It’s easy to go through life and not think much about an arch support insert. There’s so much more to think about – what’s happening on the weekend and how to prepare for it, what’s the next work project and how is it going to get finished in record time and still be accurate, what the next needs of the children, husband and pets are, and what the weather is and how to dress appropriately. Who really has time for thinking much about feet, footwear and shoes or shoe insoles, let alone an arch support insert?
That’s what I thought until the arch support insert made itself plainly known to me with the worst foot pain I’ve had in years. And I’m a believer in Orthotic arch supports.
It started out as a peaceful day in the midst of busy activities moving my house and office from one location to another five miles down the road. The weather was good and all the people who promised to show up to help the move go slowly did indeed show up.
The first five hours were a lot of work but everything was perfectly fine. And then the foot pain hit, and it hit hard in the area of my foot arch and the little toe. Of course, moving is such a big endeavor and with everything packed and in an unknown location, the idea of stopping to take care of a little (or lot) of foot pain was rationalized away. So I kept moving and naturally, the foot pain kept increasing.
Well I learned the hard way that foot pain especially in the arch of the foot is enough to cut productivity during the day by at least 20%. It’s no wonder why those who have jobs where they’re on their feet all day long prefer industrial orthotics or work orthotics to slip into their boots. And it’s no wonder why their bosses may require Orthotic arch supports to prevent all this.
Not only did my foot pain progress the next day but the part of the shoe rubbing on the little toe was rubbing even harder. I noticed I was walking with a limp and altering my gait. By the next week, I needed chiropractic treatment due to hip pain, back pain and neck pain.
If only I had had an arch support insert available to slip inside my shoe. An arch support insert would have raised my arch (I have flat feet and the previous Orthotic arch supports had worn down) and stopped the foot pain in the middle of the foot. With each step, the collapse of the arch from flat feet was wearing out the muscles of the foot and no doubt damaging the plantar fascia. All I could think about was taking off my shoes and how to get foot relief!
The pain of the shoe rubbing on my small toe was a new pain I had never experienced before. On the second day of moving, I removed the non-working arch support insert and it offered only a little pain relief for the little toe, which was followed by more pain in the arch area. This told me that the Orthotic arch supports were really working and it was all the extra walking that was stressing out my feet. However, if only I had had an extra arch support insert to add to the shoe which would lift the arch and lower the little toe position in the shoe, there could have been relief of all the pain. Even by adding an Orthotic arch support that was ¾ length orthotics would have removed the pain of the little toe that my body was trying to adapt to.
The pain also revealed to me the idea that the shoes I was wearing really weren’t a good fit for my feet. The extra walking from moving showed a weakness in the shoe design to cause the rubbing in the first place.
By the third day of moving, it seemed as if every muscle and tendon in my back was on fire. I went to bed five hours earlier than usual and did not wake up rested.
It took five days for my feet to recover from the pain (lost productivity), three chiropractic appointments ($300), a new pair of shoes ($70), and a new arch support insert ($25) to overcome what had happened. My advice is that if you’re going to be walking a lot – moving, walking at Disneyland, or whatever, take a new arch support insert with you to prevent and avoid the pain I had to put up with. It makes sense financially and otherwise.