It's the footwear of choice for Liz Hurley and the Chelsea set, but what exactly is MBT and what can it do for you? Women's Editor Sarah Foster asks local therapist and convert Sandra Kinchin.

I'M sitting in a consulting room, surrounded by wall charts and facing a spectacle-wearing skeleton. To my left, arranged on boxes, are slightly strange looking shoes. To my right, Sandra's choosing some for me.

The first pair - pristine white trainers - prove too big, so she returns with some in grey. She ties the laces and, satisfied with the fit, asks me to stand.

They feel less odd than I've been expecting. I may be taller from the thicker soles but otherwise, they seem like normal trainers. It's only when Sandra asks me to walk, rolling my feet from heel to toe, that I grasp the main difference from standard footwear.

Shoes by MBT, or Masai Barefoot Technology, are notable for their rounded soles. In forcing muscles to work harder, they're said to do a range of things from improving posture to curing backache. Apparently, walking on a curved surface is entirely natural, but as I clump around the room, I'm finding this hard to believe.

Next in my initiation comes the treadmill. As I'm not up to running in my MBTs, I try a gentle jog. Although I don't always land on my heels, it's surprising how quickly I find my rhythm. Within a very short time, I can feel a tightening in my lower legs. "That's a great by-product of the shoes," says Sandra. "They really tone your calves." I get off the treadmill, slightly breathless but unscathed.

Having worked as a therapist for 20 years, Sandra knows more than most about muscles. She did her training in Blackpool and Durham, going into osteopathy then remedial work. She now treats all kinds of muscular skeletal problems from stiff shoulders to sore necks. While she used to work in a clinic, two years ago she relocated to the living room of her home in Brompton on Swale, North Yorkshire, where her equipment - including the skeleton - makes slightly off-the-wall decor. Sandra says she first heard of MBT from one of her clients.

"About three years ago a patient came in and said, 'have you seen those shoes that make you lose weight?' and I said, 'go away, you'll spend your money on anything'," she recalls. "Then last December I was on a course in Leeds and a woman had them on. She'd brought a DVD with her and we had a look at that. I'd had an operation which had left me a little less flexible at the ankle, which was beginning to hurt my knee and my lower back. I tried the shoes on and went through pain in my ankle, my knee, my hip and my back for about two hours because admittedly, I left them on for too long, but then the pain went off and I thought, 'wow'. My backache stopped, my knee stopped aching and I didn't want to give the shoes back."

Sandra was so impressed she thought she'd buy some of the footwear. She rang its supplier, also called MBT, but was left disappointed. "Because the shoes are class one medical equipment, it's essential that you're fitted for them properly," she says. "You can't buy them on the Internet or by mail order - that's a stipulation of MBT. There wasn't anyone who was selling them locally."

With her background in healthcare, including being registered with the NHS, Sandra thought she could plug the gap. But first she had to convince MBT. "I rang MBT in London and after I had submitted a CV, they invited me to a seminar," she says. "I then submitted a business plan and satisfied them that I would be able to help people make the best use of the shoes."

Having at long last been approved, Sandra took her first delivery earlier this month. Laid out on the sideboard is a range of styles and colours for men and women, including sandals and office-type shoes. While they all have convex soles, these aren't too obvious, especially when the shoe is all one colour. The only thing that's missing is a smart style for women - although as Sandra points out, what we think is smart just isn't good for us. "We know that a lot of structural problems come from what we put on our feet - i.e. high heels, that tell you how to walk," she says. "MBT shoes mimic an uneven terrain, which alters and supports the gait of your body."

While at the moment, the new business is largely home-based, Sandra hopes this won't be for long. "My future aim is to have a shop where there would be a couple of MBT fitters and I would be the consultant," she says. "I've already got some host venues. I'm just going to put a pair of shoes and some information in Stepping Out, a shop in Richmond town centre, and I'll spend a day at the Designer Warehouse in Hornby, near Yarm, where people can try the shoes out. If someone wanted to have a cheese and wine evening I would get some idea of people's sizes and bring the shoes."

Although she has yet to find premises, Sandra says her shop would be in Darlington. "I think I'd probably just have MBT shoes," she says. "I'd like to think they would become popular enough and an important enough part of people's training or health routine to sustain a shop."

While it can benefit almost anyone, MBT is especially helpful for three things - relieving aches and pains, improving sports performance and providing exercise without the effort. It is for the latter that it has gained the most press. "The likes of Liz Hurley and all the girls in Chelsea apparently walk their dogs in the shoes because it keeps their legs and buttocks toned," says Sandra. If a little disdainful of this - "the shoes do a lot more than that," - she admits the vanity side of MBT is catching on, not least among her friends. "I've sold the majority of shoes for muscular skeletal problems but a couple of friends have bought them for lazy exercise," she says. "I'm quite happy to sell them for this, as long as people are getting the best out of them."

At £119 or more the shoes aren't cheap, but Sandra says provided they're cared for, they are hard-wearing. "They last you a long time - just treat them like Prada," she says. "There's a good backup service where if you wear them out, you can just send them away and get them re-soled."

In her MBT trainers, which she says are never off her feet, Sandra is, quite literally, a walking advert. One thing she loves about the shoes is their flexibility. "You can wear them all day or just for an hour at the gym," she says. "Just walking around in them helps tone your legs, buttocks and pelvic floor. Probably there will be more benefits because they're developing all the time."

While conceding that there will be sceptics, Sandra makes just one request - that people keep an open mind. "I'm really excited because MBT has worked for me," she says. "In my line of work, I see lots of gimmicks but it's not a gimmick. I think it will be around for a long time."

* For more information or to book an appointment with Sandra, ring (01748) 812642 or visit www.sandrakinchin.co.uk