Hi Tylar! If it were me I would go back to the Birkenstocks or find an insole to put in the Whitin’s. The Bridge Soles hopefully will feel really good in there. If you are wanting to get another pair of shoes, something like Lems or Altra can be good to swap in your rotation if your feet need a break from the thinner soles. And you can easily use insoles in those shoes too. Best of luck to you!!

First of all, thank you so much for your site! It’s an amazing wealth of information and your shop is so handy too. I recently purchased bridge insoles from there (just waiting for them to arrive).

I have a question for you about transitioning. I’m in my 30s and previously, I wore custom orthotics or custom orthotic Birkenstocks all the time and couldn’t even walk to the bathroom at night without my birks without throbbing pain when I laid back down. These orthotics are for overpronation and metatasalgia in one foot so they have a sort of cutout where that metatarsal head is so it doesn’t have as much pressure on it. I feel like this is a stop-gap approach since the metatarsal heads on either side will take more weight but anyway. I started my journey about 5-6 weeks ago with daily exercises/stretches that you recommend and from Whole Body Barefoot, wearing correct toes whenever I can, and addressing my gait to use my glutes more. I’ve already seen improvement in foot strength, which is great! I’ve got a pair of Whitin shoes as well that I wear as I can. A few days ago, I either went too far or too fast (or both) in those shoes and now I have pain in the ball of the foot on both sides. It’s not too bad when I’m on grassy ground but walking on sidewalks is a no go and I love to walk as part of my daily movement. My question is what would you wear in this situation while it’s painful? Do I go back to birks in the house for a bit while it heals? And how about for walks outside? I still have my supportive runners and orthotics but the narrow toe box and heel lift feels awful now. Would you recommend something like Hey Dudes for the interim? I’ve looked for zero-drop cushion insoles to put in the Whitins but I can’t really find any that are available in Canada – they all have arch support and/or heel lift.

Any suggestions would be so welcome! Thank you in advance 🙂

Hi Clare,

I know you posted this a while ago, but wanted to recommend looking into The Wilbarger (Brushing) Protocol. In my experience, there is some overlap with HSD & sensory processing, & what you are experiencing sounds like sensory overload.
Hope this helps!

Best,
Dana

I have to say that this is a first for me, but if you’re seeing a pattern and know that thicker soles help you feel better then go with it! You might try desensitizing your feet with smaller amounts of texture exposure. For example, wiping your feet on carpet or standing on gravel. You might need to play around with how much exposure you can tolerate so you don’t have negative effects later, but in the long run it could help calm your nervous system response down.

Your blog is so inspiring! I have had a lot of musculoskeletal stuff/HSD. I also have a very sensitive nervous system, which seems to be part of the package. This is kind of weird, but my two pairs of vivos are hard to wear because they seem to prevent me from sleeping. I feel really jittery and overstimulated at night whenever I’ve worn them during the day. I am totally fine with thicker soles like Altras, though.

It sounds so weird, but I’ve tested this out a bunch of times, always with the same result when I walk for more than ~.5 mile (even on mostly grass). Have you ever heard of this happening/do you have any tips?

Thanks so much,

Clare

Yes, that’s one way of doing it. Simply wear whatever you’re used to wearing the rest of time. You can see how it goes without pushing yourself toward the goal of no orthotics ever. It could take a while! Best to let your feet guide you. You want them to change, but you don’t want to overdo it.

I am so glad to hear all that, so amazing you are feeling better after such a long struggle with pain. You’ve made my day!