Can we talk orthotics please?

[CleanQueen123]

A delightful topic I know, but I've been told I need orthotics but I'm worried that means I'll need to wear the same pair of shoes forever.

I appreciate that's vain. I work in professional office job so whilst I can get away with wearing smart trainers I'm not going to be able to wear gym style trainers and I certainly hadn't planned on only ever wearing one pair of shoes.

Is it possible to swap the orthotics to whichever shoes you're wearing or are they fitted to the shoe as well as the foot?

The cost is quite high for my level of income and it doesn't seem like it will be good value for money if I'm only wearing them on WFH days and weekends.

That's really interesting and probably a shove to make me more motivated. Thank you!

My orthotics cost about £200. I can definitely put them in different shoes but tend to wear sports trainers even at work. Nobody has ever said anything about my trainers but I have a disability so even if they weren’t laid back I’d have a reason to be allowed to wear them.

Unfortunately sports trainers would look totally out of place in my office. We're not fully suited and booted but I couldn't get away with that.

I’ve got orthotics and I just swap them between shoes. They don’t really work in sandals, which has been a bit of a blow over the summer - they are new, and still being adjusted so I need to wear them a lot to get used to them. Otherwise, I’d probably take a day off occasionally and just wear the sandals without them.

Look for shoes with removable insoles, I generally buy half a size larger to accommodate the orthotics. This is my second pair, so all my shoes work with them now. I most often wear boots in the winter. I feel your pain, but honestly dress shoes are sometimes the worst things for your feet. I haven’t worn ballet type or court shoes for years.

Unfortunately, there are some problems that can’t be cured by exercise or strengthening; orthotics have relieved considerable pain for me, so it’s worth compromising on the shoes. Keep the fancy shoes for occasional use, and gradually adjust your wardrobe.

You could if you had an occupational health assessment that said it was a reasonable judgement but I get not wanting to stand out and especially if you’re client facing, etc. my job is professional but not really client facing. Though I did go to a stakeholders organisation last week in a dress and sports trainers and someone did comment and I just said “bad ankle’ and everyone nodded.

I'm very much client facing and the majority of the organisation are uniformed so I'd stand out even more in sports trainers and an outfit that goes with them.