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Can wearing toning shoes really make you more fit?  I get asked that a lot and I have a lot of friends who wear toning shoes.  I haven't tried them personally but those who wear them say they do feel a difference.  Consumer Reports Health reported that sales for toning shoes totaled more than a billion dollars last year – three times the year before.  Consumer Reports medical adviser Dr. Orly Avitzur is hearing more frequently about injuries.  "One patient was breaking in a pair of toning sneakers, and less than 45 minutes after putting them on felt her ankle turn and a bone break, " said Dr. Avitzur.

Toning shoes are intentionally designed to create instability so people who have balance issues should not wear them.  Skechers instructs people to wear the shoes for short periods of time at first to give the body time to adjust.    Skechers says two studies it sponsored showed an improvement in fitness.  But an independent study by the American Council on Exercise (ACE) found no significant difference between exercising in toning sneakers as compared to regular sneakers.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission shows that even younger people in good physical shape have had problems, some of them serious.  Since March, the CPSC has received 36 complaints about toning shoes.

The health benefit touted in commercials is uncertain, but the risk of injury is very real.   If you have balance problems or medical problems in your legs or feet, avoid toning shoes altogether.