Walking on treadmill in barefeet??? Do I or don't I.....

as long as its your own, i see no problem, i use mine at home on a regular basis with bare feet

happy recovery


Stu

I don't have a treadmill, but I always use my elliptical with squishy Nike flip flops, and I've never had any issues.

The real question is what happened to your foot in the first place? (Why is it swollen?)

I am a Physical Therapy student (graduate in a year) and I feel your pain because I've had a recurring knee injury/pain that is keeping me off of the stationary bike. However, there are PLENTY of other types of exercise to do if your foot is not ready to handle extensive walking yet. You certainly do not want to experience a setback with the foot issue. Try a BOSU (or equivalent) type ball. http://www.exerciseballworkouts.net/ Got mine for $10 - $20 at the local sports store. There are TONS of free exercise programs for them online. I did a small clinical stint at a local PT clinic and followed along some patients during their workouts and worked up quite a sweat trying to keep up. Everything I did was completely safe for a foot/ankle.

That said, you basically never want to TOTALLY rest the foot either (outside of the first few days of injury). Occasional/purposeful movement through the normal range of motion (tolerable against pain) is essential to heal tendons, ligaments and cartilage.

As far as walking (or anything) in bare feet, we weren't born with shoes on and our feet are designed to handle walking barefoot in any condition. Society has deconditioned our feet through the stipulation that we live our lives in shoes. Just be careful when starting out and realize that shoes are actually a type of cast or orthotic device that braces/restricts our feet. When free of those restrictions, your feet will need time to adjust to their new "freedom."

Then just remember to ice your foot (swollen area) for at least 20 minutes afterward.

Good luck!