Help me keep my feet comfortable when wearing closed shoes full-time

July 10, 2012 7:05 PM

Keeping feet dry and comfortable when having to wear closed shoes full-time.

I am treating plantar fasciitis, and the only shoes I can wear right now are some Orthaheel sneakers. I can't walk barefoot for more than trips across the hall to the bathroom. So I am basically having to wear these sneakers all the time I'm awake. In the heat. With the sweating. I'm starting to see the effects of being damp on my poor feet, and I'd like some advice for steps to take to be more comfortable (no itching! not feeling so damp!) and also to protect my skin from peeling.

I could use advice on the following aspects of this:

1. The best wicking, dry-weave socks to try.

2. Powders or creams that will help if I use them before putting on the socks and shoes.

3. Powders or creams I could use at night when getting my feet ready for bed.

4. Washing/cleaning/drying tips for my feet. Any special soaps that might help?

IMPORTANT: Any suggested product must be fragrance-free for me to be able to use it.

posted by not that girl to health & fitness (12 answers total)

Smartwool socks. They are not cheap, but REI and similar have on sale regularly.
posted by rtha at 7:11 PM on July 10, 2012 [3 favorites]

Can you buy another pair of shoes and alternate days?
posted by Specklet at 7:21 PM on July 10, 2012 [1 favorite]

Seconding smartwool socks.

Gold Bond foot powder is pretty good too. I like their medicated one because it has just a touch of menthol on it, which is supposed to help stop itching but if you don't have itching it just makes your feet feel a little bit cooler. Putting some inside your shoes also may help.
posted by astapasta24 at 7:25 PM on July 10, 2012

You can also go to a store that serves runners and general endurance athletes and ask for their help if wool socks would be too thick. Polypro and similar materials help.

We used gold bond in our socks in the army to help on the 6 and 12-mile ruck marches.
posted by kavasa at 7:45 PM on July 10, 2012

Change your socks. Often. Every few hours.
posted by mollymayhem at 8:21 PM on July 10, 2012 [2 favorites]

Smartwool.
posted by Malla at 8:23 PM on July 10, 2012

I have sweaty feet. Smartwool makes my feet sweatier. Hopefully, this will not happen for you, but my best advice is to echo mollymayhem's comment and suggest changing socks (...and if possible, shoes) as often as practical.

Bring a spare pair of each to work, and change out on your lunch break. Change out again when you get home.
posted by Anoplura at 9:32 PM on July 10, 2012

Clean dry socks are important, but you're really got to get a second pair of shoes to alternate days --- especially since you're wearing your shoes so many hours of the day, they need a chance to dry completely and air out thoroughly between wearings. It'd be even better if you could alternate between THREE pairs of shoes. (Heck, this is recommended practice for ALL shoes.)

I would also suggest you use dry powders like Gold Bond rather than any kind of creams or lotions: after all, the last thing you want to do is add MORE moisture.
posted by easily confused at 2:43 AM on July 11, 2012

I need to keep my feet cool beyond simply wearing open toed shoes or sandals (which I also do). One of the benefits of cooling is keeping them dry. :)

Can you take time during the day to be off of your feet and have them out of the shoes with a fan blowing air on them? I have a small fan at my feet all day and that helps keep them cool and dry (but I'm in an office environment where it's not a pain).
posted by tilde at 7:13 AM on July 11, 2012

Have you tried the Orthaheel flip flops? They really improved my PF and now I have almost no foot pain.
posted by crankylex at 8:39 AM on July 11, 2012

For different reasons, I wear closed shoes always. I have conquered the wet foot challenge, like so:

After washing and thorough drying, put a cream antiperspirant (Mitchum, Arrid) on the soles of your feet. This cuts down on the sweating a lot, for a good 24 hours. I've never found any powder that's nearly as effective as this.

I find that it's a lot dryer, and surprisingly not hotter, to wear 2 pair of socks, with the first being a thin liner of something very wicky, like silk or polypropylene. CoolMax is good. These Bridgedale liners are my favorite, and they last forever. If your feet get damp, it helps a lot to change socks mid-day -- you may be able to get away with just changing the liner socks.

I like to use this Masada Foot Cream at night. The ingredients include peppermint, tea tree oil, and various herbs, so it might not meet your standard of "unscented." I generally avoid any perfumed products, and this doesn't bother me at all -- the scent is light and dissipates quickly.

Make sure the shoes aren't too tight. You need a little bit of air space in there.

And carry an extra sock to stuff in the face of anyone who chirps, "How come you're not wearing sandals?" Like you're not clever enough to think of that without their help, and like you need to be reminded that your footwear is so, uncool.
posted by Corvid at 1:44 PM on July 11, 2012

Thanks, everybody. Some of these suggestions seem obvious but I hadn't thought of them--I definitely need another pair of shoes to alternate with, but it hadn't occurred to me to look at more of the Orthaheel styles (I just happened upon my pair when sneaker shopping). I don't know that, say, their sandals would be supportive enough for walking around but certainly it would be worth trying to see whether I could wear them around the house in the evening.

Will also be experimenting with socks (especially the clever suggestion to change them more than once a day--again, duh, but I don't know how long it would have taken me to think of that myself!), powders, etc.

This has been helpful!
posted by not that girl at 4:36 PM on July 11, 2012