Written by: Larry Huppin, DPM
2/8/2010 4:22 PM

Dr. Choate asked in a recent blog what other practitioners thought about some of the rocker shoes, such as MBT and Sketcher Shape-ups, which are currently available in many shoe stores.

In general I don't recommend these shoes very often. I have a problem with much of their adverting and feel that they make false claims about fitness benefits of their shoes. In addition, they’re ugly.

Given that, however, there are some patients that do relatively well with these shoes.

The first thing to keep in mind is that these are simply shoes with a midfoot rocker sole. For decades, midfoot rocker soles have been effective treatments at reducing motion through the midfoot and reducing ground reactive forces on the heel.

I have suggested these rocker soled shoes for patients with midfoot arthritis and recalcitrant heel pain who have not completely responded to foot orthoses and regular stable shoes. They can also help forefoot pain by reducing force under the forefoot, although  they do not do so as effectively as a shoe with a forefoot rocker. A good example of an off the shelf shoe with a forefoot rocker is a Dansko clog (right).

Some of these patients have found these rocker soled shoes beneficial. Others have found that they do not feel stable in them.

In conclusion, ignore the advertising. They won’t make your butt firm or eliminate cellulite. But these are a convenient way for your patients to try a rocker sole without having a shoe modified and some patients with mid-foot arthritis or recalcitrant heel pain may benefit

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