Eyesup: My concern is discontinuation, again. They were brought back by popular demand.
There is a prompt that Safebare responded while I was writing this dissertation, but....
Yes,
Safebare, they were originally designed for boating with smooth glassy classy surfaces, but then they were branched off into many uses and sole types. The original soles were designed by Vibram to better the more usual deck shoes.
DF and I love them, too. I don't loose my toenails on the downhill slopes in the mountains, anymore. They produce a close to barefoot body-mechanical action, but with some protection and cushion. I would be hard pressed to hike as I do, and without injuries, without wearing them. One thing about my truck, it needs new tires every so often, if I'm going four wheelin' on the dirt and rocks. These have outlasted the tires, but....
With the strap on the heel in the U.S.:
http://us.vibram.com/shop/fivefingers/men/outdoor/treksport/M44.html?dwvar_M44_color=Black%20%2F%20Charcoal#start=1The ol' reminder, "I was angry that I had no shoes, until I saw the man with no feet." Your heel will be sensitive to slip these fivefingers over for a while, but teaching the system during recovery at a barefoot level, or close to it, will teach it properly, reintegrate the system all the way up into the back and body and take the stress off of the heel.
Most other shoes will make your body learn to be stiff, cripple you in motion and cause all sorts of health issues as the years go on. Recover with naked feet, love and talk with them using your hands as well as your voice. Look into Earthing, as it reduces inflammation during recovery. Never put complete trust into a podiatrist, as their knowledge is relatively simple and in its infancy, but of an extremely complex body. The body needs as natural a set of movements as you can give it for the foot to repair to a more natural state. The walking, jumping foot's mechanics are so complex as to be incomprehensible. It is like trying to intellectualize the nature of God and getting to that point of, "whoah."
In many ways you will have opportunity to maximize the rest of the function of your feet while helping that heel recover. The medical authorities and the traumatized tend to want to rely on braces and stiff shoes. Think of a babe learning to walk while in stiff shoes; most people spend their lives walking funny and unhealthy with this early training. The trick is in the transition.
When I whacked my heel, no, not shattered it like your ordeal, the podiatrist could only give me a $400 piece of rubber in my heel. There was no recovery. I went to my old time boot maker (Vic, owner of Stuart Boot Factory, South Tucson) and he diagnosed the wear of my old boots and made some new ones to compensate. It put the weight to the toes and off of the foot for a while...and then, for years. I was taller in the heels, then the back curvature issues started to arise. Using my leg muscles more and to strike toe first should have been in that program, with emphasis on my barefoot nature. Twenty, thirty years later, it took a couple of years to recover from the recovery.
Maybe, if you tell the docs that your ultimate goal is barefoot running, it will show his/her colors. If they say barefoot running is no good, get another helper, or helpers that do. The pods can operate and do all sorts of things for humpty dumpty, but after that, they are limited. You and your feet and leg motions will have to be responsible for care and intuitive exercise. That being said, before I risk sounding like I'm trying to be Doctor Goode... one word, "barefoot." I elaborate, "barefoot all over."
Just a reminder from your resources in the choir, please, excuse my spontaneous solo performance.
Jbee
