a sole inner surface and a sole outer surface;

a sole lateral side, a sole medial side, and a sole middle portion located between the sole lateral side and the sole medial side;

a bottom sole;

the shoe sole comprising at least one convexly rounded portion of the sole inner surface, as viewed in a frontal plane cross-section when the shoe sole is upright and in an unloaded condition, said convexity being determined relative to a section of the shoe sole directly adjacent to the convexly rounded portion of the sole outer surface;

the shoe sole comprising at least one concavely rounded portion of the sole outer surface, as viewed in a frontal plane cross-section when the shoe sole is upright and in an unloaded condition, said concavity being determined relative to an inner section of the shoe sole directly adjacent to the concavely rounded portion of the sole outer surface;

each said concavely rounded portion of the sole outer surface being located on a side of the shoe sole at a location corresponding to the location of at least one convexly rounded portion of the sole inner surface; and

at least one compartment defined by an outer surface, containing a pressure-transmitting material and located at a location selected from the group consisting of the heel portion of the shoe sole and portions of the shoe sole located at locations substantially corresponding to the location of each of the following support elements of the intended wearer's foot when inside the shoe: a base of the fifth metatarsal, a head of one of the metatarsals, and a first distal phalange; and

wherein at least a portion of said outer surface of said at least one compartment is separated from an opposing portion of an interior surface of said shoe sole by an internal slit and said portion of said compartment outer surface is movable relative to said opposing portion of said interior surface of said shoe sole and at least a part of said opposing portions of said moveable surfaces are in contact with each other in an unloaded condition, and

wherein a portion of the shoe sole located between said convexly rounded portion of the sole inner surface and said concavely rounded portion of the sole outer surface has a substantially uniform thickness extending from a location proximate to a sidemost extent of the at least one of said shoe sole lateral and medial sides to a location proximate to a lowest point on said shoe sole, as viewed in a frontal plane cross-section when the shoe sole is upright and in an unloaded condition.