Last summer I doubled the miles and time spent walking the dogs while recovering from major surgery. My sore feet paid the price. Dreaded plantar fasciitis.
I'd struggled with plantar fasciitis before. In the past, custom orthotics from the podiatrist fixed my problem with super sore feet. This time, it did not work. My VERY expensive custom orthotics did sort of help the plantar fasciitis pain. However, they caused me insane other kinds of sore feet issues. It was like walking with huge river rocks taped to my feet.
It was so bad, even just around the house, that I would try to figure out how to do things like put new sheets on the bed by taking the fewest steps possible. I never could get farther than a few houses down the road before the foot pain from the orthotics flared up.
Podiatry fail!
I went back to see the podiatrist about 8 weeks later. He made some adjustments to the orthotics that helped a tiny bit. But, I still hated them and stopped using them entirely.
Thankfully, the owner of a local running store gave me a better idea. Recovery shoes from OOFOS! [Yes, I have a new affiliate relationship with OOFOS and will get a % of any sales made from my links. Remember, I only have such relationships with companies / products I actually use. Though, to be honest, they almost NEVER pay off. For example, I've had these links here for a few months now and NOTHING. I've earned exactly ZERO, so I deleted the adds from other places they were appearing on the site. I'll keep these here, just in case, if you want to click thru.]
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OOFOS Shoes Take the Ooph Out of Sore Feet
The owner of the running store suggested starting with these simple slide sandals for around the house to see if the OOFOS recovery foam would help me. Good idea before I considered another style of OOFOS shoes. Yeah, they aren't exactly glamorous. In a matter of days, though, my sad little feet felt SO much better.
The amazing owner of the local running shoe store also suggested a couple different kinds of low / zero drop running shoes. I alternate wearing those when I walk the dogs. My feet do still often start to hurt when I'm walking the usual 3-6 miles each day with the pups. My feet stiffen up and get really sore later when I first stand up later in the day.
So, I pretty much wear these sandals inside the house all the time -- for years now. With socks no less. [Insert appropriate horror here.]
Rather than suffer through another summer of foot pain, I'm going to order a real pair of OOFOS walking shoes like these. I will report back later on those for my real-life walking scenarios
IMPORTANT UPDATE --- These shoes ^^^ are definitely NOT suitable for actual walking for exercise. Look how worn down the soles are after JUST 2 WEEKS OF walking my normal 3-4 per day on our rural / paved road.
They might be fine for wearing around the house, but they do not hold up at all for outdoor use.
I did manage to get a pair of replacement shoes "as a one-time courtesy." I finally got someone to explain why the shoes wore out. Here's what the customer service rep said, "While our shoes are great for day-to-day walking, light activities, and errands, we do not advise them for prolonged or intense physical activity. If the 5 miles are spread out evenly throughout your day, the shoes may work for your situation. However we would not advise them for walking 5 miles all at once, as our shoes are designed more for recovery than for physical activity. Because our shoes are made of a patented OOfoam technology, intense usage over a short period of time may result in a shorter than average life expectancy. This may be why you are seeing the wear on your pair."
For comparison, here is how the sandals I bought a year ago look. Again, I only wear around the house. Maybe the black sandals are made differently. I don't know.
In the meantime, I strongly encourage you to try some recovery shoes from OOFOS if you're having pain from being on your feet a lot, including:
- Walking your dogs more during the ongoing pandemic
- Marching in support of Black Lives Matter
I feel for you! I had to deal with PF for the entire winter and spring…it’s finally healed now. One tip from my podiatrist that I found most helpful was to walk on grass/dirt, rather than on concrete, as much as possible. It is the hard, unyielding concrete surfaces that cause the plantar fascia to strain and tear in the first place. Glad the recovery shoes are working for you!
Oh, good idea. I didn’t have this trouble before they paved our road. I try to walk on the dirt shoulder as much as I can.
Can I just tell you Oofos saved my life! I was having such diabetic neuropathy pain on the bottoms of my feet I couldn’t sleep at night. Saw a podiatrist who td me to get some Oofos and they’ve changed my life!! Pain went away almost immediately so I’ll never wear anything else again!
That is SO great to hear, Vicki! Not that you were having so much pain, but that the OOFOS shoes made that much of a difference.