Your feet are your foundation. What does your foundation look like? Is it collapsing inward like there is a sinkhole in the middle? Are your toes curled up like a sidewalk buckling from the roots below? Would you build your dream home on a foundation like this? Of course you wouldn’t, because if you did, your home would experience wear and tear much earlier than it had to. When your toes are spread, you have a wider foundation to support your whole body.
Your feet are kind of like a bridge in the way that a bridge isn’t supported in the center of the arch (think arch support insole). Like with the bridge, the ends help support the arch. Your feet are beautifully designed, and if you give them a chance to do what they were designed to do, there is no need for expensive orthotics or arch supports.
Did you know that 25 percent of the muscles and bones are from the ankle down, but we don’t utilize them all because they are stuffed in stiff narrow shoes? The feet are dynamic and should be able to mold around stones and the terrain without causing stress on the knees and hips, but since our feet are confined in shoes, they are not able to absorb what is beneath them. Instead, the whole foot moves as one unit and the ankles, knees and hips suffer.
Several years ago I suffered from Morton’s Neuroma. Holy Cow, it was painful! I experienced a shooting pain from the ball of my foot that traveled out my third and fourth toes. The pain was so severe that it dropped me to my knees. It was WAY worse than I imagine childbirth being (just kidding. I just wanted to get you fired up for a second). But it was bad and scared the heck out of me. Morton’s neuroma may occur in response to irritation, injury or pressure. My Doctor prescribed orthotics at $200 a pair and said that I would need to get new orthotics every two years. He also said that orthotics wouldn’t fix the problem; it was more like a crutch that I would have to rely on…forever. That would amount to around $5000 over the next 47 years. (I know exactly when I’m going to die because an app on the internet told me). Surgery and injections were another option. No thanks.
And then I found Correct Toes™ toe spacers (price $65), which in addition to changing my footwear fixed the issue immediately. It has also helped with my balance and “rooting” in my Chi Kung practice. I tried other toe spacers that were made out of plastic, but I couldn’t wear them in shoes, and it was impossible to walk in them. You get the most benefit out of toe spacers if you wear them while walking.
Correct Toes, if used properly, will help correct or prevent:
My Correct Toes™ review:
This is what Northwest Foot and Ankle Clinic has to say about Correct Toes™:
I recommend the Correct Toes with the Fix Your Feet DVD. The Fix Your Feet DVD is a Restorative Exercise™ DVD (from the Restorative Exercise™ Institute)that has gentle prescription exercises for planar fasciitis, bunions, hammer toes, neuromas, neuropathy, runner’s feet repair, and shin splints.
Don’t forget to wear shoes that are:
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I have been trying to decide if these are going to help my foot, I have Katy’s book and it really did help with the plantar fascia pain.Still trying to get my toes working correctly on one foot, my big toe and 4th toe “take over” and the others just kind of sit there. They also have a very slight curve, as in, perhaps I always wore a half size too small! Would these correct toes help that issue?
Hi Lisa, This is one of the things they are designed to correct. It will take time though, it probably took years for your condition to form. Also wearing shoes with a wide toe box is very important. CT were designed to wear while walking, you get the most benefit while weight bearing. It’s not going to work if you wear them once in a while and then stuff your feet in tight shoes all day.
I have switched to barefoot merrell shoes, nice wide toe box. It’s very challenging to find shoes that have no heels and have the wide toe box, any good options you have found? The ones you are wearing in the hip video are cute!
Thanks they are called Jambu barefoot shoes.
Hi,
Are these available internationally (South Africa)?
I have been having a hell of a time finding shoes with a wide enough toe bed for my left foot (bunion and a neuroma). I end up having to get shoes that are 2 sizes bigger than I need. I have even found men’s shoes in 4E to be restrictive feeling. And I always have to remove the insoles that come with them because they take up more precious space. I have recently ordered and return– I kid you not– 9 pairs of shoes from several different manufacturers (New Balance, Aetrex, Uggs) and finally settled on a pair from Aetrex that are barely wide enough at 4E as long as I remove one of the two insoles and use my own Superfeet insole. it’s been a real nightmare.
My question is, since the shoes I’ve settled on (the ugliest dorkiest looking shoes ever designed) pair of shoes with not much room to spare, will adding the Correct Toes spaces going to leave my feet really squished?
I assume they are not returnable if they don’t fit for me. Is that correct? Thanks.
It’s frustrating isn’t it. So many shoes have a narrow toe box. My guess is that since your new shoes are “barely wide enough” now that with the Correct Toes (CT) your feet would feel squished. A good way to tell if your shoes are wide enough, is to take out the insole, place your barefoot on it and then really spread your toes (you might need to use your fingers to spread the toes to their ideal position). If your toes fall over the edge of the insole, your shoes aren’t wide enough. I do offer a 30 day return policy if the CTs don’t work out, but I would advise to either keep searching for a wider shoe, or wear the CTs around the house barefoot or with socks. Here is a shoe list from Dr Ray McClanahan’s website,https://nwfootankle.com/resources/111-Shoe%20List. Have you tried SoftStar shoes, or Campers? Have you tried to use a shoe stretcher to widen or break in shoes?
i have hammer toes and am getting ulcers on the tips of a few of them. i use toe spacers, but the ones i use are too thin. i believe that if i bonded two together, they would be adequate. can you please recommend an adhesive product to do the job properly?
I’m sorry, I don’t know of adhesives to use with toe spacers. If you have the Correct Toes there is a little slit the first and last spacer and you can put a piece of cloth in them to make them bigger.