One foot in the grave

[venta]

I have hurty feet. Does anyone have any advice ?

I've always had problematic feet. As a child I had very narrow feet, and congenitally deformed toes. The trip to buy 'new school shoes' was never a case of which shoes would I like, but a case of were there any shoes which fit.

This meant I grew up with a healthy respect for feet, and for well-fitting shoes. I genuinely admire people who can totter round in painfully-pinching boots all evening, but I want no part of it. If it ain't comfy, I ain't wearing it. These days I also need orthotics[*] in my shoes, so I mostly wear clumpy boots or trainers.

However, last week I spent an unexpected amount of time (a) on my feet and (b) in smart shoes. My smart shoes are woefully sensible, and don't have significant heels. They do, however, have some heel. My feet were protesting bitterly by the end of the week, having found the resulting angle not at all to their taste.

I then took my feet to Wales, to a little International Folk Festival, and made them dance all weekend. The venue, Tredegar House, has an interesting past - mostly due to its colourful inhabitants. It was the home of Capt. William Morgan, the privateer of rum fame. The 2nd Viscount Tredegar was also quite exciting. Apparently his mother built ornamental birds' nests, before taking a house in London and building a nest large enough for herself to sit in. She then got a local goldsmith to make her a wonderful gold beak, and used to retire to the nest to brood eggs. No wonder her son came out a little odd. His second marriage began with a 3 month honeymoon on board his father's yacht - a boat so large it needed a fantastic number of sailors to crew it. Apparently he and his bride emerged from the yacht no longer on speaking terms, largely due to the, er, friendly relations the Viscount enjoyed with the sailors throughout the honeymoon. Tredegar House was also the location for the shooting of next week's Doctor Who.

Anyway, I made my feet dance. Mostly on concrete. The style of dancing means that I have mostly been standing on the balls of my feet, heels raised - at about the same angle as I would wearing small heels. This morning I have received a strongly worded petition from my feet. If I don't desist, there will be a walk-out.

I've been pottering about barefooted since I stopped dancing yesterday (to the horror of many people, as I walked across gravel paths) and I intend to boycott shoes where possible. However, I've just got no idea what I can do to make my feet happier. The joints where my toes join my foot just feel achey and overused and I have no idea how one tackles this.

[*] custom-shaped rigid insoles, which in my case correct the fact that my kneecaps point inwards. Yes, I'm flat-footed and knock-kneed. How sexy :)

Comments

[valkyriekaren.livejournal.com]

I had the same problem. There was only one shop in Newcastle that sold shoes that fitted my freakishly narrow feet - Amos Atkinson. I don't think it exists now, but I remember vividly having the exact same shoes for four years, the only thing changing being the size and the colour (either blue or burgundy, because Mam didn't think little girls ought to wear black shoes).

Do orthotics correct knock-kneedness? Maybe I should look into getting them, as my knees point inwards too. Though I'm not flatfooted, but ridiculously high-arched.

[venta.livejournal.com]

My school shoes came from a little shop in Darlington called... Amos Atkinson :) It closed either just before or just after I left secondary school, I think. It had a lovely old-fashioned-looking black-lettered fascia, the sort that instantly makes you think that this will be a shop with good service (which it had).

Orthotics correct my knock-kneedness, because it's caused by flat feet (my feet tilt "inwards", which causes my legs to rotate at the hips). I don't know that they correct it in general - it doesn't seem all that likely to me, but then physiology is really not my strong point.

[valkyriekaren.livejournal.com]

The one in Newcastle was exactly the same. I hated it, but really mostly because I had to have these horrible t-bar shoes and I wanted pretty shoes like my friends had.

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

To tell the other side of it, as a kid my feet were so wide they were off the normal scale. This was addressed by buying the widest Clarks had, lacing them loosely and letting my feet bulge out at the sides.

Fortunately they eventually got longer to match the width, and ended up a fairly normal size.

(I don't think a shop with a name like Amos anything would have been as successful in Essex as it seems to have been in the North-East.)

[snow-leopard.livejournal.com]

Does anyone have any advice ?

Chop your feet off?
Oh! You mean HELPFUL advise!??

[venta.livejournal.com]

Dear Ms S Leopard,

Thank you for your kind suggestion. We have reviewed it and decided not to pursue that course of action.

Yours sincerely,

Venta's Feet.

[feanelwa.livejournal.com]

Wearing high heeled shoes makes my toes ache if I haven't done it for a while, they get tired, and after a couple of days it goes away, sometimes helped by a salty footbath.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm sure it will go away eventually, I just want instant results, dammit! I've actually been sitting down most of today, and my feet seem very grateful - if further action is required, though, I'll try the footbath. Thanks.

[shrydar.livejournal.com]

Injured your feet by wearing heels a fair bit then dancing on the balls of your feet? Gee, that sounds familiar. At least I was using a sprung dance floor rather than concrete..

Consensus from my more credible sources of advice was generally along the lines of 'be very nice to your feet for a while, and you'll probably be fine, but it will take well over a month'. Otherwise see a podiatrist. My physio actually advised against going bare feet, as decent shoes with orthotics will soften the impact of walking and also give you arch support.

I've stopped wearing heels except when dancing, and even then they're lower ones, and with a wider toe box so my feet are less squished, and with gel inserts to soften impacts. During the week it's trainers+orthotics. Thick socks wherever possible.

In my case I've also changed my dancing style to being less of a goth stomp and also to put more weight on my heels or my uninjured foot, but it doesn't sound like any of that would be an option with rapper.

[rabbit1080.livejournal.com]

Apparently some goths wear flat shoes.

[ebee.livejournal.com]

If anyone gives you an answer I'm stealing it. Those in shoe gel things are EVIL and dont work and make it hurt more- my best suggestion so far is buy huge numbers of cheap (£5ish) summer shoes, submit to them hurting and rotate type to reduce the nature and location of hurt. If I promise never to let you stand or walk again will you come work for me again? PUUHHHHLEAASE?!