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Stone under foot...

Storm Hess

Permanent Spaceman
I can feel everything that I walk on...even the smallest stone, twig or bump in the floor. It is quite irritating and sometimes painful. Anyone else have an issue with this?
 
I can't enjoy walking on the beach barefoot, and I can't walk on gravel to nip to the bins, etc. Always been mocked by my wife (in a good way) for my baby soft sensitive little feet (size 13...). And so I think that I do share some of what you describe. That said, @Forest Cat has also a really good point, that when I start feeling stuff under shoes then it means I need to replace them as the soles have worn out. Especially as I wear orthotics that adds another layer in there.
 
Different types of shoes will have more protection. So in casual trainers, I still feel things. My leather soled formal work shoes, I only feel anything then when it's time for a resole.
 
Something like these should solve your problem.
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I can walk barefoot down my grandparents' gravel driveway...One of my favourite sensory inputs is sun warmed sidewalk pavement in late spring. Pleasantly warm, but not hot. My feet are tough, strong, and oddly dexterous.
 
Steel toe puncture resistant anti-slip work boots or shoes, now that's sturdy shoes. :) I bought a new pair a while ago, I don't feel anything no matter what I step on with those on my feet. It's important to have good shoes and take care of the feet. Two things I'm never stingy with when I buy, shoes and bed linen. We spend a lot of time in our shoes and in bed so shoes and bed linen should always be top quality and comfortable.
 
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I'm the same as Darkkin, my feet are tough and I walk over almost anything bare foot. For me it's a sensory pleasure, I love the feel of all the different textures under my feet.

I also have no cartilage in one knee and it can bend sideways in a very painful manner, it requires good management of all the micro muscles to keep that leg square and true underneath me and wearing shoes inhibits this use of micro muscles. So when I get tired the shoes have to come of or I'll injure myself.

Steel toe puncture resistant anti-slip work boots or shoes, now that's sturdy shoes.
If your are going to go hiking these are exactly what you need. They are so much better made than what is commonly sold as a hiking boot. They are designed to be worn day in and day out, they are comfortable, hard wearing and offer good ankle support as well.

You can also get them without the steel caps.

PPFW252-BLK.jpg
 
I'm the same as Darkkin, my feet are tough and I walk over almost anything bare foot. For me it's a sensory pleasure, I love the feel of all the different textures under my feet.

I also have no cartilage in one knee and it can bend sideways in a very painful manner, it requires good management of all the micro muscles to keep that leg square and true underneath me and wearing shoes inhibits this use of micro muscles. So when I get tired the shoes have to come of or I'll injure myself.


If your are going to go hiking these are exactly what you need. They are so much better made than what is commonly sold as a hiking boot. They are designed to be worn day in and day out, they are comfortable, hard wearing and offer good ankle support as well.

You can also get them without the steel caps.

View attachment 95736

I also work a lot with chainsaws and I have stepped on nails maybe 15 times, without puncture resistant boots. :fearscream: So now I like to have high quality work shoes that can take a beating, so my feet doesn't have to. The new ones I have now are really fancy, puncture resistant, anti slip, can handle oil and all sorts of chemicals, extra sturdy with extra sturdy stitching and a solid steel cap.
 
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I know people who insist on barefooting all the time. I can do barefoot on concrete in the sun on a hot day for long enough to put the trash out. (OTOH, sand is much worse.) While barefoot around the house and driveway and yard are no problem, there are surfaces one ought not to walk on barefoot.

One time on the Bay to Breakers race, there was a guy who ran it bare. A few miles into the race, he pulled up at an aid station with his foot gashed open, blood everywhere. Stepped on a piece of glass. Can't always see those, especially on wet pavement. At least I was wearing running shoes.

Glass doesn't care a bit about callouses on your feet. It can be the sharpest edge in the world. Nails can do a number too. And hiking? Sharp rocks and cactus spines and goat heads? EEEEK! Step on a "velvet ant?" Fall on the ground screaming. They aren't called "cow killers" for nothing. You want shoes for climate control too. A large portion of body heat is lost through your feet when it is cool and 120-degree sand makes a hot day much worse.
 
I always liked walking barefoot whenever I could.
Always barefooted as a kid when possible.

Then I trained for walking barefoot through a large public park as part of martial
arts. Really, learn to feel the grasshopper- Kung Fu, (or snake or glass), before you step on it. It's walking lightly and learning to feel the electro-magnetic energy field
of living and inanimate objects. I know, that's Zen and the arts philosophy, but it always worked.
I could walk hot sidewalks, on snow/ice, seaside sand is wonderful.

The only time I did something stupid, like the guy who ran barefoot @Au Naturel ,
was when I decided to play a game of tennis barefoot.
It didn't hurt at the time, but by the next day the souls of my feet were so swollen
and sore I had to wrap them in gauze and just sit and lay around for a few days.

I've seen people who can walk around barefoot in Africa open land.
Probably places like Australia too, @Outdated.
It takes growing up doing it naturally IMO.

I miss being able to go barefoot when I want now due to neuropathy.
It is a not-funny thing how neuropathy is numb nerves, yet, barefoot you feel the tiniest little thing and it hurts.
So, it's flip-flops and sandals. Closest thing to barefoot now.
 
I miss being able to go barefoot when I want now due to neuropathy.
It is a not-funny thing how neuropathy is numb nerves, yet, barefoot you feel the tiniest little thing and it hurts.
Life is just absurdly mean sometimes. Definitely not-funny!
 
I've seen people who can walk around barefoot in Africa open land.
Probably places like Australia too, @Outdated.
It takes growing up doing it naturally IMO.
That's probably true, I hated shoes all my life and went barefoot whenever I could get away with it.

I also found your comment about martial arts training very interesting. Being able to walk barefoot over rough ground is a mental discipline, sometimes it does hurt. The trick is to be able to differentiate between pain and damage, pain is easier to accept when you know no damage is being done.
 
I wear flip flops or water shoes at the beach because of broken glass, tar balls, jellyfish and some kind of weird sand worms that tunnel inside the soles of feet. The beach worms are well known on beaches in the Caribbean and along the Gulf of Mexico.
 
I'm the same - have really sensitive soles of my feet. I can't walk barefoot on the beach. I can't use some sandals or bathmats, either.
 
I don't like walking on gravel unless I work up to it, but I also like having compliant soles that will bend over large lumps. I don't mind long periods standing on ladder rungs.
 

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