Toe walkers - why is it preferable for you?

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C2V
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11 Dec 2017, 7:56 am

I do this when I have bare feet or sometimes thin sandals, but don't often do it in boots or sneakers. I'm not entirely sure why.
Anyone else who toe-walks - why is it more preferable for you than full-foot?


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magz
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11 Dec 2017, 8:35 am

There was recently a topic about it, with a video about medieval shoes and gait, here the link: https://wrongplanet.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=355280
Shoes do affect the gait and it is probably natural.
Toe walking gives you more control and amortises the impact when your foot hits the ground. So it is more desirable when barefoot.


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Khiori
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11 Dec 2017, 1:35 pm

I've walked on my toes for as long as I can remember. I'm not sure why it's preferable to me, I've just always done it.



eeVenye
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11 Dec 2017, 3:37 pm

Unless I'm wearing heavy shoes, I tend to walk with a mid-to-front strike, launching nearly off my toes.

Generally, I simply find it much more comfortable, less ankle strain, better posture, more cushioned impact etc. However, I also recall reading about barefoot walking patterns for stalking (Native American?) before the age of 10 and deliberately developing my walk toward that style, landing with the outside ball of the foot (behind the "pinky" toe) and rolling along and across the ball of the foot toward the big toe. When sneaking out of bed at night to get more books, it came in handy to defeat the odd squeaky floorboard, at least in my mind... :wink:


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Khiori
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11 Dec 2017, 3:43 pm

eeVenye wrote:
When sneaking out of bed at night to get more books, it came in handy to defeat the odd squeaky floorboard, at least in my mind... :wink:


Lol, this sounds exactly like my nights when I was a kid!



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11 Dec 2017, 4:55 pm

For me, it’s usually because of the surface I’m walking on. For example, if I am walking on a colder surface or a texture I don’t like, I will walk on my toes because it is easier to just have part of my foot on the ground and not the whole thing. It makes it less irritating to just put part of my foot on the ground.


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11 Dec 2017, 7:28 pm

eeVenye wrote:
sneaking out of bed at night to get more books, it came in handy to defeat the odd squeaky floorboard

:lol: Another nocturnal biblio-ninja here too! That and the fabled art of silent torchlight Lego (another good reason to tip-toe!)

My tip-toe walking is most pronounced when I'm pacing in circles, trying to get my thoughts straightened out - so I think a very strong stimmy element to it when I'm doing it then.

It's definitely a normal part of my gait as well; my weight is always over my toes, and I bounce around a lot. That's always been the way I walked, as far as I know, so not really a preference. I know that I didn't learn to crawl before walking, and never really got the hang of swinging my arms naturally, but I have no idea whether those have any influence on the tip-toes. Whenever anyone has tried to "correct" it, I have never really been able to grasp what they're trying to get me to do. If I get any negative comments, I just point out that in most cases, I regularly walk far more miles than the person who made the comment.


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Embla
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12 Dec 2017, 2:21 am

I do it a lot when I'm nervous, so I guess it's a stim for me too. I think it's a redirect-the-focus-thing, as it demands extra attention to keep in balance.



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12 Dec 2017, 2:36 am

magz wrote:
There was recently a topic about it, with a video about medieval shoes and gait, here the link: viewtopic.php?t=355280

How did I not see that? It's interesting - though one difference between that and me is that he places the ball down first in the medieval model, and then the heel. Whereas I just walk on the pads of my feet when I do it, and the heel doesn't touch the floor at all.
It could be a noise-related thing as I don't like noise, also a sensory thing - I don't like the feeling of the surfaces on my feet and don't like the jarring sensation of heel-walking, whereas toe-walking is soft? I don't know.


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13 Dec 2017, 10:15 am

I grew up in a messy house with artist parents and a parrot that would constantly grind up stuff and throw it all over the floor, so there was always debris to be found on the floor. The worst sensation I know is dirty or moist socks, so to expose them to as little surface area as possible I walked on my toes and overpronated.
I also like to make as little noise as possible when I walk, which is hard because my ankles crack loudly every step I take.


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Mr SmokeTooMuch
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14 Dec 2017, 4:03 pm

I ran on my toes when I was a child, because I could do it faster that way.
But I walked normally as far as I can remember.


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Ashariel
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14 Dec 2017, 5:46 pm

I've always walked on my toes because it hurts to walk on my heels (even when I was a kid). I can feel my heel bone digging into the flesh and veins and it's awful.



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15 Dec 2017, 11:36 am

I walk on my toes when I am walking barefoot on an uncomfortable(for example cold) surface or one with potential surprises such as wet or dirty parts. I want it to have the least contact with my feet as possible because I can't stand the feeling. That's also the reason why I always wear my shoes, or at least socks. Even in my own bedroom.



Sarahsmith
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15 Dec 2017, 7:36 pm

I used to do this as a kid. My Dad also toe walked.



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15 Dec 2017, 9:03 pm

^^ Yes, it runs in the family for me too, in my case my Uncle. My Mum has always said that the way we walk is identical. I can't have learned it from him because he was also very reclusive like me, so I very rarely saw him when I was growing up, and never striding along a street.


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16 Dec 2017, 1:55 pm

I've been toe-walking ever since I learned to walk. Didn't know there was a name for it or that it was a "thing" until I learned I had Asperger's. It wasn't until after my diagnosis that I figured out why I like it. Since you put less of your foot on the ground, there's less feeling/stimulation overall, and the part of your foot that you do put on the ground has more pressure/feedback applied to it. I literally cannot walk "normally" when barefoot. If I try, it's so forced like I'm a tin soldier or something. When I'm wearing shoes, I sometimes toe-walk. It depends on the type of shoe I'm wearing.