cjsmith | Post-op shoes do help

OK, I'm definitely having LESS pain while walking... as long as I wear my post-op shoes.

The $64,000 question: Why?

The post-op shoes have absolutely no arch support of any kind -- the inner surface is flat as a board.
The post-op shoes put a lot more of my weight on my heel because they are tilted.
The post-op shoes are kind of cushiony inside.
The post-op shoes are missing a big chunk under the toes.
The post-op shoes are very rigid, not allowing my toes to bend during my stride.
Something else I haven't thought of yet.

Obviously the next step is to isolate these things and figure out which one(s) are helping. I hope it's not item two, 'cause that's probably the one I can't sustain (these shoes will cause heel damage if I use them too long).

1 - Walk barefoot on a wood or tile floor. This HURTS! OK, 1 alone is not good.
3 & 5 - My very rigid sandals have two pair of squishy insoles, which *improved* things but sure didn't fix them. OK, 3 and 5 alone are not enough.

1 & 3 - A pair of cushiony flip-flops? Walk barefoot on pile carpet?
1 & 4 - Japanese geta?
1 & 4 & 5 - Japanese geta with an added strap across the instep?
1 & 3 & 4 & 5- Doctor a bunch of cushiony flip-flops? Geta with gel insoles?

edit: After 15 minutes of walking on pile carpet, I ache but not much. Hrm. Pacing around one's living room for 15 minutes gets boring. :-)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Okay, I only thought of this NOW, on RE-reading this
whole thread---- anyway I am *excited*:

A SHOE TRY OUT PARTY

Have a shoe try out and swap event. Okay, okay, this is
limited by the fact that we all have different sized
feet. None the less: advertise at shoe stores, and
?orthopedists? ?podiatrists? ?foot-clinics?
--wherever the foot with special needs is likely to
be found.

PROCEDURE:

Everyone brings ALL of their shoes. The more unusual
the better, of course. All the shoes brought
have to be labelled with owner's names. Then put
in ?different rooms? ?different corners? by size.

Then everyone spends some prearranged time (a couple
of hours?) trying on any shoes that interest them,
and walking around, etc. Then everyone helps to sort
the shoes and get them back to proper owners.
Possibly while eating snacks or trading phone numbers.

Problem: it would be hard or impossible to leave early.
All those shoes roaming around.

Risk: some shoes could get lost or stolen.

Sad limitation: more common sizes have more shoes to try.

Possible opportunity: maybe some foot docs or shoe companines
would either "sponsor" or attend and provide free advice,
shoes to try out, fitting tips, ???

Important need: how to label all the shoes so the labels
do NOT come off? The labels could have room for other info
besides owner's name, too -- type of shoes, size,
how old they are?, cost? whether the shoes are available
for trade or sale???

Oh! everyone should wear nametags with name (duh) and
shoe size. I can really imagine there would be a LOT
of discussion about the shoes. Which ones we like/love/
hate. How they feel. "Let's see, these shoes I have
on are from Katie. Where is Katie? Katie, do you
like these? Do you wear them much? Do you know if
they come in other colors??"

I'm not sure if trading/selling shoes is just tooo
complicated. Maybe that could be done AFTER the
"try on" event ends, as a separate optional thing.
Just the try-on would be complicated enough.

I'd find it really interesting to try out lots of
shoes. I'd never worn Birkenstocks till a friend
recently sold me some at a garage sale. Now they
are my favorites. (Sadly, I somehow lost them at
STtSG, and have to buy some....)

I'm picturing this as a shoe party that is especially
oriented to feet with special needs, but hope that
everyone would be welcome. But the more unusual shoes
that attend, the more it would be useful for feet with
special needs.

Suddenly I'm thinking this idea is not so great.
Maybe everyone with special shoe needs has already
figured out what kind of shoes to get? Maybe this
wouldn't attract many people with really interesting
shoes?

Y'know what we'd need to make this work BEAUTIFULLY is a space age gizmo that will temporarily resize a foot. Need to try on this lovely size nine shoe that might leave space for your bunion? POOF you're a size nine for the next few minutes! Then you can go buy the appropriate size shoe, knowing it will work.

Even without that, though... the more I brainstorm about my feet, the more I hear about all my friends' and coworkers' foot pain. I swear half the people at my company wear orthotics and a quarter have had surgery. It's incredible how many people's feet hurt. So there might well be enough weird shoes out there!

What size Birks do you wear? I have two pair of sevens I can't wear, and I'd gladly hand 'em over if they'd work for you.

Post-op shoes do help

BETTER THAN A HOBBY SWAP!??

Re: BETTER THAN A HOBBY SWAP!??