I wore barefoot shoes because they were good for my bunion, but they've caused plantar fasciitis

[floorchid]

Could this possibly get any more glamorous?

I had very wide feet anyway, and the bunion makes them practically square shaped (slight exaggeration).

I found wide toe-box, barefoot sole shoes helped the bunion - especially because I could comfortably wear my toe separators in them.

Started to develop heel pain and googling suggests it's very likely to be plantar fasciitis. Also, I'm a runner. The flat ('barefoot') shoes are terrible for plantar fasciitis.

I'm at a loss as to my next move. I need good heel cushioning and arch support, but also a very wide toe box. If I can find such a thing, they'll be hideous and eye wateringly expensive. Am I supposed to just wear this one pair of shoes with every outfit?

I’ve had to get insoles for all my shoes, anything flat is too painful without them. Barefoot shoes would be horrendous for me! Around the house I never go barefoot now and wear hoka recovery sliders. They are so ugly but have made a massive difference to my PF pain.

Have you tried Birkenstocks? They have support, but are foot shaped. Their boots and trainers are very comfortable. I rarely wear anything else now. They also have more specialist footwear for those that have foot issues. https://www.birkenstock.com/gb/recovery-pack-polyurethane/olympicspack-polyurethane-0-0-u_02.html

Yes, I agree that you need to see a podiatrist as different treatments work for different people. I’m about 7 years on from my PF now, I still get the odd twinge and act on it, but can walk round the house barefoot, go to barre classes (stockinged feet), do all the balance stuff in yoga in bare feet. I can also wear unsuitable footwear such as ballet flats or heels for the odd few hours now. I think regular yoga practice has definitely helped keep it at bay as has wearing properly fitting footwear the majority of the time and definitely as soon as I feel a twinge.

I have very wide feet and buy men's trainers. My latest are some kind of Brookes stability trainers.

Hokas have wide fittings and are cushioned. My bf has plantar and found them good

I had pf earlier this year. It seems to have gone now (frantically touches wood everywhere).

I swapped to fit flop trainers for everyday wear. I have insoles for other shoes. I wear arch support slippers. I had a night splint and I did all the rolling and calf stretches etc.

Even though it’s gone, I will still be taking care of my feet as best I can to prevent it because it’s so horrible!

Yes me too. Yoga is absolutely brilliant for feet. My big toe on my right foot used to lean in about 45 degrees and it's much straighter and the bunion far less obvious now I do yoga. Have been going to classes for six years now and I mostly only do it once a week but even that has made a difference.

The bunion always used to feel achy when I pressed it and now it doesn't. I also used get cramp in my feet easily and now I don't.

Massive thank you to everyone for sharing all this experience and advice. I feel very much more hopeful than I did when I first posted.

Totally agree that actually I need to see a podiatrist, and I'm setting that up. Gotta look after your feet!

I think once I know what I'm dealing with, wide toe-box shoes with a proper insert is the way to go. As I mentioned, I'm not in UK and the idea of spending 100s of dollars online ordering shoes from a brand I haven't tried on doesn't seem brilliant. We don't really have shops that I can go and try various options - although I might have found somewhere that stocks brooks.

There's a bit of conflicting advice about some of the brands - Crocs and sketchers (both of which I can get in abundance here!)

One thing I haven't yet worked out is that a lot of the slippers and sandals options on this thread are backless. I'm pretty sure I need a back strap. My feet are exhausted if I don't have one (never used to be!) because I'm using my toes to hold them on. In fact, it was a trip to the shops in a pair of knock-off footbed birkies that caused the pain that started this thread.

Good point about the backstraps. When I first had the PF I only wore trainers for a few weeks but then moved to Birkies but I could only wear the types that strap over the insteps (Arizona, Gizeh, Mayari), not the single strap ones (Madrid) and I do the buckles up so that they fit snugly and don't flap as you walk, this eliminates most of the toe-gripping. There are some styles with backstraps too.

My podiatrist was wearing Skechers. She told me to throw out my Nikes and never wear them again!

I cured mine with Skechers full time (different styles for work and home) and crocs always at home, even to the bathroom at night.

Good luck. It's horrible.

Interesting. I stupidly bought a pair of Nike running shoes. Ran in them twice and found them so awful that I will never wear them again. What a waste of money. Unfortunately that's my whole budget spent on something useless, so I'm back to running in my decent but very old NB. I tried a pair of Hoka in the shop and they were fab but very expensive so I'm waiting for some Christmas money and plan to get a pair for running.

In the meantime I have replaced my home slippers with a pair of Hoka recovery slides and they're great. Am also going to pick up some inserts for my work shoes. Getting there!

If you keep an eye sports shoes dot com website you can often pick up a pair of hokas 50pc off. Especially if you don't care what colour etc they are

And sell your Nike ones !

Hi!
look at the shoe brand ALTRA. They have barefoot shoes with zero drop and wide tow box with different cushion height options.
I transitioned from Hoka leather Bondi work shoes to ALTRA Olympus two for my work shoes. While the EVA foam in Hoka is superior to everything else on the market, these ended up looking almost the same and being very comfortable while not looking like clown shoes.
And of course they do have specific categories for running. I highly suggest looking for other brands as well that have wide tow box on different cushion height options! Plus all the suggestions about exercises and massaging are great. I know it’s been a year, but I hope you’re doing better now or you might not even see this at all!

I have had foot problems for over 30 years. I find that if I fix sth, a new problem just pops us, either on my foot or calf/achilles.

Anyway, I fixed a bunion by wearing those toe separator socks. I wouldn't have believed it would work but it did.

And I fixed everything else with Joya shoes. These are hugely expensive but they are absolutely amazing.

Also fitflop boots and sandals.

But Joyas for everything else.

They are a German orthopedic shoe. You can get them online.