Don't do what I did.

[showcrop]

I have always thought that I bought good shoes and boots. For many years I wore Red Wings, but then my feet got wider and I couldn't get a good fit. I got Keens but they split at a seam in back so I went with Timberland Pros which seem to be good. The problem was with my walking shoes. After recovery from hip replacement I got into better diet and more exercise and weight loss. I was walking a lot more and wearing a pair of "whatever" sneakers. I never thought that I needed the $100.00 fancy ones, $50.00 should be plenty to spend. I didn't need new ones every year, I can get five years out of them. Well I was wrong. My feet HURT!! I have been to the podiatrist, and have done as he suggested. Through my own research I have found out a lot more. I needed more arch support. Without adequate arch support the balls of my feet were taking a beating. I have now bought two more pairs of walking shoes, and have beefed them up with inserts. The key is that the upper at the heel needs to be stiff at a 90 degree with the sole, and that the sole needs to be stiff from the back to 3/4 of the way to the front. I have purchased four pairs of insoles so that all of my shoes and boots give me this support. The medical community emphasizes the need to rest and heal after the damage is done and corrections have been made. I am now trying to limit the daily time on my feet along with following the other instructions from the doctor and hoping that I will recover. The new shoes and insoles make walking comfortable for the first mile and a half a day, but that is a very small amount compared to what I need to be able to do. Good quality boots are necessary but not enough.

 

[Bruce from Can.]

Very interesting, I never have had foot pain as you
describe. I pretty much just wear rubber boots, work
boots or sandals, and about the cheapest I can find.
Also go barefoot when I can. I hope these insoles
you have relieve your pain while walking. They say
taking walks is one of the best exercise we can do,
and really cost nothing but time

 

[sms]

They used to kid me about
buying/replacing shoes so often. It
seemed they would break down and my heals
would start to hurt. After a bout with
plantar fasciitis I realized what I had
been avoiding for all those years.
I have been using insoles ever since. I
have a high arch and it seems necessary.

 

[Bob Bancroft]

After delays, I'm finally scheduled for my second hip replacement Monday. I'm
wondering if I'll ever walk correctly again! I've had plantar fasciitis also,
which complicates things. I haven't been able to wear "good" work shoes for years.
They have such exaggerated heels any more, I have sympathy for any one wearing
"high heels". What I need is serious arch support- not to be found in any regular
foot wear. I'm afraid I may eventually have to see a podiatrist to get what I
need.

 

[sms]

You are lucky. You get tractor seat time. As a builder I am on my feet all day and often standing at a work table or sawhorses. Doing a lot of commercial work often means concrete floors. After months on concrete I feel it. Of course being a little older then you I'm getting so I feel it all the time.

 

[SVcummins]

No support is not good for the hips and back at all .

 

[SVcummins]

My buddy is an old dairy man and I always tell him I know why youre crippled from wearing those stupid cheap milking boots for the 50 years on concrete you should thank your stars you arent on wheels

 

[CH(upstate,NY)]

My orthopedic doc recommended Rockport for a walking shoe and New Balance for a sneaker. I've always worn Timberline boots.

 

[miangus]

I found putting real arch supports in my Muck boots really helped me. I paid about $30.00 for a pair of good ones.

 

[SVcummins]

I bought some for my slippers helped a lot . I wear Kenetrek cowboy pacs all fall and winter and early spring they ate like wearing a work-boot they have a steel shank no sore feet no sore back . Before this pair I had pair of whites cowboy pacs same thing I wore them 15 years and had them rebuilt once

 

[Mark-Mi]

Buy or use your own shoes that you can pull the insole out of. Go to this link and get a pair of insoles and trim to size using your old insole as a guide. Might take some experimenting to find the pair that best suits you. What a difference it makes having good insoles.
the insole store

 

[showcrop]

Bruce, go TODAY and get some of the rigid insoles. All the doctors recommend STRONGLY against going barefoot or wearing sandals or anything like flip-flops.


Bob, let me emphasize that you can get HARD arch support insoles. I got four pairs of "Easyfeet orthotic sports shoes insoles with hard arch support". I had two sets, and then ordered three more which came Monday, which gives me hard arch support now in three pairs of shoes, and I can now walk pain free for my first mile and a half of the day. I am going to have to get some plush rug runners for the bedroom because until I get the supports under my arches and cushions under the balls of my feet I can barely stand the pain of walking.

 

[JK-NY]

I can sympathize with you. I dealt with plantar fascitis towards the end of my working days. I had to finally see a podiatrist who
had all kinds of foot xray and other special foot testing/measuring devices. I have been trying to wear quality work shoes for 30+
years as I found it was essential to avoiding leg/foot pain. The podiatrist prescribe me a custom set of insoles and I had to wear
a weird boot called a night splint on my foot in the evening till I went to bed, This did relieve the problem. I asked him how was
this possible although my day job was in garages and I was on my feet a lot. I thought the good shoes would be enough but the
doctor pointed out that all shoes are made to size but when it comes to support they are "one size fits all." So if that stops
working for you you need custom support.I found that once I retired from the full time job my foot pain went away, only to bee
replaced by neuropathy foot pain from my ongoing cancer treatments, which is actually much worse and the medicine I have barely
controls it.

 

[Scott 730]

I would be willing to bet that a vast majority of folks are not wearing the proper size footwear. They just buy whatever D width boot that is on the shelf that seems to fit.

I was guilty of that for years, until I started going to a real, old fashioned boot store. They actually measure both feet with a Brannock Device. Remember those, the metal device that measures your feet?? I had been wearing 11D boots for years. The Brannock says I am actually a 13B. Shoes and boots fit much better now.

Get measured by a good shoe store, you may be surprised at what size you should actually be wearing.

 

[Paul Janke]

Another thing which has helped me is to have two pairs for every day use, wearing each pair every other day. Each pair is different than the other so pressure points are different. I have also heard doing this will make two pairs last as long as three pairs of not being rotated through. YMMV. Paul

 

[showcrop]

(quoted from post at 08:21:17 03/04/21) I would be willing to bet that a vast majority of folks are not wearing the proper size footwear. They just buy whatever D width boot that is on the shelf that seems to fit.

I was guilty of that for years, until I started going to a real, old fashioned boot store. They actually measure both feet with a Brannock Device. Remember those, the metal device that measures your feet?? I had been wearing 11D boots for years. The Brannock says I am actually a 13B. Shoes and boots fit much better now.

Get measured by a good shoe store, you may be surprised at what size you should actually be wearing.

Scott, you are so right!! maybe ten years ago I found that my feet had grown from 9 to 11 and had gotten wider too. They will just naturally spread with age, and at some stores you have to ask them to measure you.

 

[Stephen Newell]

I've gone back and forth on that. I wear cheap shoes and then my feet hurt so then I bought better ones and my feet starting hurting again. What I have to do is not buy the same make and model shoe each time. As long as I change brands each time it doesn't matter if
the shoes are cheap or not.

 

[paul]

My feet hated Red Wing shoes. Just not comfortable.

What worked best for me was the cheap Kmart brand, Texas Steer I think it was called? $29 a pair back when Kmart was a thing.

Now Im not recommending cheap shoes to others!

Im just saying my feet are odd enough, that the cheap shoes happened to be right for them, while the good spendy stuff didnt do anything for me.

Paul

 

[Bret4207]

(quoted from post at 12:21:17 03/04/21) I would be willing to bet that a vast majority of folks are not wearing the proper size footwear. They just buy whatever D width boot that is on the shelf that seems to fit.

I was guilty of that for years, until I started going to a real, old fashioned boot store. They actually measure both feet with a Brannock Device. Remember those, the metal device that measures your feet?? I had been wearing 11D boots for years. The Brannock says I am actually a 13B. Shoes and boots fit much better now.

Get measured by a good shoe store, you may be surprised at what size you should actually be wearing.

Funny you mention that. I always wore a 9 1/2 or 10, even in the USMC. I don't like to spend money (I'm CHEAP ok?!!!) and bought boots and sneakers where I could. Finally found I was wearing size 12 and 13 Wally World stuff. Happened across one of those foot measuring things one day in a hardware store and found out one foot is over a 10 1/2 and the other just over an 11!!!! My feet grew over the past 45 years! Who would have thought that would happen

 

[Two Dogs]

I had a pair of those $29 Texas Steer shoes many years ago. They were comfortable and I liked the padded collar. Wish I could find some more TDF

 

[larry zielkowski]

(quoted from post at 12:41:52 03/04/21) I have always thought that I bought good shoes and boots. For many years I wore Red Wings, but then my feet got wider and I couldn't get a good fit. I got Keens but they split at a seam in back so I went with Timberland Pros which seem to be good. The problem was with my walking shoes. After recovery from hip replacement I got into better diet and more exercise and weight loss. I was walking a lot more and wearing a pair of "whatever" sneakers. I never thought that I needed the $100.00 fancy ones, $50.00 should be plenty to spend. I didn't need new ones every year, I can get five years out of them. Well I was wrong. My feet HURT!! I have been to the podiatrist, and have done as he suggested. Through my own research I have found out a lot more. I needed more arch support. Without adequate arch support the balls of my feet were taking a beating. I have now bought two more pairs of walking shoes, and have beefed them up with inserts. The key is that the upper at the heel needs to be stiff at a 90 degree with the sole, and that the sole needs to be stiff from the back to 3/4 of the way to the front. I have purchased four pairs of insoles so that all of my shoes and boots give me this support. The medical community emphasizes the need to rest and heal after the damage is done and corrections have been made. I am now trying to limit the daily time on my feet along with following the other instructions from the doctor and hoping that I will recover. The new shoes and insoles make walking comfortable for the first mile and a half a day, but that is a very small amount compared to what I need to be able to do. Good quality boots are necessary but not enough.

red wings do it for me

 

[showcrop]

(quoted from post at 13:44:09 03/04/21) My feet hated Red Wing shoes. Just not comfortable.

What worked best for me was the cheap Kmart brand, Texas Steer I think it was called? $29 a pair back when Kmart was a thing.

Now Im not recommending cheap shoes to others!

Im just saying my feet are odd enough, that the cheap shoes happened to be right for them, while the good spendy stuff didnt do anything for me.

Paul

Yes Paul, exactly how it always was with me........................................................ until one day I was in a lot of pain.

 

[Billy NY]

The memory foam in the Timberland Pro line is really good. Good post and topic, I've had plantar fasciitis, no fun at all. Footwear
was the key to it and one really needs to wear shoes that perform. Extra weight is a big factor, compounds problems.

I was sure glad to heal that PF, that is truly some evil $#@

 

[bc]

Good point Billy. I like the memory foam for comfortable padding. Too bad a lot of them are going to these gel type soles that I don't think are as good.

I've never found any boots that don't hurt my feet in the last 40 years when I used to wear these wellingtons. I buy expensive shoes to go with suits but for everyday stuff its the cheapo walfart 10 buck or 20 buck shoes. Spent 150 bux for some Keen's last fall and they ended up hurting my feet as the balls and toes cramp up. My feet have flattened out and any arch supports just make things worse. All these boots have high arches that just make my feet cramp worse. I've found the flat sog style of shoes are more comfortable to walk in all the time but I can't find any new ones that fit right.

 

[Billy NY]

I used to admire some of the high quality types of boots, ie; Logger and or similar, that have replaceable soles, US made and all
the rest. Vibram soles with Klettering pattern, durable and re-buildable so to speak. I don't think you can get the same comfort
like Timberland Pro, and or any shoe/boot that is built with good memory foam. Drawback is you don't get the quality like the
previous, but with care these do last, I keep going back to Timberland products for this reason. Hard to find my size on the shelf,
12W, always have to order. ALso need room in a boot to let the toes spread out a bit or they sweat in between in the winter.

 

[showcrop]

(quoted from post at 21:12:41 03/04/21)
Good point Billy. I like the memory foam for comfortable padding. Too bad a lot of them are going to these gel type soles that I don't think are as good.

I've never found any boots that don't hurt my feet in the last 40 years when I used to wear these wellingtons. I buy expensive shoes to go with suits but for everyday stuff its the cheapo walfart 10 buck or 20 buck shoes. Spent 150 bux for some Keen's last fall and they ended up hurting my feet as the balls and toes cramp up. My feet have flattened out and any arch supports just make things worse. All these boots have high arches that just make my feet cramp worse. I've found the flat sog style of shoes are more comfortable to walk in all the time but I can't find any new ones that fit right.

Wow bc, You are an individual, LOL. You are breaking all the rules!