Update on the MBT shoes

A few days ago, I wrote a asking for information about MBT shoes, a very weird looking shoe that promises to decrease joint pain and increase the beneficial effects of walking. As of today, I can’t comment about the latter promise, but I can about the former. You see, I finally decided “the heck with it,” and took off on a long walk to try the shoes out (meaning that I would be stuck with the shoes if I didn’t like them).

Well, something very strange happened on the walk. I live in a hilly neighborhood and, while going uphill was still a bit hard on the knees, going downhill was something else altogether: for the first time in almost a year, I went downhill without lightening bolts of pain firing up in my knees. It was amazing. I felt positively buoyant. I’m in mediocre shape, since I haven’t been able to do much activity in about a year (and swimming, which I did during the summer, seems to work very different muscles), but I have to say it was one of the nicest walks I’ve had in I don’t know how long.

I’ll keep you posted on this, whether my opinion of the shoes gets better or worse with time. As of today, I’m very pleased.

UPDATE:  Another day, another walk, another satisfying experience with the shoes.  I can feel my muscles working and getting tired, but it doesn’t hurt.  Amazing!  Incidentally, if you’re in the Pasadena area, you can go beyond just buying the shoes and, instead, take a whole Pilates exercise class that works with the shoes.  It sounds wonderful, and I’m only sorry that they don’t offer something similar up here.