Autumn 2019 Podiatrist Recommended Shoes at Dillard's!

Autumn 2019

Podiatrist Recommended Shoes at Dillard's.

Did you see me cruising through Dillard's yesterday? I was the woman walking around checking all the shoes and even taking pictures of some of the shoes on my cell phone. Actually, I am quite surprised that they don't kick me out of there on the off chance I am was an industrial spy! 

Here are some recommendations from my latest trip to Dillard's at Fashion Square in Scottsdale where a lovely salesperson names Charles helped me. 

Gentle Souls

Kenneth Cole
Noa Leather Flats

This shoe might not look like it, but the sole is very rigid and, therefore, much more supportive. The most important thing about a shoe is that it must have a thick, rigid and non-flexible sole because less motion means less pain, less inflammation and less "wear and tear" of the joints. The shoe is not perfect as it has no arch support and the toe box is a bit too tapered for my taste, but this may be a good choice for some patients. 

Jambu
Naomi Wedge Sandal

Going into Autumn, this may only be a good choice for those of us in Arizona and the warmer climates who don't have to worry about rain, slush and snow. I really liked this Jambu because it has the thick, rigid and non-flexible sole which is what makes a shoe more comfortable and protective of foot structures such as joints, ligaments and tendons. 

Dr. Marten's
Farrah Chunky Glitter Boots

The Dr. Marten's boot is a great choice for students heading back to school. They are uber-comfortable, sturdy and even sort of cool. I love that Dr. Marten's are coming out in creative colors and even with some bling. I also love that this is a boot that will accommodate a functional or dress orthotic for better arch support. 

Kork-Ease
Shirome

Obviously, the Kork-Ease Shirome will not be for everyone, but if you know that you can wear a heel of the height comfortably, then this may be a good choice for a dress boot.

Michael Kors
Cosmo Leopard Print

I purchased this shoe and love it! I can wear my dress heat-molded insert with it for better arch support and I find it is very comfortable. I was pleasantly surprised to see that Dillard's has many different designers who have their own versions of what I call these "blinged-out sneakers." 

Antonio Melani

I love that the sole of this dress shoe is so rigid (and therefore supportive and protective). The only issue I have with these shoes is that the toe box is tapered and a bit narrow, but this may be a good choice for someone with a narrow foot. 

Uggs
Fluff Yeah Neon Slides

I love that these Uggs come in so many bright and cheerful colors. The thick, rigid and non-flexible sole makes them a very supportive and comfortable choice for bedroom slipper. 

Cole Han

American Classic

This is an excellent choice for a men's dress shoe as they have a rigid and non-flexible sole and they can also accommodate a men's dress orthotic for better arch support. 

Dansko 
Paisley Suede Waterproof Sneakers

I think that this is a great looking shoe and it has an excellent and supportive sole with a wide toe box. It will accommodate a custom-molded orthotic for better arch support. 

Alegria
Paloma

The Alegria Paloma is an oldie but a goodie! It has a supportive sole and wide toe box and will accommodate a thinner dress orthotic. They also come in creative colors and designs.

Antonio Melani
Airla Casual Slip-On

This is another example of one of the fancier "sneakers" that are coming out this Autumn. I love the thick, rigid and non-flexible sole which is what makes the shoe so comfortable. This may not be the best choice for anyone with a high instep or a "bump" on the top of the middle of their arch as the strap will cause too much pressure which will be uncomfortable. 

Birkenstock 
Buckley
(for bedroom slippers)

If the Rx Crocs don't work for you as a bedroom slipper, this Birk Buckley is another great option for a slipper to wear around the house. 

Gianna Bini
Troye Rainbow Rhinestone Embellished 
Chunky Lace-Up Sneakers

What's not to love about this shoe? It's funky, chunky and cool and more importantly - it's comfortable!

Patricia Nash
Milano Leather Wedge Sneakers

This is another great option for someone who is looking for a slightly dressed-up look for their sneakers. It will also accommodate a dress or functional orthotic. 

These are just a few of the great choices I found at Dillard's at Fashion Square in Scottsdale this past weekend. I hope you have good luck finding a shoe that is suits your aesthetic taste AND feels great!

Thank you for reading the blog!

Dr. Cathleen A. McCarthy

:)

For more information, check my other articles:

My Feet Hurt! Top 10 things to do today to alleviate foot pain:

http://podiatryshoereview.blogspot.com/2012/05/my-feet-hurt-top-ten-things-relieve.html

Shoe recommendations for patients recovering from Lisfranc's joint injuries. 

http://podiatryshoereview.blogspot.com/2012/04/podiatrist-shoe-recommendations-for.html

Eileen Fisher Chelsea Boot - Podiatrist Approved for Certain Foot Types.

Eileen Fisher Chelsea Boot

A Great Choice For Style & All Day Comfort.

Eileen Fisher is a very smart lady when it comes to designing comfortable and stylish shoes! What makes her shoes so exceptional are that they usually meet the four criteria that a shoe must have to be comfortable. 

Her Chelsea boot has a thick, rigid and non-flexible sole, which is absolutely crucial for protecting foot joints. If you are wearing shoes that have a flexible sole, then you are forcing too much motion through joints that may not be able to handle it because of previous injury, mechanical strain or arthritic changes. A shoe sole that is thick, rigid and non-flexible stops motion through foot joints, which decreases inflammation, pain, swelling and arthritic changes. Motion through foot joints promotes foot issues such as bunions, hammertoes, corns, ingrown toenails and can be the cause of everything from stress fractures, metatarsalgia, neuromas, and degenerative joint disease. Flexible-soled shoes can also cause more knee, hip, and lower back strain. It's like building a house - if you want a healthy roof, you better have a good foundation. If you want to have healthy knees, hips and less lower back strain, you need to create a solid, sturdy foundation for your skeletal frame by wearing shoes that have a thick, rigid and non-flexible sole. 

Secondly, your shoes should have a wide toebox. Shoes with tight toe boxes promote hammertoes, bunions, corns, Morton's Neuromas, and can make it impossible to get rid of fungal toenails. In fact, the only way I am able to get rid of fungal nail infections is getting the patient to wear better shoegear. Pressure on the toenails from tight shoes causes microtrauma to the toenail, which allows fungus to enter the toenail and spread the infection to other nails. 

A shoe also must have rearfoot control. If there is no rearfoot control or no strap around the back of the heel, then your tendons, muscles and joints have to work harder to stay in the shoe, which causes mechanical strain, tired leg syndrome and can make you more prone to injuries, particularly in the rearfoot and ankle. Not having rearfoot control can also cause more strain on the knees, hips, and lower back. 

The fourth component, which is arch support, is actually the least important factor. It is more important to have an excellent shoe with a thick, rigid and non-flexible sole, wide toebox, and rearfoot control. Of course, it is optimal to wear excellent arch support, but it is better to have an excellent shoe with no arch support or an excellent shoe with a decent over-the-counter arch support than to be wearing a flexible-soled shoe with custom-molded orthotics. I am probably one of the few Podiatrists who believes this, but in my experience - the sole of the shoe is controlling 100% of the foot joints while the orthotic is only controlling the rearfoot and the midfoot (because the front of the orthotic is only a topcover that is flexible). The forefoot area must be controlled by the sole of the shoe. Custom molded orthotics generally cost $400, so I tell my patients to spend that money on excellent shoes and we can put them in an excellent over-the-counter insert for $50 or a heat-molded insert for dress shoes for $75. In my opinion, the power is in the shoe!

The Eileen Fisher Chelsea Boot is recommended for patients with:

*Mild Bunions

*Mild Hammertoes

*Metatarsalgia

*Mild Morton's Neuroma 

*Hallux Limitus

*Functional Hallux Limitus 

*Hallux Rigidus

*Previous Lisfranc's Joint Injury 

*Plantar Fasciitis (Heel Pain)

*Mild Achilles Tendonitis

*Mild Posterior Tibial Tendonitis (wear with a heat molded or dress orthotic if possible)

*Mild Peroneal Tendonitis 

*Mild Arthritis

*Mild Rheumatoid Arthritis

*Mild to Moderate Over-Pronation (wear with orthotic if possible)

The Eileen Fischer Chelesa Boot is not recommended for patients with:

*Charcot Foot

*History of Foot Ulcerations

*Excessive Swelling

*Severe Bunions

*Severe Hammertoes

*High Insteps

*Bone Spurs on the top of the mid-foot area

If you have any of these conditions, check with your Podiatrist to see if the Chelsea boot is appropriate for you:

*Peripheral Neuropathy (Nerve Damage)

*Diabetes 

*Peripheral Arterial Disease (Poor Circulation)

*Mild Foot Drop

For more information on proper shoes, check out these articles from my blog:

Shoe recommendations for patients recovering from Lisfranc's Injuries. 

http://podiatryshoereview.blogspot.com/2012/04/podiatrist-shoe-recommendations-for.html

My Feet Hurt! Top 10 things to relieve foot pain today.

http://podiatryshoereview.blogspot.com/2012/05/my-feet-hurt-top-ten-things-relieve.html

I hope this was helpful!

Sincerely,

Dr. Cathleen A. McCarthy

:)

Chronic Pain and Your Feet: Article to soon appear in "Arizona Pain Monthly."

One of the most rewarding aspects of being a Podiatrist is being able to help patients who suffer with chronic pain. I always advise chronic pain patients that our goal is to decrease their pain by twenty to eighty percent and that we may never be able to get them permanently pain-free but our goal is to get them to “minimal to mild occasional pain with some flair-ups that, when they occur, they will know exactly what to do.”

Although we offer a wide range of non-surgical treatment options for patients with chronic pain, the first and most basic concept is the easiest but often the hardest to get people to implement. No walking barefoot!

Every time you walk barefoot, you are forcing more wear-and-tear across your joints and you are forcing you muscles, tendons, ligaments as well as your knees, hips and lower back to work harder to stabilize your whole body. What I do recommend for wearing around the house is prescription-strength Croc Clogs with the strap to the back. Crocs are approved by the American Podiatric Medical Association and I advise my patients that if they do nothing else besides stop walking barefoot and wear Rx Croc Clogs around the house, they will have a thirty percent improvement in any knee, hip and lower back pain within three weeks.

Proper shoe-gear is imperative.

There is a simple concept that is completely counter-intuitive to what most people believe to be true about what constitutes a “comfortable” shoe. When is the last time you heard someone go into a shoe store and say, “My foot is killing me – please give me the most rigid sole shoe you have.” Never, right?

What most people say is, “My foot is killing me, what’s your most soft, flexible and cushiony shoe?”

Well, think about it – if you go to the doctor with a broken wrist – they put you in a rigid cast and you instantly get relief because “less motion means less pain.”

When it comes to shoes, what actually feels good is a rigid sole with firm arch support as well as proper forefoot and rearfoot control. Less motion means less pain, less wear-and-tear on the joints and tendons and more biomechanical control of not only the foot but also the knees, hips and lower back.

Of course, there are always exceptions to every rule. For instance, if a patient is ninety years old and doesn’t do a lot of walking, I would place that patient in a supportive but light shoe. Biomechanical control is far more important in active patients.

Have you seen the MBT’s or the new Sketcher Shape-ups? The reason owing to their success (because it’s definitely not their good looks!) is the fact that they have a “rocker-bottom” sole, which provides no motion across the bottom of the foot. The shoe companies when designing this shoe “borrowed” the concept of the rocker-bottom soled shoe from the “below-the-knee-walking boot” that Podiatrist’s use to treat fractures.

On the second visit of any chronic pain patient, I ask them to bring in a bag of their shoes so that we can discuss what is working and what is not working. I find that the first half of my job with any patient is to heal the foot and the second half of the process is, after the foot is healed, that we get the patient into proper shoes, inserts and eliminate any bad habits such as wearing flip-flops or walking barefoot. If I neglect this second part, I am sure to see the patient again and, in the words of Humphrey Bogart, “Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow but someday and someday soon.”

Stretch Walker at Foot Solutions...

Bad news for MBT lover's!! 

MBT was bought out by another company and the things that made the shoe so wonderful are changing. They are trying to appeal to a larger market which means that they may be sacrificing the MBT's stability to aesthetics. 

A new shoe that is as good if not better than the old MBT is the STRETCH WALKER at FOOT SOLUTIONS on the SW corner of Scottsdale Rd and Acoma.

This shoe has a rigid sole which is excellent for a multitude of forefoot and midfoot problems with the added advantage that's it's lighter than the MBT. It has a midfoot stabilizer and stretchable fabric across the wide toebox. All of the patients who have purchased this shoe have all loved it! 

This shoe is excellent for almost any foot type or any foot pathology including diabetic and neuropathy patients. It is not appropriate for patients with severe deformities who require custom-molded shoes. It's also excellent for people who are on their feet a lot such as retail employees, post office employees, teachers or anyone with chronic foot problems. 

Cost: $280

*Remember, if you have chronic foot pain, shoes are an investment. Although this shoe is not for everyone - think about how much you spend in co-pays and medical bills and I bet anything it's more economical and time saving to invest in an excellent pair of shoes than spend all that money and time going to the podiatrist! 

Rating: 8-toes on a scale of zero-toes (arch enemy) to ten-toes (foot friendly).

Have a wonderful day!

Dr. McCarthy