Do you remember a few years ago when minimalist shoes became all the rage? In particular I'm talking about the 5 Finger shoes where each toe has a separate compartment like gloves for your hands. People would wear these for training in the gym, while doing daily errands and even to some work places. And an interesting thing seemed to occur when people starting wearing this type of footwear. First they noticed improved function at the joints through the lower extremities such as the foot, ankle, knee and hip. If they had back pain they maybe noticed that this was lessened or less frequently a problem. As well due to the physical separation of the toes and the lack of a built in arch support the structure of the foot began to change. Due to the physical separation of the toes the feet developed a wider platform. This became really noticeable when at a houseboat party for my wife's work and I had my shoes off and my toes were splayed widely compared to everyone else's toes which looked like sardines packed in a shoe container. The other difference you will notice with wearing minimalist shoes is the shortening of the foot. Why does the foot shorten? Well since there is no external arch support we must develop our own arches and therefore this lifts the foot through the middle. The higher arch shortens the distances from the toes to the heels and so you may notice your regular shoes fit a little looser. But not all minimalist shoes are your best option. With the 5 Finger variety there are a number of benefits including the independent articulation of the toes, the development of the arch, the flexibility of the sole to allow more ground contact and the lower heel position....