A lot of patients come in with an old pair of runners and they are concerned about the amount of wear on the bottom of their shoes. Now it is natural to have certain wear patterns on the bottom of your running shoes depending on your style of running. First you need to know are you a heel striker or a forefoot striker. Not sure, get someone to film you running and slow the video down so that you can see which part hits the ground first. Side on is the easiest angle to pick this.
Heel Striker
If you hit the ground first, then you are a heel striker. Your natural wear pattern of your shoe should be lateral or outside heel wear, as this is where you hit the ground first. The next place you may have some wear is on the lateral or outside part of the mid foot. The next place to look for wear is around the base of your big toe, as this is where you should be pushing off from.
Mid foot Striker
When you land with a flat foot you are usually termed a midfoot striker. The mid part of the sole will be more worn and the heel should be in relatively good condition. There will also be some wear around the base of the big toe as again this is where you propel yourself forward.
Forefoot striker
A forefoot striker will land more on the ball of their foot. The forefoot striker will have most of the wear around the ball of the foot as this is where they land and take off from.
What if my wear pattern doesn’t look like any of the above?
If you have a completely different wear pattern to any of the above it may mean that you are nursing an injury and trying to off load the area. It could be due to a biomechanical issue such as a stiff toe that won’t let you push off from the big toe. Or your wear could be uneven side to side, which would suggest that one leg is taking more force than the other.
If you are concerned about your shoe wear pattern then it might be time to book in for a running analysis with Vitalis Physiotherapy.
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