Originally Posted by
happyfred
Here's my experience:
I was prescribed orthotics, for fallen arches, when I was 12 years old and pretty much wore them until I was 34. Without them I had chin splints and knee pain when running. About a year ago I read a whole bunch of stuff on barefoot walking / running. Since then I've worn mininmalist shoes such as the vibram fivefingers and vivo's nearly all the time and put my orthotics in the bin. I can now run barefoot better than I ever did with sneakers and have no pain. I think walking barefoot, or as close to it as possible, is best and can rehabilitate. YMMV.