Footsies!

Despite continuing foot problems it had never occurred to me that I could - or should for that matter - have regular treatment by a podiatrist. I've had orthotics for many years but apart from that I've been telling myself I'm quite capable of taking care of my own feet. I've been sending Pisces off to have his feet attended to for some time but I hadn't considered it for myself until a recent assessment by my physiotherapist persuaded me I should look into it.

Truth be told I should have realised I did need it. Some of my toes are no longer as they should be - they are getting more and more misshapen, I have painful areas on the soles of both feet and my plantar fasciitis has flared up. Hmmm. You'd think that would have alerted me but no. Still, after a visit with the lovely podiatrist, Paula, I've had a bit of a wake up call and I now have a list of things to do to deal with all these problems. This includes new orthotics - those I have are falling apart and since they are five years old will probably no longer be what I need anyway - and new sandals for every day wear. Turns out wearing thongs - flip flops for those of you in other parts of the world -  every day is not the best for your feet. Again I knew this but I don't like wearing closed in shoes unless I have to and while I'm here at home it seemed simpler and easier to just slip on a pair of thongs. 

Well, I've now had it made clear to me that this has to change. Apparently the reason for much of my discomfort is down to poor foot support - and that's at least in part due to not being able to use orthotics while wearing thongs. Paula tells me there are alternatives - I had no idea there were - and I have a list of specialist shoe shops that I need to visit to see what I can find. As well I need to make an appointment to get my orthotics upgraded. Apparently in five years your feet change a lot - something I should have realised anyway - so it won't be as simple as making adjustments to those I already have.

All this means I've just spent a while going down the internet rabbit hole of looking for sandals for those of us who need sensible but really, really don't want to look as if that's what we're wearing. It turned out not to be as horrible a task as I expected so now I've a list of sandals that actually look good and should do the job and tomorrow I'll be off to see what I can find. I may be a while.