Re: Shoe problems/ socks and padding

[Guest guest]

, yes, I also remember how strangely tight the shoes looked,

with little legs bulging over the tops of the shoes. Because of

this, we were hesitant at first to pull too tightly, and ended up

with Zeke having a blister on his heel. I guess when the shoes are

not tight enough, the areas of the feet that can move or rub tend to

blister. We were told that we should pretty much tighten them as

much as we could, and then watch his feet during the hour that he is

out of the brace. It is ok for the feet to have purple or red marks

when you first take the brace off, but they should go away during the

hour the brace is off. When we tightened the brace enough to stop

any moving in the shoes, Zeke would have red or purple marks, but

they did diminish when we had the shoes off. As we tightened the

shoes more, Zeke seemed more comfortable, even though to us, it

looked like his feet were being squeezed.

> What kind of padding and where did you get it?

I think the pads I used are designed for the inside of the soles of

shoes. They are shaped like the front part of a foot, have a layer

of padding on one side, and sticky adhesive on the other side, to

attach to the inside of a shoe. I think they are used to prevent

your feet from sliding forward into your toes (heeled shoes) or to

fill up space if you have thinner feet. I had some in the house

which were given to me at a shoe store. I think I've also seen

something like it in the shoe care section of drug stores. I like

these because the padding tapers at the edges so that there are no

rough or bumpy edges. I cut these to a shape I thought would work and

attached it to the tongue of the shoe to fill up space. They are

also easy to remove; I did have to use some adhesive remover to get

the gummy stuff off, but I had it on for a couple of months. I used

these at the front of the tongue, because as much as I tightened the

laces there was space where the front of his foot could move

(probably because his foot was small and the leather was stiff).

Good luck, it gets easier!

Caroline

mom to Zeke 14 mos. bcf Dr. Ponseti