Plantar fasciitis and footwear

[CharlieSays13]

Can anyone recommend good footwear for plantar fasciitis that looks fairly trendy?

I often wear an arch support insole in trainers but it's hard to find ones that take them without looking like I'm wearing a pair of boats!

I would also love a pair of sandals but so far I've no found anything that isn't completely flat.

Footactive have a range of sandals that are made to help with plantar fasciitis, like these ANNA Orthotic Sandals | TAN | Zullaz. They also do a range of trainers Orthopaedic Shoes for Women | FootActive. Calla shoes have a range of fashion trainers (leather for example) Stylish Ladies Shoes for Plantar Fasciitis UK

Vionics. Expensive though.

Use half insoles. They will go in almost any shoe.

Or if using full insoles you should take out the insole that’s already in there and replace it with your orthotic one. You can do that in almost any trainers and some shoes.

Fitflop are worth a look.

All my shoes pretty much are fit flop with the micro wobbleboard sole which really helps me, especially with sandals where you can’t wear an insole. I have these linked below which are super comfy.

https://www.fitflop.com/uk/en/shop/gen-ff-buckle-two-bar-leather-slides-p-HE8#592

i also have just bought some Archie’s flip flops which seem good so far.
https://archiesfootwear.co.uk/collections/womens-flip-flops?srsltid=AfmBOopNZXAlZsTb9kBl_JYDoRlDmizvB_e5LAtERzbAm9uPEAsRd7Vq

i also have these converse which have a very thick padded insole and so I find these comfy too.

https://www.converse.com/uk/en/shop/p/chuck-taylor-all-star-move-platform-womens-low-top-shoe/570256C_085.html?pid=570256MP&dwvar_570256MP_color=black%2Fwhite%2Fwhite&dwvar_570256MP_size=085&styleNo=570256C&pdp=true&_gl=11i18a26_upMQ..gs*MQ..&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI66Oh6PWHjQMVmPJ5BB3BVCm7EAQYASABEgJWXPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds&gbraid=0AAAAADgQhx44Vioa84fiYzY-LZknqwCO

Birkenstocks work for me.

I went down a Google rabbit-hole with trying to get rid of my plantar fasciitis. What eventually worked for me was that I ended up strapping the foot up with athletic tape for about a year, and actually switched entirely to zero-drop, wide toe box trainers by a company called Altra. I also did the strengthening exercises the gp gave me, which were essentially glorified calf raises, every evening before bed.
The combination of those things worked, and, touch wood, it hasn't returned yet.

I know someone with this that swears by fitflops

Thank you. I love the tan sandals!

I really like the converse! I struggle a bit with a flip flop but they are lovely. Thank you

They made mine worse, podiatrist said no to anything that didn't fasten around ankle.

They do have a strap around the ankle :)

I was rigorous regarding orthotics, etc, for about a year. I still wear orthotics in boots throughout the winter. Once it eased, I made sure I had good arch support some of the time or if walking a lot.

The other thing that really helps me is to make sure slippers have good arch support. I wear Clarke's knock off birkies as summer slippers and Josef Siebel Betsy clogs as winter slippers. Honestly, we all spend so much time on our feet at home, this really helps.

Well they’re not really trendy anymore but NB 327s with insoles pretty much sorted my PF out.

Strive sandals pretty much cured my plantar fasciitis

Following for recs 👀

This.

Zero drop shoes will strengthen your foot muscles and stretch out your tendons, putting your foot in a natural position. The position will always be the same no matter what shoe you are wearing, which means your foot isn’t being forced to change shape all the time.

I had problems going from winter shoes to living in flip flops all summer. It was because even though the winter shoes looked flat, they actually all had a small heel built into them. This meant my Achilles heel was being shortened in the winter then suddenly stretched out every summer. The winter shoes also had
more support and padding than the flip flops. So my foot muscles were getting weak during the winter then having to suddenly work harder during the summer.

I switched to Vivobarefoot (barefoot, zero drop) shoes about 10 years ago and have not had a problem with my feet in years. They also helped a bunion I had forming on one of my feet because their toe box is wider than a regular shoe so my toes could spread out.

when people talk to me about needing insoles etc in their shoes I’m usually v doubtful. I feel like it’s over engineering when actually what is needed is simplifying things back to how our feet are designed to work.

Oofos were an absolute gamechanger for my plantar fascitis. Just amazing.

Unfortunately they are quite expensive and look crap (imo), so not the stylish fix you are looking for. But I HIGHLY recommend getting a pair to wear around the house.

@Newbie887 I fully agree, and my intention is still to transition to fully barefoot shoes. I wear Lems at the moment, as they have a little more stack height, and I'm still a bit paranoid that it'll suddenly return if I'm not careful. I did try on a pair of Vivobarefoot, but I have such wide feet that they were still too narrow! (I have feet like a duck)

I have custom made insoles that work in Adidas Bold Flatforms. Also Clarks torhill lace up boots with a flatform. I wear Oofos flipflops in the Summer. I don't think they look too bad. I also have a pair of the bronze slides with a thicker wedge sole.I don't find Vionics very comfortable any more as the arch support is in the wrong place. What you can wear all depends on how bad your P.F. is & how damaged your foot is.

The ‘soft’ Birkenstocks in a narrow work for me as a sandell.

I found this too! I wear the men’s vivobarefoots as I found the women’s too narrow. They have the same designs as the women’s but they are wider. I usually wear a size 8 in women’s shoes to accommodate my width but can wear a size 7 in men’s vivo’s and they are comfy. I also find some of their designs come up wider than others. Like the Primus lights I have (the summer ones with the mesh) are narrower than the Primus knits (water resistant winter version with a sort of stretchy fabric tongue). Maybe try out some more of them. And good luck moving forward, I hope what you try works as foot pain is so debilitating x

I’m just coming out the other side of an apalling year of PF, I can’t say that any footwear helped particularly, but I’ve just had a course of 6 shockwave therapy treatments. I’d say I’m about 95% resolved.

I was fortunate to be able to have it privately but you can get it on the NHS, there’s just a pretty long wait.

Waldlaufer shoes have a removable inner in most of their shoes to accommodate an insole. They are not beautiful but they have a lot of styles to choose from. I have had some bargains from eBay with their sample sales...possibly because I'm a size 4.5. I got some strappy sandals that are very adjustable with lots of velcro bits but ...I don't know if anyone uses the expression "nunty"? That's my verdict, anyway.

Me too.
Taping & shockwave really worked. It's worth having a footscan too to see what the cause of the P.F. is. In my case if was an almost completely ruptured ligament.