Podiatry Approved Excellent Men's Dress Shoe - Alden for J. Crew

Alden Men's Dress Shoes

For J. Crew

The Alden men's dress shoes for J. Crew are expensive, but they are worth every cent! Consider the money you spend on this shoe an investment in your feet. If you are experiencing foot pain or you have a history of foot issues, the money that you will save in medical bills far exceeds what you will spend on the shoe.  

What makes this shoe so exceptional is that it has a true full-length metal shank that allows absolutely no motion through the bottom of the foot, which achieves maximum protection for your foot. I am horrified by how many shoes falsely advertise that they have a full-length metal shank, but the sole is still soft and flexible. 

The full-length metal shank in the Alden men's shoe will prevent motion through any painful joints or foot structures, which allows less wear-and-tear on the joints and soft tissue structures. This translates into more comfort and decreased chance of injury. If you are recovering from a plantar plate injury, a Lisfranc's injury or have functional hallux limitus or rigidus (limited range of motion through the big toe joint), this is an excellent shoe choice for you.  

I do wish this shoe had an extra-depth toebox, which would be more accommodative for patients with severe bunions and hammertoes. This shoe has a slightly tapered toebox, which can cause pressure on any large bunions or painful 'bumps'. I would recommend that you try them on at one of your local J. Crew stores to get the proper fit. In Phoenix, three locations are Kierland, Biltmore and Fashion Square. 

For added comfort, add a custom-molded dress orthotic, which your podiatrist can have you casted and fitted for. It's a presription device that is custom-molded to your foot and goes inside your shoes to give you proper arch support, which helps decrease mechanical strain and help with foot, knee, hip and lower back pain. Your podiatrist's office staff can call your health insurance and check your benefits to see if the cost is covered under your insurance plan. 

This shoe is recommended for paients with:

*Hallux Limitus (limited range of motion through the 1st toe joint)

*Hallux Rigidus (no motion through the 1st toe joint)

*Plantar Plate Injuries

*Capsulitis

*Mild Morton's Neuroma

*Mild Hammertoes

*Mild Bunion

*Mild Tailor's Bunion

*Over-pronation

*Osteoarthritis

*Mild Rheumatoid Arthritis

*Plantar Fasciitis (Heel Pain)

*Mild Achilles Tendonitis

*Previous Lisfranc's Injury

*Posterior Tibial Tendonitis

*Peroneal Tendonitis

*Hypermobility and Ligment Laxity (wear a dress orthotic if possible)

*Ankle Instability

*History of 'rolling your ankle out' when walking

*Metatarsalgia

*Healing stress fractures of the Metatarsal bones

*Freiberg's Infarction

This shoe is NOT recommended for patients with:

*Diabetes

*Peripheral Neuropathy

*Peripheral Arterial disease

*Excessive swelling

*Severe Achilles tendonitis

*Charcot Foot

*History of Ulceration or Open Sores

*Anyone with prominent 'bumps' on their feet 

*Severe Bunions or Tailor's Bunions 

For the Budget conscious:

You can purchase a similar men's dress shoe with a leather sole and take the shoe to a shoe repair or cobbler and ask them to put a full-length metal shank across the bottom of the sole to limit motion. 

Another idea is to simply purchase a New Balance 928 in black leather and wear that as your casual dress shoe. If your work restricts your shoe choices, I will be happy to write a prescription stating that it is medically necessary for you to wear them.

Thank you to my friend John Z. for introducing me to this amazing shoe!

I hope this was helpful,

Dr. Cathleen A. McCarthy

:)

Comfortable Men & Women's Casual Shoe...

Comfortable Men & Women's Casual Shoe.

If you have "biomechanically challenged" feet or suffer with chronic foot pain - try a shoe or boot with a hidden steel shank for added protection and comfort! 

If you suffer chronic painful feet, this may be a great option for you! Although it's counter-intuitive, if your feet hurt, one of the best things you can do is buy a shoe with a hidden shank in the sole of the shoe. 

I've had great success with patients who have chronic biomechanically challenged feet by getting them into shoes with a shank. The shank will prevent motion across the bottom of the foot which will limit motion across the joints, muscles and tendons which will greatly decreased stress, strain and pain. Whenever I have a patient come in wearing a regular outfit with work boots, I immediately know that this person has chronic pain and he or she has found the one shoe that they can wear without pain. 

I had a lovely forty year old woman who presented with eight years of chronically painful feet that completely limited her daily activities. She had seen at least ten other doctors who recommended everything from "just live with the pain" to major reconstructive foot surgery. I advised her to discontinue barefoot walking and flipflops, I recommended she wear Crocs Rx in the house as house slippers and we got her into a steel shanked hiking boot that came above the ankle. Her second appointment we got her molded for custom-molded inserts to go into her new steel shanked hiking boots that she purchased from REI. I didn't see her for another eight months when she came into the office to hug me and thank me because she had lost forty pounds because she was hiking two hours every day and she was doing everything she wanted to do pain free. She laughingly told me she had just gone to a wedding wearing a fabulous dress and her boots and she didn't care what people thought because she felt great! Needless to say, she made my day and it's that kind of success story that makes me love my profession. By the way, she looked uber-cute in her sundress and boots - she had the sunshine-y attitude that pulled it off to perfection!

A word of caution: this does not work for people who are elderly, have muscle weakness or are easily fatiguable. Also, anyone with nerve damage or drop-foot - the boots or shoes with a shank may be too heavy for your legs and will cause you to tire easily. 

I found a great website:

www.vanderbilts.com

which has a nice selection of men and women's steel shanked boots and shoes. Be careful when ordering to make sure that you haven't inadvertently ordered a boot with a steel toe (unless you want the steel toe) as they will offer the shank options with and without the steel toe feature. 

I've featured several of the shoes with steel shanks  below...

Men's Blackbriar Caterpillar

$78

Men's Ridgemont Caterpillar

$70

Women's Tatum Harley Davidson

$78

These shoes are Recommended (with either custom-molded inserts or a good over-the-counter insert) for Patients with:

*Mild to Severe Hallux Limitus/Rigidus (limited range of motion of the 1st toe joint)

*Mild to Moderate Osteoarthritis

*Mild to Severe Metatarsalgia

*Mild to Moderate Tendonitis (Peroneal and Posterior Tibial Tendonitis)

*The Women's Tatum Shoe is recommended for mild Achille's Tendonitis (the men's shoes may not work as well for Achilles Tendonitis as there is not enough of a heel elevation to release tension on the Achille's tendon. You may be able to correct this by wearing a heel cup on top of your insert)

*Mild to Moderate Plantar Fasciitis (Heel Pain) 

*Mild Morton's Neuroma

*Mild to Moderate Bunions and Hammertoes

*Mild to Severe forefoot joint capsulitis, degenerative joint disease or other disorders of the forefoot (i.e. metatarsal-phalangeal joints).

*Mild to Moderate Ankle Instability (You may need to add an ankle brace or get a steel shanked boot that goes above the ankle). 

*Recently healed fractures or soft tissue injuries of the foot and/or toes

*Patients who are on their feet all day on concrete surfaces

*Pre-Charcot Foot (You should be under a Podiatrist's care and refer to his or her recommendations on this)

*Mild to Severe Hypermobility

*Flat Feet

These shoes are NOT Recommended for Patients with: 

*Diabetes

*Neuropathy (Nerve Damage)

*Drop-foot

*Weak legs or easily fatiguable lower extremities

*Elderly 

*Patients with open sores or Ulcers (Do not pass go and go straight to a Podiatrist asap!)

I highly recommend that if your feet hurt enough for you to consider wearing a shoe with a shank that:

1. Visit your local Podiatrist and get his or her full evaluation and treatment recommendations for your particular foot and ankle condition. 

2. You get either a custom-molded orthotic or an excellent over-the-counter insert to replace the insert that is inside of these shoes. Check with your insurance company or your Podiatrist to see if your health insurance will cover custom-molded inserts - many times they are a covered benefit as the insurance companies know that CMO's can prevent surgery as well as stop or prevent the progression of foot problems such as bunions, hammertoes, plantar fasciitis, ect. Also, your Podiatrist will most likely have a excellent over-the-counter insert in stock in there office. For patients who do not have coverage for CMO's, we carry "Footsteps" which is a wonderful OTC insert that costs $50 as opposed to $400 for a CMO. I always tell patients that if finances are a concern, then please invest their money into a great shoe and purchase the OTC insert. The insert is like icing on the cake but the cake is the shoe. A quality shoe is crucial! People who purchase the CMO thinking that will solve all their problems are mistaken. You can have the best CMO in the world and if you put it in a crappy shoe it will only get you so far. However, if you have a great shoe and you put in a good OTC insert, you are much better off! 

3. If the steel shanked shoe helps but you are still having pain, you may want to add an ankle brace or get the steel shanked boot that comes above the ankle for more biomechanical control. Once again, I recommend seeing your local Podiatrist as we typically have excellent braces in our office and we will verify whether or not you should be in a brace. 

I hope this was helpful!

Have a wonderful day,

Dr Cathleen A. McCarthy 

:)