WTF-Beta

@Steve-Miller said:
You can make the toe any width you like with a pair of inexpensive shoe stretching gadgets from Amazon.

I have a set. I used them on the shoes that I shared a photo of above. They do help, but there’s a limit to how much you can reshape a shoe, a better design would help even more.

I have a pair of shoes that has a toe box that is the perfect size and shape. But the heel is too low and they are mules (so can’t accommodate a heel insert). The shoes in the photo above have a great heel cup and sole, but need a wider toe box.

All I want is the toe box of the first pair of shoes with the heel and sole of the second, in one pair. Sigh.

Then

At present, these are the closest to perfect-for-me shoes that I've found (I add a heel lift) but they need a slightly larger toe box).

Made by Dansko

I have three pair, and right now, the black seems to be sold out, hopefully that doesn't mean they're going to stop making them...

To bring it back to the OP, and the pros and cons of surgery... I feel like this is quite similar to the knee issues. There are tendons involved, and bone, and the traditional surgery, which is open surgery, has so many possibilities for complications, while the newer, minimally invasive surgical option is controversial and has fewer skilled/experienced practitioners...

I don't know if there are longitudinal studies (like 10 years post-op) of this surgery (I have looked before and will do so again) but I wouldn't be surprised if the findings turn out to be similar to the knee surgery findings.

Tendons heal very slowly. But the standard medical guidance is surgery if conservative measures don't show results after 6 months. If tendons heal so slowly, why wouldn't it take longer than 6 months?

Right now, I can walk. If I have the surgery, I won't be able to walk for probably 6 months. So why hurry?

So my current approach is to change the angle of my heel (with footwear and heel lifts) to move the bone and enthesophyte away from the achilles tendon, while also doing specific kinds of PT, and see if I can get better without the surgery. (so as you can guess, this is why footwear is so important to me!)

My last MRI was in May, so I'm going to ask for another MRI in next spring.

@Steve-Miller said:

SK, have you considered seeing a podiatrist? I finally did and he solved a lot of problems in one visit.

I didn't mention much because I didn't want to take over @axtremus 's thread (and the problem that shapes my shoe-needs isn't knees)...

But long story short, I have ongoing problems with my knees and feet and I'm a regular at two podiatrist's offices and an orthopedist's office. And I'm a regular at PT as well.

Some of the problems, I've been able to get under control, like plantar fasciitis, which I no longer have, yay! And I had fracture in my heel bone in 2025 which has healed. But the other problems I have are intractable.

I have a bone deformity in my right heel, close to where the achilles tendon attaches to the heel bone. That has caused chronic achilles tendinopathy (and bursitis all over the area there, but the bursitis is semi under control at the moment). My last MRI showed that there's a 5 mm interstitial tear in my achilles as well, but it's vertical and interstitial, so I'm still ambulatory. The docs say the tear is most likely because I have an enthesophyte in that spot (achilles insertion point), an enthesophyte is a kind of bone spur (that pokes up vertically at the back of the heel, not underfoot) and that bone spur is like a thorn that rubs against the achilles, preventing it from healing and possibly worsening the existing damage.

All three docs have told me that I'm not going to heal without surgery, although one of them sees me walking and says at minimum, I can wait on the surgery as long as I have the mobility that I have right now. The other podiatrist (who's also a foot surgeon) is more pessimistic and sort of pushing me to do the surgery.

But this is open surgery, with a prolonged period of non-weight bearing afterward, possibly 3 months, with full recovery said to take a year.

And I am not convinced that the outcome of this surgery is guaranteed enough to make it worth the risks, and the collateral damage that the prolonged recovery entails.

So yeah, to answer your question, I do see a podiatrist

@Axtremus Sadly, usually men's shoes don't fit me right.

The other thing that happens is I find some shoes that work for me, and they stop making them, or they change something about them so they don't work any more.

That happens a lot actually. Like when the company changes its formula for lotion or shampoo, and suddenly the product that I used to love now smells annoying....

Shinola

@Bernard said:

This is nothing more than cleaning--no polishing, etc.

Elbow grease is the best kind of polish!! It looks great!

I vote for patching rather than replacing btw. (but I know nothing about these things...)

@Daniel said:

"Life was not meant for stasis".

Indeed!!

Or a PT favorite:

Motion is lotion.

And one more, this one from a poster at PT:

If you do not make time for your wellness, You will be forced to make time for your illness.

Back to @axtremus 's OP... I have osteoarthritis in both knees. I do (shallow) squats, a whole set of legs exercises lying down, ride the exercise bike almost every day. Take the stairs up every chance I get.

I have the ongoing problem with my foot/heel/achilles, so I can't walk long distances, I can't run or jump. And, like the findings about knee surgery, I suspect that the surgery that's being recommended for me is something to avoid at all costs. (that's a topic for another post)

But all the things I'm doing for my knees really help.

Not moving is the kiss of death.

@kluurs said:

in the wrong shoes

Trying to find women's shoes that work for me is one of the most frustrating things....

I need a wide toes box, most shoes taper too much.

I need either a good heel rise (but not heels! something like 15mm drop), or else a deep heel cup to accommodate a lift. Most shoes, like walking shoes, running shoes or other exercise shoes, don't have enough heel drop and the heel cup is too narrow. And stack height. I don't need extra cushion underfoot, I don't need a high stack height.

I also need a reasonably stiff sole, not one where you can easily bend the shoe in half.

These shoes do not exist.

Thing

@Mark that was lovely! Really nice playing!

And your piano sounds really nice. I have a Zoom audio recorder (no video), IIRC it’s an H4n and recording quality is always nice.

But unfortunately I never use it. I want to have video along with the audio and it’s just too easy to do everything on the phone — record the audio, edit out the beginnings and ends of the clip, and upload straight to YT from the phone.

Anyway, I hoe you’ll share more recordings, I really enjoy your playing!

@jon-nyc

Behind

@AndyD said:

Tom Lehrer

Who is Tom Lehrer?

@Daniel thanks for the update! I wondered how it went, so I'm glad it went well!

@AndyD said:
I love music. Just saying.

Right there with you!!

I don’t know who Tim Minchin is, but I I loved that song! And her voice, their voices together, just lovely!

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