I had such a similar foot journey to yours - started developing a lot of foot pain in my 30s (I'm 41 now) and got prescribed custom orthopedic inserts that just made things worse. One day I noticed that I when I was barefoot inside my house, I had no foot pain of any kind! So I started doing some research to see if there were any shoes out there that simulated being barefoot. I owned a couple of pairs of Merrels first, before they made them REALLY stiff, and eventually stumbled on Xero shoes. I've owned several pairs of them over the years of different models. But the Prios are definitely my favorite! I'm a believer in barefoot style shoes. Maybe they don't work for everyone, but they have definitely worked for me! I've been foot pain free for 10 years now and done lots of hiking in my Xeros, including multi day backpacking trips with 35 - 45 lbs on my back.
Thanks for sharing. I just bought a pair of Prio’s, can’t wait to try them. I healed my plantar fasciitis with barefoot shoes after wearing them for 5 months.
Same here! Started wearing the Prios a few months ago and my feet definitely feel stronger. Being a sneakerhead whos blown thousands on different sneakers since middle school, i realized that i was probably never doing my feet a favor wearing different cushioning and narrow toebox shapes when i rotated my shoes. As of right now, lone peaks, prios, and this brand called whitins i found on amazon have been a game changer.
@@WalksOfWonder-BCWould love to see a review on vivos soon. Im lookin at gettin one soon 😅 These Jordans, nikes, and yeezys might have to go into storage
@@WalksOfWonder-BC I'd be curious to get your impression on the toe box width of the Xeros vs the Vivos, if it's a big difference or not. I've tried on a ton of minimalist shoes, but Vivos are a brand that isn't carried locally and given their price, I've been slow to bring them in via mail order.
thx 4 sharing. I love my 2 old pair of Xero. (one for hiking/running and one pair for golf) -but your right. If your not used to zero drop and no padding, make sure to make it a slow process. Have patience, really.
Yup, Xero shoes have helped significantly improve my circumstances as well. I have a bulging disc (S1) sticking out 20mm putting pressure on my sciatic nerve sending lightning bolts of pain all the way down my leg and making about half of my left foot completely numb. Physical therapy got me moving again, but the most significant difference I noticed was when I started wearing my Xero HFS shoes I bought on a whim when they were on clearance for $60. I hadn't even done any research on the barefoot/zero drop movements at the time. I just wanted something with a wide toe box that might be easier to slip on since I could hardly even reach my feet without nearly passing out from the pain. Putting any shoe on was very painful, so I went barefoot as much as I possibly could. So when I got my Xeros, it just kind of made sense to wear those. And after awhile, quite literally everything started feeling better. Less back pain, more flexibility in my hamstrings and calves, more toe spread and better foot stability, stronger/repaired foot muscle and structure. My left foot used to pop constantly in the middle as though I had floating or fractured bone in there (metatarsals maybe?). Well, that just sort of went away also. My back is still messed up, my sciatic nerve still electrocutes me awake sometimes, but it's nothing like it was a year ago. And since I can actually move with less pain, I can actually work toward getting back into better shape so that maybe the stupid doctors might consider ANY sort of treatment other than just physical therapy.
Great review. This is very similar to my life experience. I played high School sports and was in the military for 12 years. I constantly suffered from sprained ankles and tried strengthening exercises and many different shoes and ankle support. Five years into wearing a variety of zero drop shoes I haven't suffered any ankle or knee ailments and lower back pain has gone away. I very active and all of my footwear is some version of zero drop.
@@stevenpacheco7793 I have a variety of Xero, Lems and Vivos for different activities. The Lems lineup seems to has the best value/quality for me. Vivos are pricey and don't hold up long. The Xero line is affordable but seem to fall apart faster with my use.
Similar story here. I spent an insane amount of money on custom orthotics that didn't solve the issues at all. Switching to barefoot shoes did.I find it hard to stomach and borderline criminal how a whole conglomerate of companies on one hand produces health problems (the shoe industry) that on the other hand a plethora of pediatrists pretends to solve.
I have worn water shoes for two decades now and been thinking about buying xero shoes because my shoes wear down after about 600kilometers/400miles wich means I have to buy new shoes every 2-3months. Sadly xero shoes are not sold in my country and the shipping will double the price. So I wondered how many miles/kilometers do you walk each day or how many miles/kilometers do you think they can take before falling apart?
I don't own Xeros, but in my country water shoes are 8$, Xeros are 110$. So to justify their price they have to give me as much mileage as 14 pairs of water shoes. There's no shoe that can do this IMO. The 14 pairs of water shoes will give you over 8000 kilometers. Some people on the internet claim Xeros can go to 5000 kilometers. But I really don't know... I'm sure they will be fine for at least 1500km. 5000 sounds like a stretch but who knows... Bottom line is water shoes are much better option if you don't want to overspend. If you don't want to buy too often than it's Xeros but it's expensive even if they sell them in your local store.
It's really hard for me to estimate, because I'm not an athlete that tracks my miles/steps etc, so I don't have a foundation to have a clue how many miles I've put on them. How much are the water shoes vs how much are the xeros with shipping? I've had water shoes and Xeros for nearly the same amount of time, I wear water shoes around the house and wear the Xeros outside. I'd imagine that my Xeros have a lot more miles (and on much harsher surfaces) but my water shoes are very worn and my Xeros aren't worn much at all. I doubt that is very helpful but It's all I have, sorry. Also, I don't want to push the xeros too hard if you are in a tight financial spot because while my shoes have held up amazingly, I have seen some people on the xero facebook group and have not shared my experience.
Those have Injinji socks, they were actually a free pair I was sent when I ordered 3 other pair. I doubt they are still in stock though, it was probably 2-3 years ago.
No, but if you just put them on and walk like you did in "normal" shoes, you will. That's part of the correcting bad habits and such. I know I mentioned tutorials for walking, and i wish I mentioned by name the source that helped me a ton. It's a channel called Grown and Healthy, and they have a few walking tutorials. Basically (in my opinion and his *not medical advice*), you shouldn't be heel striking. It is unnatural. That might sound crazy since basically everyone heel strikes, but if you do look at how younger children walk often times they haven't taken on these bad habits of modern footwear quite yet and are landing more mid-fore foot.
Yeah, it only makes sense, since that is going to be the most stressed area of the shoe. After this review I put a little gorilla glue in that area and so far it's holding well.
I'm pretty sure that is what the "genetic deformation" thing was the doc was trying to tell them that I couldn't fix was. It will be more than just switching to these shoes, you'll need to make sure your walking form is good (if you have been in normal shoes your whole life, odds are it's not good), but wearing those shoes will make the good form possible. Just not having a raised heel will help to unload the front of your foot, which is unnaturally loaded by traditional shoes. I'd suggest Grownandhealthy on RU-vid's tutorials for walking.
The Prios are it, I ordered mine and wore them around the house for a bit, then took them out in town for a walk, then wore them to the office for 8 hours without any issues or pain all over the course of a few days. Great choice as a first pair.
