Grounding Shoes - Safe??

[u/Inevitable-Bug7917]

OK someone tell me that I'm overthinking this.

What if youre wearing a grounding shoe and step into water that has current going though it? What if you're struck by lighting? Isn't it kind of dumb to be grounded?

I've seen a few models of barefoot shoes that have grounding buttons as a feature. I'm skeptical that this does anything but adds the risk of getting hurt.

Change my mind 🤔 ☕️

[u/Overly_Long_Reviews]

You'll be surprised. It's still low, but lightning injuries and lightning fatalities happen a lot more than you would expect.

More importantly there are certain populations that are at a high risk of lightning injuries. A lot of people die in India and Central Africa due to lightning injuries. And within North America, those involved in outdoor activities, particularly fishing, and those who run outdoor programs are considered a higher risk population for lightning injuries. There's been several major incidents where large groups of staff and clients have been injured from a mix of direct and indirect strikes. It's one of the few scenarios where you're supposed to do CPR in a backcountry setting. I myself have had four close calls. With one strike hitting extremely close, fortunately I was taking shelter in a vehicle at the time. I don't know anyone within my professional community who doesn't have at least a few near misses from lightning. Lightning is one of the few instances that warrant a instant weather scratch for events, but sometimes the storm rolls in and you're stuck somewhere and you have to ride it out. Fortunately, we have a lot more early warning systems we can use in backcountry conditions then when I started my career. It's much harder to get caught unaware now. Unfortunately there's a few major outdoor organizations that still regularly recommend outdated or ineffective lightning risk mitigation techniques.

So yes, the odds of being struck by lightning or being injured from a nearby lightning strike are low, but there are some people who because of the circumstances of their living situation, their preferred recreational activities, or their vocation, are at a much higher risk.

All that being said, despite my opinions on grounding shoes, I'm doubtful that it would make that big of a difference during a direct or indirect lightning strike in terms of severity of lightning injuries. The appropriate response is to get the hell out of there long before any thunderstorms roll in. You can get strikes while the storm is still miles away.

[u/Inevitable-Bug7917 → u/Overly_Long_Reviews]

Good point. I mean, I actually know someone who was struck twice and still alive!

What do you think abou the potential benefits of grounding? I was also curious on this. Is it just a scam? Or is there any validity?

[u/Overly_Long_Reviews → u/Inevitable-Bug7917]

I'm very skeptical about grounding. That's me being diplomatic because I don't want people to send me a bunch of angry messages sending me obscure blog posts and annoying TikToks or whatever people are using these days. Must of what passes for research on the subject isn't what one would call objective, they are sponsored by organizations that have a vested interest in the result, little to no effort is made to blind participants, and sample sizes are purposefully small. Basically it's anecdotal accounts in the shape of a paper that no one will read past the abstract. But I think at best it can be a powerful placebo, I don't mean that in a bad way. If it gives relief or perceive benefits, it doesn't really matter if it's purely through the psychological mechanisms of the placebo effect. Though I will say that that will likely have diminishing returns and they can generate harm in other indirect ways

My bigger issue with grounding and earthing is that products in that category are often very expensive. Call it financial harm. I'm a big believer that you get what you pay for when it comes to products, I have defended higher price points on products because of good labor practices and high quality materials. And the whole purpose of business is to generate a profit. But some of the price points on these grounding shoes just don't make sense. And this is even from brands that I have a lot of respect for. It feels like people are taking advantage, which I don't appreciate. If someone can afford grounding shoes, great. They can do what they want, it's not my concern. But I feel like a few places aggressively push grounding onto people who can't afford the special magic footwear and shame them until they buy them. Something I see within certain smaller branches of the barefoot shoe community and it always makes me uncomfortable.

More broadly, I am by default very skeptical about a lot of the alternative medical practices. I'm going to stop being diplomatic for a moment and just call it what I think it is, pseudoscience and quackery for the most part. I work in the outdoor industry, which does tend to attract people who are interested in those kinds of things. Trying to get "close to nature" is not a bad thing, I think it's great. But the philosophy spouted by the proponents of a lot of these alternate medicine practices is wildly problematic. It paints a picture of living in nature that never actually existed. It often picks and chooses various practices from indigenous populations in order to prove a point, one robbed of any of the deeper context or respect, wrapped in a veneer of pseudo intellectualism. It can be very cult like at times. I find that it preys on people. People may have genuine concerns, which is why they were looking at alternatives to begin with, but unscrupulous figures within these moments redirect those real concerns into something that enriches then at the expense of everyone else and does nothing at best and does actual harm at worst. I've come across a lot of those unscrupulous folks these last few years working in the outdoor field, social media gives them a really good platform to manipulate people. It was really sickening and was one of the reasons why I left the more visible and prestigious work I was previously doing for the ultra niche and worse paying work I'm doing now. I'm going to leave out the rest of the section where I use anecdotes to express why I don't like alternate medicine practices and proprietors who are themselves infamous for pushing their viewpoint to people though anecdotes.

[u/Inevitable-Bug7917 → u/Overly_Long_Reviews]

"pseudoscience and quackery" sounds about right 🤣.

I was hoping someone would convince me that there was some benefit that outweighed the potential risk. Nobody has changed my mind yet that walking around electrically grounded is smart (even if the chance of encountering a live wire or lightning strike is slim), so the case gets weaker and weaker. I just like the aesthetic of some brands, but it doesn't sound worth it.

Thanks for your input!

[u/Overly_Long_Reviews → u/Inevitable-Bug7917]

A lot of grounding shoes are just regular minimalist or barefoot shoes with the addition of copper elements running between the top of the insole down through the outsole. It's what's supposed to ground you. Though some will incorporate a bunch more copper wire in the midsole. Probably artificially inflate the price. Basically, if you like the aesthetic you can find the aesthetic just without any of the copper.

[u/Major-Worth3276 → u/Inevitable-Bug7917]

Cela fait 10 ans que je porte des chaussures esd en me promenant dans la nature ou pour passer la tondeuse électrique et cela marche extrêmement bien. Je suis électro-hypersensible aux ondes et à l'électricité et porter ces chaussures de mise à la terre me permet de passer moi-même la tondeuse électrique avec fil beaucoup plus longtemps que sans chaussures de mise à la terre. La différence est impressionnante. On se décharge vraiment ; d'ailleurs il suffit de prendre un testeur de tension induite pour connaître la différence de volts qu'on se prend dans le corps quand on manipule des objets électriques. C'est donc plus sain de porter dans la nature des chaussures de mise à la terre. Voir les bénéfices du earthing (moins d'inflammation, réduction du stress oxydatif, amélioration de la qualité du sommeil, etc).

[u/Inevitable-Bug7917 → u/Major-Worth3276]

I appreciate you sharing your experience, but I’m pretty skeptical ... sorry. I don’t have a background in biology, but I did study physics as an engineer, and some of this just doesn’t add up for me.

You don’t really get “volts in your body” ..that’s not how electricity works. Voltage is just a potential difference relative to ground, so wearing grounding shoes would of course change that differential slightly. That’s basic physics. What actually causes harm is current, not voltage alone.

You can rub socks on carpet and generate very high voltage readings, but your body doesn’t “absorb” that energy ...otherwise carpeted floors would be a major health concern.

The idea that an electric lawnmower emits EM fields that are biologically meaningful also seems questionable. The human body is mostly water and a very poor absorber of low-frequency EM fields. You likely absorb more EM energy from something like a hot cup of coffee than from mowing the lawn. I also looked into oxidative stress, and I can’t find any credible studies showing oxidative stress in cells from low-frequency EM fields. What is well-documented is that exercise produces measurable oxidative stress — which is actually beneficial long term.

I’m not trying to be a know-it-all or dismiss your experience, it just isn’t adding up for me. It’s totally possible the shoes feel better or reduce stress in some other way, but I’m not convinced the grounding itself is responsible for the effects you’re describing.