's basic bone structure—and this isn't always corrected by barefoot or minimalist shoe wear. Schuler recommends a toe pad beneath the first metatarsal bone (your big toe) which helps the foot pronate correctly http://whyyoureallyhurt.com/home/#tp).

As people seek to find ways to correct running injuries, research such as Dr. Schuler's becomes more relevant. He is a foot doctor, foot specialist, and podiatrist of Panama City, Florida. He is the director of the Ambulatory Foot Clinics Podiatric Pain Management Center and is a leading authority on the Morton's Toe and its associated problems, which he argues can be many. In 1975 at the age of 24, Dr. Schuler, graduated from the N. Y. College of Podiatric Medicine and has been in private practice ever since. In 1982, he published his first book, The Agony of De-Feet: A Podiatrist Guide to Foot Care. His recent book is Why You Really Hurt: It All Starts in the Foot.