To be exasperated with orthotic insoles?!

[Clairaloulou]

Didn't really know where to put this so hope it's ok here.

My son has hyper mobility and has been given orthotic insoles by podiatrist. He also has wide feet, and sensory issues and poor fine motor skills that make finding shoes that fit and he can tolerate quite difficult anyway.

Am finding it almost impossible to find any shoes that fit his insoles in. Podiatrist says ideally high tops or boots that will offer more stability to his ankle which is a big problem.

Does anyone have any advice, or know any brands/places where I might be able to get him some shoes/trainers please? He's also around a size 6 which is right in between junior and adult sizes

Walking boots from somewhere like Mountain Warehouse would work.

I have to wear insoles and have somewhat odd feet so I understand!

You could try Brooks running shoes - they come in wide/extra wide fits and are very very supportive, good quality and have free returns, I know they're running shoes but they're fine for walking! They come in half sizes which is helpful.

And walking boot brands that I've found great are Brashers; fantastic ankle support.

I sympathise! Harder for a child or a teen, but I live in short riding boots - jodhpur boots or paddock boots - the orthotics fit in well and the ankle support is fab. Also support the suggestion of Brooks or azics running shoes.

Start rite go up to a H fitting and some have removable insoles so you can put your orthotics in, although in size 6 I think they only do black trainer/school shoe types
They are very supportive tho so could work
(I was a children’s shoe fitter but got made redundant)

For a while we have a lot of success with Dr Martens for Ds to wear with his orthotics. Now he is in a pair of Clarkes boots which are nice and light which he likes.

I take the insoles out of clarks shoes (the ones with an insole obviously) and replace with mine. Only way to make it work.

Clarks.... I have to wear orthotic insoles due to hypermobility giving me metatarsalgia and I go up half a size in boots and have a wide fit.

Kickers were the only shoes we found that complied with school rules and could accommodate the orthotics and came in a full range of sizes.

They're completely pointless. Bail

We found startrite to be better and sometimes geox but generally we got ones where the standard insole could be taken out, h width needed here too,

My DS also has orthotics. He wears hush puppies for school shoes as the insoles are removable and can be combined with his orthotics for the right width fit. He also has a pair of karrimor mount mid in plain black from sports direct for days when his ankles are bad. He is now in adult sizes.

@AliceAbsolum

They're completely pointless. Bail

The state of DS feet now having not been able to be measured for his new ones due to lockdown would very much suggest that isn’t the case. Sadly he has been thrown right back in his progress

Kickers work well. Some of the ankle boots have zips in the girl range, so work for the fine motor difficulties. We also like Livie and Luca and they do an ankle boot. Insoles first in brilliantly but the heel is not as stiff as physios like! We've currently also got Clark's H width which fit them in ok enough but not perfect.

We found these good for a wide fitting shoe

www.pavers.co.uk/collections/mens

Treads school shoes have worked for my DS who uses orthotics. Sturdy quality shoes but they have an extra removable insole to allow for width which means hos orthotics fit perfectly. They're only available online but Ive found them excellent.

Geox used to work well for my son when he wore insoles (he also has very wide feet). The insoles in the Geox are usually removable so gives more space for the orthotics. I also recommend finding a good independent children’s shoe shop that will really take their time to find the right fit. If you’re in the north west I can recommend Pip Squeak & Wilfred.

As stated above, you must remove the insoles from the shoes before putting in the orthotics insoles. It makes all the difference.

Yy to kickers, Dr Martens and walking boots. Also Nike trainers work surprisingly well given they are not a boot. We also use converse style boots when suffering from knee or ankle injuries because they are lightweight, but they dont work as well support wise.

They're completely pointless. Bail

Nonsense! Makes a massive difference to both my hypermobile kids. Puts the whole foot in the right position correcting the strain on the hips and the knees. Visually I can actually see when DD has forgotten/No bothered to put them in, haven't got it wrong yet.
One holiday when we were doing a lot of walking over 5 days. Normally she wears insoles it aches, things swell but she does fine. She forgot her insoles. Day two her normally preferred Nikes weren't holding her ankles at all by the end of the day. Emergency converses helped. But boy did she notice not having those insoles!!!

DS has orthotics. He found high tops and walking boots made it worse for him. Finding shoes is a massive pita. Basically we tried on loads of shoes before we found anything. Clarks were ok but sizing so random we had to try on so many. Trainers were better. Unfortunately Karrimor from Sports Direct were the best- one size up. Or for school we had Adidas all black. Now he's in men's sizes it's the Hush Puppies with the removable insoles as someone mentioned above.

The state of DS feet now having not been able to be measured for his new ones due to lockdown would very much suggest that isn’t the case. Sadly he has been thrown right back in his progress

My DS is the same as he likes going barefoot at home so the last lockdown took it's toll on his feet.

He doesn't wear high tops but goes for Brooks running shoes, Karrimor walking shoes and at the moment has some M&S wide fit kids school shoes (in size 8.5). Our podiatrist just recommended going for something that has a firm heel back so anything that is easily pushed forward is a no go.

DS waited until this morning to let me know his trainers were getting a bit small but luckily DH has a pair he can wear until this lockdown is over.