<< Shoes are a problem with me also.>>
During the first months of TM I found it difficult to wear shoes based on the
fact I could not feel my feet therefor i could not tell if my shoes were on
or off. During this time I had to be careful as to not step on anything that
could cut or injure my foot. I found a pair of sheep skin lined boots that
served the purpose,(yes only Mrs. Doubtfire had better looking footwear than
I) As time went by the issue of shoes became more critical due to the fact I
had to dress differently for work and had to find shoes to replace my
highheels. As I am sure we all have found vanity falls by the way with TM,
why worry about "do my shoes match my handbag" when you walk, at best like
the a retired linebacker for the Green Bay Packers.
<<I have had to go with shoes withlaces or velcro, or else I just walk out
of the shoes altogether. However, Hush Puppies has a loafer-like shoe that
has worked for me -the tops come up farther on the foot than other loafers.
Mary-Jane
styles also stay on my feet, but the ones I've tried are not comfortable
if I have to do any walking. As a consequence, I rarely wear dresses or
skirts - they just look kind of dumb with the shoes that work......>>
I found that there are two brands of shoes for women that are made with
handicap individuals in mind, Naturalizer (ask the sales person they will
know the specific shoe designed with in their company) and Selby. After
about 6 months my feet started to change and like some of you I found my feet
hurt or even burned deep in the fleshy portions of arch and heel. Many times
I would have a sit down chat with a very helpful nurse in my doctors office
(kinda one of those 'lets keep Beth sane' talks where we worked out the
little things that make you want to jump off of very tall buildings) and she
suggested that I try a special gel insole made by none other than a company
called Gel-Insoles made by PEDIFIX, 1-800-Pedifix. These have been life
savers for my feet, they conform to the shape of your foot (flow under your
heel and arch to the ball of your foot with each step), absorb heel shock
reduce impact to feet knees and spine. THE MOST WONDERFUL PART IS , I
purchased two (2) pair and as I wore one pair I was able to but the other
pair of insoles in the refrig and this made the first few hours very comfy
due to the fact my nerves were inflamed in certain areas of my foot. In the
winter you can warm them by putting them under your heating pad for about 20
min. This was and still remains a problem, but there are solutions and these
were my solution to one area of my new TM life style. >>
I have also found reflexology to be a very helpful stress and pain relief
tool. One thing I do to help my feet when I am at the end of one of those
days is to soak my feet (Ican't stand real hot water). Then towel them off
but after I towel off I take the towel in both hands , holding the ends and
'buff the feet like a terry bland buffer. This brings the blood flow to my
feet and helps remove the knotts placed in them from walking or standing for
any pierod of time. Reflexology can be found on the Net. They(net) will
also give you the areas of the foot for the different areas of the body, the
spine is mathmatically purportionately exact to the arch of your foot.
Kindest regards,
Beth R.
P.S. sorry so sloppy, I was in a hurry, but I had to respond because this
was truly a major problem for me. This response has Enuff spelling mistakes
to make Webster spin in his grave, and as my doctor says,"Exercise is good
for everyone". So I am sure Webster could use the spinning exercise.