Monday 21 January 2013

Heartbreak: Shoes and RA

The whole truth is that I have given up on cool sexy shoes and now concentrate on comfort and being able to walk in a way that looks normal.  It has taken a long time for me to become so philosophic about this issue.  It often felt like the main limiting factor in my professional life was my footwear.  I used to cringe at my overall "look" in a full length mirror, even though I don't think most people look at your feet when you are talking business in a room full of colleagues.  But we all know the people with "good" shoes check yours out. It's a ranking system for them.


                                          Greg Blackstock Shoes

How many of the shoes above can you still wear? Are you trapped with ugly shoes?

I almost walked right out of the store years ago when a salesperson suggested I get shoes like this (really I almost cried):
They were unthinkable as a shoe choice!! I got some cool lace up blue leather boots instead.

Imagine these on your feet: 



Of course these shoes would take too much money out of our drug and pain rub budget as well as torturing feet, but can you imagine?!  That's all I can do - imagine.  I could wear them in a wheelchair - maybe.

I'm glad to see there are more sensible choices now that do not look so bad these days. 
ComfortShoes

I couldn't wear the shoes above but I bet many people with RA could.
I just stick with my trusty New Balance 926s. 


They have a rollbar that does part of the walking for me and a lot of cushioning built in. 

Wishing for the feet of a baby.




5 comments:

  1. You have been busy lately! I was lucky I suppose that my main career was as a scientist. Most scientists weren't considered to have a sense of style, and even without RA, I could never really tolerate high heels (consider it my tomboy gene). So I walked in comfortable leather flats, or $30 runners from the local chain store, and I did okay. I just look at your collection of shoes and think "ouch". :)

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    1. True, We seldom look at the shoes that scientists wear. What a brilliant profession to go into as far as shoes are concerned.
      Isn't that a cute baby?
      We should all get a nice tie-dye to wear to bed and to cheer us up. Thanks for commenting. One more shoe post to come, then on to other fields

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    2. The only fashion faux pas that you could make with shoes as a scientist was wear socks under sandals. I think that's a universal thing. :) And there were still a lot of scientists who boldly broke that sacred rule!

      I would love that tie dye in a really soft cotton... sans baby, of course. :)

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  2. Those black shoes are cute, where did you find them? I'm pretty sure I can get my orthotics in there. I too find it depressing that my footwear choices are limited to what I can get my orthotics and my foot into. I did recently get a pair of very cute boots that are Easy Spirits and they're very comfy. Thanks for talking about your feet, it's nice to have someone to identify with.

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  3. Here's the url for the black shoes http://www.comfortshoesinfo.com/tag/orthopedic-footwear/
    It's good to share shoe stories. If we get any decent snow here I will take a picture of my boots and share it. I really like them. Usually people at the orthotist say "Oh, Where did you get those?" which cheers me up

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