The girl almost broke her neck with the biomecanics

Some people say that doctors are arrogant, that they know everything, that they don't document themselves, that they don't keep up to date....

And they may (sometimes) be right.

I'll tell you about my case.

There is a paediatrician who consults next to my shop.

She passes by the door every day, has been there for 11 years, and has never stopped to ask about the type of shoes I sell. She only speaks when she needs change of money, or have a place to let her packages when she's not there.

Look at the signs I have on the doors:

• Do you want your child to have his grandmother's feet?
• I don't sell shoes, but healthy feet

I don't care about her lack of interest, it's up to her what she recommends.

But here comes the question.

The issue started to affect me when my brother-in-law took his one-year-old daughter for a routine check-up.

My niece was one year old, she was just starting to walk (pay attention to this fact) and the paediatrician told her that her feet were tilted, that she was putting her feet inwards.

But she's not walking yet, if she hasn't developed her feet yet, how do you want her to have them?

It's like wanting to have Rafa Nadal's biceps without ever having picked up a racket.

Muscles don't develop if they are not worked and a child's foot cannot be formed if it doesn't feel contact with the ground, if it doesn't support its body.

Well, the paediatrician recommends shoes that are rigid in the heel area to support the ankle.

Biomecanic shoes.

The thing is that my brothers-in-law are overprotective parents, and I'm not saying 'over' enough, they are more than that, they are hyper-protective.

Hyper, hyper! I'm talking about protection at the highest level. Sickening.

That's why they bought her some. Pink ones, like little boots, with reinforcements that stabilise the heel area and with the back part higher than the front (with a drop).

The first time I saw them, my niece wasn't walking yet, she was taking her first steps, and I had to swallow my breath so as not to say what I thought.

My brothers-in-law are people who follow the rules to the millimetre, and what a doctor says goes without saying, there is no discussion. And since at this stage of my life I don't like pointless debates, I run away from them like a bat out of hell.

I kept quiet, and months went by.

One day at my mother-in-law's house, I noticed that my niece was still not walking with ease and sometimes lost her balance.

She sways back and forth, as if she were a stiff stick, about to fall over.

I notice that the stiffness of the back of the shoe means that when she loses her balance backwards she is unable to react and is about to fall off her feet!

I can't keep quiet and tell my brother-in-law about it. He nods, but says nothing.

A few days later, I see the same situation again and again I tell him about it. He nods politely again, but still says nothing.

On reflection, his reaction is logical. When I started with minimalism I debated whether my son should wear a little heel. His argument was that all children did.

Habit, like brains, is as hard as granite.

I put the matter to rest and didn't insist again, but a few days later I met my sister-in-law and she asked me when she could go to the shop to get some shoes for her daughter.

Surprised by the sudden change, and partly excited, I explain to her how important it is for her development that she is barefoot or wears minimalist shoes.

When I got home I told my wife about this and she told me that the reason for the change was different.

The child has fallen backwards and hit her head on the ground.

How stupid of me!

They say that nobody learns from someone else's head.

And here I was thinking that I had finally broken the belief that we need shoes to develop our feet.

Well, the important thing is her.

She doesn't walk anymore, she runs and loves her little shoes.

"I like, I like"...she says and runs away.

These are the ones she likes:

• Vivobarefoot Primus Bootie II

Health starts with your feet.

Antonio Horse


Pd. I would have put a picture with his new shoes, but parental protection also covers this section.