I don’t remember the first time I saw or heard about Vibram FiveFingers, the “shoes” that are like going barefoot. The first time I remember seeing them I already knew what they were; it was in Whole Foods, on a guy who must have been around 18. Soon thereafter, a friend was wearing them, another friend had some on order, and I was just finding out that the sketchers I bought made my hips feel worse.
I have a hip problem. Still not sure what it is; I had surgery to correct femoral-acetabular impingement on both hips. The problem is, that didn’t correct the pain I still have, mostly when sitting. I also get twinges if I move the wrong way, which is what those sketchers made me do. So I decided to try the Vibrams.
My husband and I went to REI to try them on. I had them bring nearly every women’s pair they had in the 40-42 range as I attempted to find the right pair. I highly recommend doing the same. I’m certainly no expert, but my limited experience indicates that not all Vibrams are the same, and you may find one that fits and feels better than another model of the same exact size. I ended up with KSOs, women’s size 41, after returning the size 42. I finally got it right.
I wore them around the house the first evening and they felt fine; a little odd in a place or two, most notably on the left pinkie toe. I cut my toenail and that seemed to resolve it. Overall they felt good. So I decided that this, my first weekend with them, I would wear them all weekend and see what happened. This morning I went to the grocery store as usual. The right felt GREAT. The left… the 2nd toe felt as if it weren’t extending fully. But as much as I tried to feel whether that pocket was too short, I couldn’t. As I went on, they began to feel better.
The only negative is that the ground is HARD. Vibrams don’t have really thick soles; that would defeat the purpose. They do have a model for rougher terrain, but the KSOs I have are pretty slim; enough to protect your feet, but not much cushioning. I am not sure how long I’d be able to walk on them. But getting home to our wall-to-wall carpeting, suddenly my left 2nd toe felt fine and I was feeling pretty good. So maybe it just takes some getting used to. After all, it is an extremely different experience from a regular shoe.
