I can’t believe that Monique actually wanted a pair of them. By “them” I am referring to the newest trend in shoes: rocker bottoms. These are the same shoes that I could not get my arthritic patients to wear a few years ago. Now they are de rigueur by fashionistas like Monique, a woman who, despite being a mother of three, works out five days a week and has a designer wardrobe. She wanted my opinion about the object of her shoe desire.

This craze seems to have started with the Masai Barefoot Technology (MBT) shoe marketed at Nordstroms and other retailers. The designer reportedly tried to mimic the gait pattern of Masai warriors as they walked across Africa. Multiple health claims were made for MBT shoes including the relief of back, knee and Achilles tendon pain and weight loss with nothing more than just wearing them.

Before this fashion trend, rocker bottom shoes were prescribed by podiatrists for patients with fragile or arthritic feet to allow them to walk with the least amount of stress on their foot bones. In the old days we had to write a prescription for the shoes and send patients off to the cobbler. Now they’re available at the nearest shopping center.

Besides the MBT, Sketchers makes Shape-ups and Avon sells Curves. Dr. Scholl’s makes the Inspired Fitness Walker which is available at Sears. Reebok makes EasyTone and Dansko has rocker bottom sandals and clogs. Even Kmart has joined the action by making a $35 pair called TheraShoes.

Because the shoes are readily available, I find it easy to recommend them for people recovering from foot surgery, suffering with stress fractures and even some forms of arthritis. These are patients who would benefit from decreasing the motion of the joints in their feet. On the other hand (foot?) I do not recommend that people with relatively normal feet, like Monique, wear them all the time.

I think a normal foot needs to go through the entire range of normal foot motion and not be artificially restricted as it is in rocker bottom shoes. Most of the rocker bottom shoes have a so-called negative heel—the heel end rests off the supporting surface when you lay it on a flat surface—which tends to stretch the Achilles tendon. For all of those with a tight Achilles tendon, and there are a lot of you out there, they could be dangerous to wear. This is especially true if you’re an active guy in your 40s or 50s, an age where men are prone to Achilles tendon ruptures.

The simple question is, do they work? According to what I have read, there is an 8 percent increase in expanded energy while walking wearing rocker bottom shoes. Certainly this is better than nothing, but you could probably get the same effect by walking a little faster or a little longer. Still, if wearing the shoes will get you to walk more often, then they could be worth it.

Another report suggested that there is extra energy expended when wearing these shoes just to maintaing your balance because the shoes are intrinsically unstable. While wearing them is not like trying to walk on ice skates, it does have a little of that effect. For this reason I consider the shoes quite inappropriate for anybody with balance problems. These shoes are designed only for walking in a straight line and not for running or doing side-to-side activities like tennis. Because of their lack of stability, they are probably not great gifts to give your grandmother.

So, Monique, since you’re young and healthy, have no balance problems, do not have a tight Achilles tendon and will be using them only to walk straight ahead, I think these could be great additions to your shoe wardrobe. Just because you are now a mom with responsibilities doesn’t mean you can’t “rock out” just a little.

Dr. Michael Zapf, along with his associates Drs. Darren Payne and Steve Benson, are board cer tified podiatrists with offices in Agoura Hills and Thousand Oaks. Visit www.conejofeet.com.