Ever since i've worked in retail everyone said that i'd have problems with my feet and with my legs, but honestly i've rarely had any issues. Occasionally my feet are a little achey if i've had a particularly busy day but otherwise my colleagues have been shocked at my lack of ailments. I've worn the Clarks 'Frothy Soda' shoes for almost my entire John Lewis life which, in retrospect, where probably not the best shoes for someone who spends at least 50% of their day on their feet, walking on very hard flooring. Anyway, over the last couple of months i've had increasing pain in both of my feet. It started out as a little ache and has grown to be actually quite painful, sometimes making it hard to even walk by the end of the day.
So before anything else, after consulting my mother we decided maybe it best that i invest in some new work shoes with a thicker sole and a bit more support. I settled on the Clarks 'Griffin Mia' which is perfect as i actually can't wear shoes without a strap or a T-bar. They're so skinny that they just fall out of regular ballet pumps, so these fit the bill plus i've always had a love for loafer style shoes which often have what i would describe as the fuzz on the front. Not the technical term, but i have no idea what it's actually called. Anyway, these are much more comfortable and definitely give me some more support.
Both my parents actually suffered with Plater Fasciitis, which is a disorder that results in pain in the heel and bottom of the foot caused by Risk factors such as overuse such as from long periods of standing, an increase in exercise, and obesity, in the past couple of years. So my mum suggested that maybe i also try these arch support innersoles in my shoes to see if they helped with the pain, as the majority of my pain was in the arches of my foot. It transpired that it really did help one of my feet but really inflamed the other. I ended up walking with only one in, which i felt a bit weird about as i wasn't sure if it would be injuring something else as i was sort-of lopsided. However, it made walking at work so much easier so i kept it going but made an appointment with a podiatrist too.
About two weeks ago i visited a chiropodist and podiatrist, but i'm not really sure what the difference is, to get some advice and to see what she would say. She looked at everything from my feet to my knees, hips and even my shoulders. She observed that i was definitely out of alignment and that my calf and thigh muscles, including my achilles tendon, where very tight so suggested some stretches to help loosen them up as that will knock on to my foot pain. She also said that one of my feet is definitely flatter than the other, which is probably the main reason i'm experiencing the pain. She asked lots of questions about where i work and what sort of shoes i wear, what floor i walk on, etc and she built up a pretty good picture of what the issues are and how to help.
What she suggested was actually that she order me in some specialist innersoles that she will fit to my feet and that are basically unique to my feet. They're pretty pricey but if they're going to help then i'm all for it. I actually had some regular innersoles in my shoes anyway so she fitted some foam to them to sort of mimic what my new innersoles are going to do and to see how i get on with them so she knows how to create my new ones to target the correct areas. I've been wearing them for a couple of weeks and i'm definitely not having half as many issues and they're very comfortable so, so far, it's looking good. I thought that maybe when i have the new ones fitted i'd come back and update you as it's quite expensive and people might be in the same position as me and want to know if it's all worth it. For now, although my feet aren't 100% they're definitely seriously improved.
K|xo
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