I've been minimalist running daily for 5+ years now. I've never been injured that prevented me from running. Only thing that stopped me once was sprained ankle

I've been minimalist running daily for 5+ years now. I've never been injured that prevented me from running. Only thing that stopped me once was sprained ankle from landing badly on rough track and the flu. It took about 6 months to adjust my running style to front foot striking. The biggest change was the size of my calf muscles. If I try to run in padded Nike's I get terrible knee pain. There have been times when my achilles started burning and I also had some bad plantar fasciiitis, and some intense ball of foot pain too. However I kept running through it and it went away. Switching between front foot striking and mid foot striking helped me push through it. Funny thing is that I used to get bad RSI from using a mouse too. Now switching back and forth between laptop touch pad and mouse have completely resolved the issue. Same with standing/sitting at a desk. The ability to adjust my form to rest some muscles is a common cure for me. Anecdotally I feel that barefoot had helped me avoid injuries I over the years. There are so many more small muscles being activated without the cushioning that help you build stability and support. Most people never engage them because they run in padded shoes from a young age. When the padding wears down, which it always does, it places wierd forces on your weak leg muscles leading to injury. The key is that it takes time to adapt...and sadly I don't think people want to commit to the period of adaptation, and they are quick to look for a scapegoat for any problems they face when trying a new approach.