Podiatrist Tested Seal vs APMA Seal of Acceptance
What the APMA Seal of Acceptance certifies, the four questions it does not answer, and how to check whether a specific shoe has it.
Written and medically reviewed by Dr. Tom Biernacki, DPM, FACFAS · Last reviewed 14 September 2026
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Short answer: the APMA Seal of Acceptance tells you a manufacturer applied to the American Podiatric Medical Association, paid the application fee, and submitted evidence that a confidential panel of APMA member podiatrists accepted. The Podiatrist Tested Seal tells you that one named podiatrist bought the shoe, measured it on a bench, wore it for recorded miles, and published every number — including the ones that failed. Those are different questions. Only one of them is a test you can check.
The difference in one table
| APMA Seal of Acceptance | Podiatrist Tested Seal | |
|---|---|---|
| Who starts it | The manufacturer applies | We buy the shoe ourselves |
| Cost to the brand | Application and processing fees | Nothing. It cannot be bought at any price |
| What is assessed | Evidence the manufacturer submits: composition, physical and chemical properties, evidence of safety and efficacy, quality-control systems | The physical shoe — on a bench, and on feet for recorded miles |
| Who assesses it | A panel of APMA member physicians whose membership is confidential | Tom Biernacki, DPM, FACFAS — named on every scorecard |
| What you can see | That the product was accepted | Every criterion score, including the one a shoe missed |
| Can you check the reasoning | No | Yes — the rubric is published before the scores are |
| How long it lasts | Up to three years, renewed at the manufacturer’s request | It is tied to the version tested. A new version is a new test |
What the APMA seal actually requires
It is worth being accurate about this, because the APMA programme is often dismissed too easily. According to APMA’s own published FAQ, applicants must provide “objective data from clinical and/or laboratory studies that support any claims made about the product,” along with documentation of composition, physical and chemical properties, evidence of safety and efficacy, and quality-control systems. Review is carried out by a panel whose “membership of the APMA Seal Review Panel is comprised of APMA member physicians and is confidential.” The seal is “awarded for up to a three-year period,” renewable on request by the manufacturer.
There are two seals, and they are not interchangeable. The Seal of Acceptance covers footwear, materials, insoles, hosiery and equipment. The Seal of Approval covers therapeutic agents and regulated medical devices. A shoe carries the first one.
So it is a real review with real evidentiary requirements. What it is not is an independent measurement of the specific shoe you are about to buy. The manufacturer decides whether to apply, supplies the evidence, and pays the fee. The panel reviews what it is given, and the reasoning is not published. That is a legitimate way to run a professional endorsement programme. It is simply not the same thing as someone buying the shoe and measuring it.
What we do instead
A shoe earns the Podiatrist Tested Seal only if all four of these are true: it was wear tested by Tom Biernacki, DPM, FACFAS, measured on the bench and worn for recorded miles; it scores 8.5 or higher overall; it scores at least 8 for comfort; and no individual criterion scores below 5. Bench-only and spec-analysis shoes are not eligible. The full method is at How We Test, and the four conditions are set out at The Podiatrist Tested Seal.
The part that matters most is the part that is easiest to skip: we publish the scores a shoe failed on. If a shoe you expected to see the seal on does not have it, the scorecard on its review page shows exactly which criterion it missed and by how much. A seal that only ever appears next to good news is an advertisement.
We buy what we test. No brand pays for placement, for testing, or for the seal, and no brand sees a score before it is published. That is set out in full on our Independence page.
How many shoes carry the Podiatrist Tested Seal right now?
None. Not one shoe has earned it yet.
That is deliberate, and we would rather say it plainly than let you assume otherwise. The standard is published before any award exists, so that the rubric cannot be quietly shaped around whichever shoes we happened to like. Testing is under way. When the first shoes qualify they will appear with complete scorecards, and so will the ones that did not qualify.
A new seal that launched with a ready-made list of winners would tell you something about its marketing and nothing about its standard.
Which one should you actually rely on?
Both, for different things. If you want to know whether a manufacturer has put a product through a podiatric professional body’s review process, the APMA Seal of Acceptance answers that, and its published FAQ explains what that involves. If you want to know what a specific shoe measured when a podiatrist bought a pair and put them on a bench — toe-box width at the widest point, forefoot depth, torsional rigidity, how much orthotic the shoe will actually take — that is what we publish, and no endorsement programme is designed to answer it.
The honest summary: an accepted product has cleared a documentation review. A tested shoe has a number next to every claim. Neither replaces trying the shoe on your own foot.
Common questions about APMA approved shoes
APMA publishes a searchable database of products currently holding the Seal, plus a programme listing by category. That database is the authority — not a retailer’s “podiatrist approved” filter, not a marketplace listing, and not a brand’s marketing page when the two disagree. Search the exact model name and number, because brands routinely hold the Seal on some models in a line and not others.
What does “APMA approved” actually mean?
Strictly, most shoes carry the Seal of Acceptance, not the Seal of Approval — APMA uses Approval for therapeutic agents and regulated medical devices, and Acceptance for footwear, insoles, hosiery and equipment. In everyday use people say “APMA approved” for both. It means the manufacturer applied for that specific product, paid the application and processing fees, and submitted documentation that a confidential panel of APMA member podiatrists accepted. It does not mean the product was ranked against its competitors, and it does not mean anyone wore it.
Is a particular brand — HOKA, OOFOS, Vionic — APMA accepted?
Ask it per model, not per brand, and check it in APMA’s database rather than taking our word or anyone else’s. Several footwear and insole brands publish their own APMA pages listing which of their products hold the Seal; those pages are the brand’s own claim, which is worth reading and worth verifying. A model that is absent has not failed anything — participation is voluntary and costs money, so plenty of good shoes were simply never entered.
Does the Seal mean a shoe is right for my feet?
No certification can tell you that, ours included. Fit is individual. A shoe that holds your heel, leaves a thumb’s width beyond your longest toe standing up, and does not collapse when you squeeze the heel counter or twist it through the midfoot will beat a badged shoe that does none of those things. If you wear custom orthotics, take them to the shop and fit them — a shoe that will not take the orthotic is the wrong shoe whatever seal is on the box. And if something has hurt for more than a few weeks, or you have diabetes or numbness, footwear is not the fix on its own; see a podiatrist in person.
Recently reviewed
Individual shoe pages state their evidence tier, published measurements and who should skip them.
Saucony Endorphin Speed 5
Spec AnalysisLight plated neutral trainer. Saucony publishes both stack heights and they match its 8 mm drop — not yet tested.
HOKA Mach 6
Spec AnalysisLower, firmer neutral HOKA. HOKA publishes a 5 mm drop and neither stack height — not yet tested.
ASICS Novablast 5
Spec AnalysisBouncy high-stack neutral. ASICS publishes an 8 mm drop and neither stack height — not yet tested.
Our funding and evidence policy
We earn affiliate commissions from qualifying purchases. Our policy is to assess published evidence and fit needs rather than rank products by commission rate. Current reviews are specification analyses; see our method for their limits.