Changing shoes is like changing the tires on a car with a failing engine. It may help for a while. However, the real cause of the pain is usually deeper than the midsole. New shoes may provide more cushioning, and the salesperson may recommend shoes with “better support,” but you won’t find a physical therapist there. Shoes can help, but if the problem is deeper – and it usually is – they won’t solve it. It’s worth starting from a different angle.
Wrong Expert, Wrong Fix
Similarly, it’s naive to come to a store with an injury and ask for advice on choosing shoes to treat that injury. It’s like having an electrical problem with your car and going to a tire repair shop for help. Sure, you’ll drive away with brand new tires, but that won’t solve your electrical problem. I’m afraid not.
Transferring this example to the world of running would be like saying, “My knee hurts, so I’ll go to a running store to get new shoes!” Instead of seeing a specialist for knee pain, you see a specialist for running equipment. This is usually doomed to fail. It’s a mistake!
The people who work in running stores know about shoes. They have tried on dozens, if not hundreds, of pairs and often rely on intuition as well as technical knowledge. However, the vast majority of them are not medically trained. Store employees are not orthopedists or physical therapists, but rather “average” runners. They are experts in choosing shoes for runners, not doctors.
That’s why, whenever someone comes to me for shoes to heal an injury, I refer them to a physical therapist. At most, I can offer a few suggestions based on my experience and point them in the right direction, but I am neither a doctor nor a physical therapist. I don’t pretend to be either. I select shoes and know about them, but if I have a problem or injury, I look for solutions from specialists. I can select shoes, but if the problem lies elsewhere, shoes won’t solve it.
Just Take the Magic Pill!
New shoes are usually a symptomatic rather than a causal treatment. For example, if your tooth hurts, you don’t analyze the cause; you take a painkiller. Voilà! The pain is gone! Once the painkiller wears off, however, the tooth may hurt again. If not now, then later. There was a reason the pain appeared in the first place! What was it?
Using the example of a sore knee in the running world, when your knee hurts, you don’t analyze why; you just buy new shoes. As a result, if the pain goes away, you might think, “Wow! These shoes are great! They got rid of my injury.” But the pain didn’t appear out of nowhere. It had a source. If the source was minor, such as running in worn-out shoes, then: Bingo! You hit the nail on the head, and the shoes solved the problem.
However, if the source of the problem is serious and not due to worn-out running shoes, then unfortunately: Wrong! You missed the mark! The new shoes may mask the problem for a while, but they won’t solve it. New shoes won’t help because, instead of addressing the underlying cause, you’re only treating the symptoms, i.e., the pain. The pain went away for a while, but the problem remains. Instead of going to a tire shop for new tires, you should go to a mechanic – or, in this case, a physical therapist or orthopedist!
This is exactly what the pill does. It masks the pain or problem that exists elsewhere in the body, but it does not cure it.
The Problem Usually Isn’t the Shoes
In general, new shoes can solve very few problems and injuries. These issues are limited to problems resulting from improper shoe selection. The most common injuries are nail-related problems. These are caused by poorly fitting shoes that are too small or narrow. The solution is to simply choose shoes that are the right size and fit.
There are also problems and injuries resulting from worn-out shoes that no longer fulfill their function. Sometimes, after running a thousand kilometers, shoes cease to cushion properly and cause pain. Sometimes, shoes are so worn out that they no longer support the foot properly and can even hurt it. This is obvious at first glance and results from the degree of wear and tear on the shoes. Replacing old shoes with new ones will restore comfort. However, if you have suffered an injury from running too long in worn-out shoes, this may not be enough.
However, in most cases, especially with serious, chronic injuries, new running shoes will not help, even if they promise safety and injury-free running. The problem usually does not lie in the shoes, so why should new shoes cure the injury?
