Shoe recommendations for plantar fasciiitis/mortons neoroma.

[Imtoooldforallthis]

Looking for shoe recommendations, all kinds really but specifically going out shoes that will give me a bit of height. I am self diagnosing here, but I think I have a mortons neuroma in one foot, extreme burning pain in ball of foot, which cramps occasionally, and plantar fasciitis in other which if extreme tendorness in heel, worse after resting and in a morning.

The best thing for your plantar fasciitis will be footbalance customised insoles. They make a huge difference and are well worth the price.

Secondly any well cushioned trainer with support on the arch.

I wore fitflop and Skechers a lot when my feet were really bad.

I have some insoles, not custom made which didn't seem to make much difference. Go walk Skechers are OK, but only the slip on ones, the lace up ones are awful, I had to give them away. Birkenstock are all I can wear but need something more dressed up for going out. I've just ordered some fitflop to try. The problem is they feel comfy for a while but if I wear for more than a couple of hours I'm in agony. So I keep making expensive mistakes.

My podiatrist said only invest in custom insoles if you really have to as they are not the rest option, and expensive. I wear fit flops (he recommended them) or MBTs (Masai barefoot technology) - they really help

I have PF and wear these in all my shoes:

Pro11 3/4 Length Slim Fit Orthotic Heel Cup Insoles Plantar Fasciitis Metatarsalga Treatment (5-6.5 Small) https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/6040791535/ref=cmswwrcppapiglttfabcBR5KTS99AV5Z2CBCWXVX??encoding=UTF8&psc=1

I also stick see through arch supports into my sandals.

At home I wear Oofos recovery sandals with a shaped bed and arch supports. I never walk barefoot.

As long as I do this my PF is fine. No pain.

I have high arches though and Birkenstock's don't help me, the arch support is too low.

You need the customised ones otherwise there’s really no point.

Running shops/sports shops will fit the FootBalance insoles to your feet specifically. I used to do this. We had many, many people (including endurance athletes) who suffered so badly with PF and were amazed at how much difference the insoles made. We also had many referrals from podiatrists/chiropodists. I suffered with chronic severe PF for many years and it made a world of difference to me.

There are other customisable insoles but FootBalance has patented technology and is the only one I can personally recommend. If you can find a shop that fits them I would highly recommend. The good thing about them, too, is that once you have them you can wear a much wider range of shoes - as long as the insoles fit into them, you can wear them!

Those insoles are very similar to the ones I got off amazon, will try them again to see if they help.

So will footbalance help with the mortons neuroma, as one is pain in the heel and the other is pain in the ball of foot. The mortons neoroma is more of a problem than th PF. Trainers I have bought and cannot wear are, Skechers, new balance, vionic and Adidas.

@Ninkanink

You need the customised ones otherwise there’s really no point.

Running shops/sports shops will fit the FootBalance insoles to your feet specifically. I used to do this. We had many, many people (including endurance athletes) who suffered so badly with PF and were amazed at how much difference the insoles made. We also had many referrals from podiatrists/chiropodists. I suffered with chronic severe PF for many years and it made a world of difference to me.

There are other customisable insoles but FootBalance has patented technology and is the only one I can personally recommend. If you can find a shop that fits them I would highly recommend. The good thing about them, too, is that once you have them you can wear a much wider range of shoes - as long as the insoles fit into them, you can wear them!

That's not true. I dont have custom insoles and have completely "cured" mine with off the shelf insoles.

My niece has custom insoles at great cost and they've made no difference at all to her PF.

I'm sure other people find custom insoles very effective.

It really depends on the person. The podiatrist I saw said whatever you are doing that works for you continue with. If you have no pain then it's right for you.

Yes, it should help to relieve it and we had customers who wore them for that reason and found it to make a big difference, I just can’t personally vouch for it as I’ve not suffered with it myself.

Here is a link to read more about the product

True. I worded that far too emphatically - some people obviously find it enough. Although I’d argue that they may have had milder cases. Once it’s chronic and severe my opinion is that customised is best because it will be exactly right for your foot. Obviously if it’s working for you I wouldn’t say there’s no point, but then you’d not be asking for help...

I would still suggest that OP tries them as what she’s tried off the shelf hasn’t helped. And there’s no question that for many if not most people the customised ones will be far better. Certainly everyone we fit would attest that there was no comparison. But as I said, FootBalance are patented and are probably much better than many others, for example the NHS ‘customised’ one’s are crap in comparison and the soldiers we used to fit said ours were far superior to the ones they had.

Perhaps see a podiatrist, OP?

I have custom insoles, but I don’t need them with Fitflops. They are great for plantar fasciitis and related conditions.

Another recommendation for FitFlops - they are the only shoes/sandals I can comfortably wear. I have PF in my left foot and live in Fitflops as often as possible!

So are all Fitflops good, as there are many styles?

I think anything that supports the arch of your foot would help for PF. I have had both custom ones and some of the shelf help ones with arch support which I still wear. I don't have PF any more but it came on when I was running a lot, I cycle now instead of run as it's a bit gentler on my ageing body.

Fitflop are very individual in how they fit depending on your foot shape and arch/instep, and the sizing isn’t consistent between styles either, so it might take some time to find the right ones for you. But once you find the right style(s) they do help a lot in my experience. I’m not sure they’ll be sufficient on their own to help your morton’s neuroma, though.

Thinking back I’m sure we had a specific customisable addition to the insoles for that condition, to alleviate the pressure.

Anyway I hope you find something to help you - I’m well aware of how awful foot pain can be - and if you can I’d suggest seeing a podiatrist as well as they would be able to investigate and properly advise.

Thank you all, I will probably have to see a podiatrist. I feel so fed up, went out Saturday, felt the best I'd felt in ages wearing a lovely pair of heels. (I'm only 5'1). Am I just relegated to trainers and flipflops. I would love a pair of heels that are actually comfy. They don't have to be high, just something my daughters wouldn't be horrified at.

I run a lot and used to be very overweight so have had a fair bit of hassle from plantar fascitis.

The custom insoles didn't really work for me, I don't know why.

Fitflops are a bit of help, as are sketchers, as they give more support than most shoes, but what works the best for me are recovery 'shoes' (usually sliders are flip flops) that are made for runners after a long run.

Two good brands are OOFOS as mentioned above, or for me the absolute best are HOKA recovery flips. I use the Hoka Ora. Whenever I am in the house I have them on to potter about it, and use them full time in the summer.

The other thing I have to be really careful of is walking around barefoot, or in flat shoes like converse or ballet flats. This is almost guaranteed to bring it on again, even if i've only worn them for a couple of hours.

As I said I suffered severely for years and really didn’t wear anything but trainers for work (at least I worked in a sports shop, though!) plus fitflop sandals in summer and boots/heels only every once in a while. But with time and wearing the insoles it was completely alleviated and stayed away for 5-6 years after that. I was able to go back to wearing high, high heels and everything. I’ve now recently got a little bit of pain in one foot but it’s manageable and I just do stretches to fix it. Luckily I’ve decided I don’t want to wear proper heels hardly at all anymore so I don’t miss that. But I’ve faith that you can wear them too in time!

Yes barefoot or flat shoes are a big no no. I walk barefoot at home all the time now because I love the relaxed feeling I get from it, and I expect that’s one reason why the pain has come back.

I've ordered some hoka ora to arrive tomorrow, so will see if they help.

If you have the money for physio-therapy I would highly recommend that too - just having a sports massage and having my feet taped for a few days would help a great deal even if it was temporary.

Hope the Ora's help

NHS website specifically says no backless shoes or high heels.

I have found that hotter shoes and Josef Seibel shoes have sorted my feet out, but I dress to a lagenlook aesthetic so my 'dressing up to go out' and yours is likely to be very different! Plus I'm old and more bothered about comfort that looking smart 😄. Good luck in your search though. There is nothing more miserable than sore feet with every step.

@Imtoooldforallthis

Thank you all, I will probably have to see a podiatrist. I feel so fed up, went out Saturday, felt the best I'd felt in ages wearing a lovely pair of heels. (I'm only 5'1). Am I just relegated to trainers and flipflops. I would love a pair of heels that are actually comfy. They don't have to be high, just something my daughters wouldn't be horrified at.

Sadly, heels of any size are a complete no-no with PF. It is never worth the pain.

I have to agree, shoes are my 'thing' the thought of getting rid of 30+ pairs of heels really really makes me feel old, frumpy and short.