kick off my sunday shoes

[blk]

For the last two years my left foot has been irritating me slightly. Not a lot, and not constantly, which is why i haven't pursued it more aggressively. For two years I cycled in trying to rest it and treat it gently, being pain-free for days or weeks at a time and thinking that I'd healed all up, and then doing something like running, or

Comments

[ehk]

Looks like you got my arches.

[blk]

"Thanks."

[marmal8]

Freaking feet. Though, good on you for going to the foot doctor! It sounds like it wasn't as bad as expected.
So what I have is metatarsalgia, but ain't no one gave me no metatarsal pads or scripts for orthotics. What my guy did tell me to buy was insoles and wear a more rigid shoe. The problems with this are

[blk]

Yeah, I do have some insoles and they help a lot... in certain shoes. My Keens all have removeable soles, and they work great in the mocs, but not at all in the boots, and of course don't fit in the sandals.

I suspect an orthotic would basically be like getting an insole that is customized to my foot (since I basically had to find the absolute highest-arch variety). Which might be nice because so far these toe pads are doing fuck-all.

My problem with sandals is that 1) I mostly only want to wear "sport sandals" or sandals I can wear to go walk around a few miles in the park comfortably, and 2) I'm really picky about what they look like. I may just have to accept that I shouldn't wear sandals for a while. Bleh.

[marmal8]

Yeah, I'm picky as all hell as well. The fact that I have to be all monkeybusiness casual for work meant that I needed to do a fair amount of shoe research. I think Birks might be OK for their molding-to-your-foot quality but they are just too blorby for me (though they have a couple "narrow" varieties, where "narrow" = "the width of a normal foot"). Are your sport sandals that you currently have comfortable (that is, do they not aggravate your foot issues)? Despite the heels on my Taos sandals, I can totally walk around in them on different terrain without pain. I'm resigned to the fact that sandals aren't going to have removable insoles (that would look weird) so I just have to get really cushy ones with durable soles ("durable" seems to be shoe-ese for "not flexible").

[blk]

My current sandals that I loooooooove are Keen Newports, and they are generally quite comfortable and don't aggravate anything usually, although maybe a teeny bit more than the mocs do.

I will keep looking at other brands, but first I'd like to fix the foot, and currently i feel like this toe pad + sneaker might be mak

[eub]

Medical assistants vary so damn widely in quality and preparedness. While doing a lot of the actual patient contact.

I doubt it pays very well either.

[fyfer]

I got custom orthotics for the same issue (mild metatarsalgia, crazy high arches). I only wear them every few days, but they are so wonderful. They support the arch and also have a metatarsal bump.

But, orthotics might really limit your shoe choices. I've only found a few shoes that are deep enough for mine. Mine only fit in shoes with removable insoles that I can replace with the orthotic. (Also, for sandals, Mephisto sandals that look like Birkenstocks have high enough arches for me, which is unprecedented.)

I found that I didn't need to wear mine every day for them to make a difference. It's basically just giving my feet a break sometimes.

The doctor's assistant was Doing It Wrong in so many ways that I think you should possibly mention it to the doctor. Those metatarsal pads take a while to get used to (if they fit right, they might cause foot cramps at first)...

[blk]

Most of my Keen shoes have removeable soles, so I'll play around with those before acquiring any new ones. I could look at Mephisto next time I'm near an REI, though.

> if they fit right, they might cause foot cramps at first

Really? Huh, well, I guess actually similar happened with my current insoles, so it makes sense, but thanks for mentioning it, as I wouldn't have thought about it. Although if that's a measure, I suspect I don't have them fit right yet... :)