FootSmart Online Store sells Sneakers, Athletic Shoes, Clogs, Slippers, Boots, Orthotics, Casual Shoes.
Keep walking in comfort with footwear and accessories from FootSmart that help you get the perfect fit and address foot health related issues like heel pain, arch pain, and ball of foot pain. The foot is the body’s foundation, and when feet are unsupported or out of balance, the entire lower body is affected, resulting in ankle pain, knee pain, leg pain, and lower back pain.
FootSmart experts know what types of biomechanical shoes, comfortable shoes, orthopedic shoes, foot health products, and socks can help your foot and lower body health issues. Many of our products are podiatrist reviewed and can help those suffering from plantar fasciitis, bunions, calluses, ingrown toenails, and hammertoes. FootSmart carefully curates all of our brands of comfort footwear including popular brands like ABEO, Easy Spirit, Dansko and Clarks in narrow widths, regular widths, wide widths and hard to find extended shoe sizes.
Don’t live with foot pain, let FootSmart help keep you moving in comfort. If you enjoy walking for exercise, jogging or running, don’t miss our selection of athletic products and accessories.
We’ve got the right foot health products for all your needs with supportive, stabilizing, and motion control shoes, sandals and boots appropriate for your individual foot type.
FootSmart look forward to exceeding your expectations and meeting all of your future comfort footwear needs.
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Worlds Softest Diabetic Wide Fit
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Feetures Elite Max No Show — Medium
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Men’s Propet Lifewalker Strap $84.95
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Men’s Propet Ridge Walker Low $99.95
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Men’s ABEO 3D3 CORE Casual Orthotic – Neutral Mens
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Men’s ABEO 3D3 CORE Casual Orthotic – Neutral Mens
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Men’s ABEO 3D3 Ultra XP Orthotic-Neutral Mens
Men’s ABEO 3D3 Premium Orthotic-Neutral Mens
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Men’s ABEO 3D3 Max Performance Orthotic-Post Mens
Men’s ABEO 3D3 CORE Casual Orthotic – Metatarsal Mens $49.95
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Women’s ABEO 3D3 Max Performance Orthotic 2.0 — Metatarsal
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Women’s ABEO 3D3 Max Performance Orthotic-Metatarsal Womens
Women’s Orthotics Dress
Women’s ABEO 3D3 Dress Orthotic-Post Womens.
Women’s ABEO 3D3 Dress Orthotic-Metatarsal Womens.
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Dress.
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Men’s ABEO 3D3 Premium Orthotic-Neutral Mens.
Men’s ABEO 3D3 CORE Casual Orthotic – Metatarsal Mens.
Men’s ABEO 3D3 Casual Orthotic-Metatarsal Mens.
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Men’s ABEO 3D3 Max Performance Orthotic-Neutral Mens.
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Socks
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Common Ailments
Plantar Fasciitis.
Diabetic Neuropathy.
Heel Spurs.
Bunions.
Plantar Fasciitis (Heel Spur Syndrome)
Could I Have Plantar Fasciitis?
To start finding out, take a closer look at where you feel pain in your foot.
What areas of my foot hurt?
Plantar fasciitis affects these regions of the plantar region of your foot:
A Heel
B Arch & Midfoot
WHAT ARE THE CAUSES AND SYMPTOMS?
Plantar fasciitis gets its name from the plantar fascia—the band of connective tissue that stretches from the heel to the ball of your foot. Over time, too much stress on that connective tissue causes overtightening, tearing, and inflammation. When that connective tissue becomes inflamed, plantar fasciitis sets in. A painful cycle then sets in when your foot, which naturally tightens at night, immediately gains new tears each day with your first steps in the morning.
The experts at FootSmart agree that your plantar fascia can become stressed by…
Poor arch support, which usually is caused by
Shoes with improper arch support
Walking barefoot
Obesity or a sudden weight increase.
Sudden increase in physical activity, such as jogging more.
Short-term, unusual physical activity, such as laying flooring.
Weak foot and ankle muscles.
Tight calf muscles.
Arthritis.
Think You Might Have Plantar Fasciitis?
TAKE THIS SELF-ASSESSMENT
Self- Assessment Quiz
Do I feel heel and/or arch pain:
With the first few steps I take after getting out of bed in the morning?
After sitting for a long period of time?
After standing for a long period of time?
After walking for a long period of time?
When climbing stairs?
When standing on my tip-toes?
If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you show some key symptoms of having plantar fasciitis. TAKE THE NEXT QUICK QUIZ.
Self- Assessment Quiz
Are any of these statements true for you?
I have pain that goes away after walking for 10 to 15 minutes, but gets worse and lasts longer over the course of the day.
My pain can be dull or sharp.
I experience pain in one or both feet.
My pain has worsened with time
If you might have plantar fasciitis, confirm your condition with a foot and ankle specialist (podiatrist). Keep reading for recommendations on treatment and relief from the experts at FootSmart.
How Do I Confirm Whether I Have Plantar Fasciitis?
X-rays will sometimes show a bone spur, which is a small hook-shaped bone growth, on the underside of your heel bone. (That’s why plantar fasciitis is also called heel spur syndrome.)
A foot and ankle specialist (podiatrist) can diagnose plantar fasciitis. The specialist will test for pain by putting direct pressure on the center of the bottom of your heel and along the plantar fascia. If you have had the condition for a long time, side to side squeezing of the heel may be painful.
Won’t the pain from plantar fasciitis go away on its own?
No, the condition often becomes disabling if you don’t treat it properly. Here’s why it gets worse over time. The plantar fascia becomes inflamed each and every time you apply too much stress to it. This stress creates tension around the heel bone. Calcium deposits form on the heel bone, resulting in heel pain. As a result, plantar fasciitis can be very difficult to cure completely unless treated properly and often will get worse. The sooner you treat it, the better.
How Do I Treat And Prevent Plantar Fasciitis?
Successful non-surgical treatments for plantar fasciitis begin and end with arch support. Any or all of the following treatments from FootSmart could help you alleviate and prevent plantar fasciitis:
Wear Shoes with:
Stable arch support
A wide shock absorbing heel base
Cushioning in the front part of the foot
Wear cushioning insoles. One study found that over-the-counter insoles reduce plantar fascia stress by 25-34%. (1)
Use heel cushions and pads.
Wear arch and foot supports (for increased arch support).
Wear ankle braces to add support to the foot.
Stretch the foot to relieve tension on the plantar fascia. You can stretch by hand or by using specific stretching aids. One study found that stretching improved symptoms of plantar fasciitis after eight weeks and at a two-year follow-up.
Wear night splints. Night splints provide a consistent, automatic stretching of the plantar fascia over the course of the night. Using a splint can make those first steps in the morning much less painful.
Use over-the counter or custom shoe inserts. In cases where over-the-counter, flexible insoles do not help relieve pain, podiatrists often recommend rigid, custom inserts (orthotics). Rigid orthotics can realign the foot and provide long-term arch support.
Shoes for Plantar Fasciitis
If those treatments do not sufficiently stop your heel pain, a foot and ankle specialist can administer steroid injections. These injections help your healing process by stopping the inflammatory process.
What If Non-Surgical Treatments Do Not Work?
Unfortunately, in less than 10% of people with plantar fasciitis, nonsurgical treatments do not help with pain and inflammation. If this happens, your foot and ankle specialist may suggest surgical options. Surgical treatment of heel spur syndrome reduces the tension on the plantar fascia by lengthening the tissue.
The surgery:
Cuts the plantar fascia close to its attachment at the heel bone.
Stretches the tissue to create a small gap.
Over time, the gap fills with scar tissue, ultimately lengthening the plantar fascia. The surgery usually does not remove heel spurs, unless they are in a place that directly affects how you walk and stand.
After surgery, recovery time varies from patient to patient.
Most patients need at least 6 weeks to make a full recovery.
Patients will sometimes need casting or splinting, which will lengthen the time it takes until they are back to their normal activities.
(1) Reed Ferber and Brittany Benson, «Changes in multi-segment foot biomechanics with a heat-mouldable semi-custom foot orthotic device,» Journal of Foot and Ankle Research, 2011, 4:18, jfootankleres.com
DIABETIC NEUROPATHY. COULD I HAVE DIABETIC NEUROPATHY?
If you have diabetes and feel numbness or tingling in your feet, that could mean you suffer from what’s called diabetic neuropathy. Keep reading to learn more about the causes and symptoms of diabetic neuropathy from the experts at FootSmart.
WHAT IS DIABETIC NEUROPATHY?
While many people know that diabetes affects blood sugar levels, it may also cause nerve damage in a pattern that first affects the hands and feet. That damage to the nervous system is called diabetic neuropathy, and it can have direct consequences on your feet.
Symptoms of diabetic neuropathy may not appear until many years after your diabetes is diagnosed. High blood sugar levels—also called hyperglycemia—can injure the walls of the blood vessels that nourish your nerves and result in nerve damage. That’s why controlling your blood sugar levels with the right medication, diet, and exercise is essential in helping prevent diabetic neuropathy.
That nerve damage may result in painful tingling or burning sensations in your feet and legs. But even worse is when you experience decreased protective sensation in your feet—a condition called «peripheral neuropathy» where you become unaware of pressure, pain, heat, and cold. For example, if you develop calluses, fissures, and wounds in your feet without noticing them, your risk of foot and leg infections increases.
In addition, motor nerves—the nerves that control your muscles—can be affected as diabetic neuropathy progresses. Combined with the decreased protective sensation, repetitive microtrauma (a series of small, unnoticed injuries) may result in joint damage to your feet and worsen over time. In severe cases, this condition may even lead to foot deformity, which doctors call Charcot neuroarthropathy.
Think You Might Have Diabetic Neuropathy?
TAKE THIS SELF-ASSESSMENT:
Self- Assessment Quiz
Have I experienced electric shock-like sensations in my feet?
Have I had diabetes for many years, but failed to diagnose it?
Have I had diabetes for many years, but did not do a good job at managing my diet, exercising properly, or taking my medication?
Consider taking our diabetic feet self-assessments
If you’ve experienced electric shock-like sensations while answering yes to at least one of the other questions, your condition may have progressed into diabetic neuropathy. Read further to learn ways of treating and preventing diabetic neuropathy from the experts at FootSmart.
Are There Any Serious Concerns With Diabetic Neuropathy?
Diabetic neuropathy can affect more than just your feet. It can also strike your autonomic nervous system—the nerves that control heart rate, digestion and other essential functions—and lead to significant resting tachycardia (a heart rate that is higher than normal when you are at rest), slowing of the digestive system, and erectile dysfunction. Increased blood flow (or hyperemia) is also thought to contribute to foot deformity. This hyperemia leads to an increase in bone resorption (the breaking down of your bones) which can result in bony destruction and high rates of infection that may require amputation.
How Do I Treat And Prevent Diabetic Neuropathy?
Keeping a tight control on blood sugar levels is the first defense against the symptoms of diabetic neuropathy. Follow your doctor’s advice on managing your diabetes through diet, exercise, lifestyle changes, and medication.
If you have diabetic neuropathy, your doctor may prescribe medications including antidepressants, anticonvulsants, or narcotics to help with the symptoms. The results can be unpredictable—some patients find relief and others experience little or no effect. These medications can also produce strong side effects, most commonly involving sedation.
Whether you’ve already developed neuropathy or not, our treatment and prevention recommendations follow most of the same ways that you treat and prevent diabetic feet.
HEEL PAIN & HEEL SPURS. Could I Have Heel Pain? Could It Be Caused By Heel Spurs?
Heel pain, a common foot complaint among athletes and non-athletes alike, may occur for a variety of reasons, including heel spurs. Review the possible causes and symptoms to find out more about the source of your heel pain.
What Are The Causes And Symptoms
Plantar fascia—the band of connective tissue on the bottom of your foot that stretches from the heel to the ball of your foot—supports your foot’s arch. If this tissue becomes inflamed, you’ll generally feel the pain in your heel. Eventually, hook-shaped calcium deposits, also known as bone or heel spurs, may form on your heel bone and cause further pain.
Structural issues with the arch of your foot can lead to this cycle of inflammation, spur growth, and pain. Flat feet, characterized by a collapsed arch, force the plantar fascia and surrounding muscles to absorb the pressure put on your feet by walking and standing. As a result, your feet become inflamed.
The experts at FootSmart and the Running Injury Clinic agree that your heel pain will likely be worse when your foot and calf muscles are tight, such as when you:
First get out of bed in the morning.
Stand after sitting at your desk or in your car for a long time.
Exercise without warming up first.
The shortened muscles pull on the heel spur and plantar fascia, causing immediate, sharp pain when you put pressure on your feet.
Think Your Heel Pain May Be Serious?
TAKE THIS SELF-ASSESSMENT
Self- Assessment Quiz
Do I feel heel pain?
With the first few steps I take after getting out of bed in the morning?
When I resume activity after sitting for a long period of time?
After standing or walking for a long period of time?
At the very beginning of an exercise session?
If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, or if you have ever been diagnosed with flat feet, your heel pain may be caused by heel spurs or an inflamed plantar fascia. Heel spurs can only be seen on an X-ray, so consult with your foot and ankle specialist for a definitive diagnosis. In the meantime, keep reading for recommendations on treatment and prevention of heel pain from the experts at FootSmart and the Running Injury Clinic.
Are There Any Serious Concerns With Heel Pain?
If left untreated, your heel pain will likely grow worse over time. It can even become disabling, preventing you from enjoying your normal activities. For instance, if your job requires you to stand up for long periods of time, your persistent heel pain should remind you to seek treatment as soon as possible to put you on the road to recovery.
How Do I Treat And Prevent Heel Pain?
Your heel pain won’t go away on its own. In fact, it may get worse over time if left untreated. You have many options for treating and even preventing heel pain caused by heel spurs or an inflamed plantar fascia.
Start your pain treatment and prevention with these conservative methods:
Rest your feet as much as possible for a few days. Try to refrain from activities, like running and prolonged standing or walking, that tend to aggravate your pain.
Ice your heels to reduce inflammation and pain.
Give your feet extra support with supportive shoes, over-the-counter orthotics, heel pads or cushions, or arch supports that help relieve pressure on your plantar fascia and heel.
Stretch your calf muscles to reduce the muscle tightness that inflames your plantar fascia. Keep your calf muscles and plantar fascia stretched out overnight by using a night splint.
If you’re still feeling pain, try this next level of treatment and prevention:
Order custom orthotics through your podiatrist. These rigid shoe inserts realign your foot and provide stable arch support to relieve inflammation and pain.
Ask your podiatrist about steroid injections that can temporarily relieve your inflammation and pain.
Strengthen the muscles that help support your arch and plantar fascia.
Although less than 10 percent of heel spur sufferers require the last level of treatment—surgery—ask your podiatrist about this option if none of these at-home treatments have worked for you.
Bunions. Could I Have A Bunion?
To start finding out, take a closer look at where you feel pain in your foot.
WHAT AREAS OF MY FOOT HURT?
A bunion affects these regions of your foot:
A.) Toes
B.) Ball of Foot
WHAT ARE THE CAUSES AND SYMPTOMS? While the word “bunion” sounds rather simple, it’s the name of a quite serious and painful condition. You’ll notice a bunion as a bump jutting out on either the base or side of your big toe joint. This happens when your first toe bone pushes inward too much onto your second toe bone, disrupting the alignment of your first metatarsal bone (which is the bone in your foot that’s attached to your first toe bone). When unaligned, your toe bone separates from your metatarsal bone and creates a bump where the bone juts out.
Think You Might Have A Bunion?
TAKE THIS SELF-ASSESSMENT
Self- Assessment Quiz
First, examine your big toe joint. Do you…
Have a bump on it?
Feel a dull ache with occasional shooting pains (especially after extended periods of activity)?
Feel pain when you move it?
If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, you show some key symptoms of having a bunion.
TAKE THE NEXT QUICK QUIZ.
Think You Might Have A Bunion?
TAKE THIS SELF-ASSESSMENT
Self- Assessment Quiz
In addition to symptoms related to your big toe joint, do any of these other bunion-related symptoms apply to you?
A reddening or inflammation of the bump
Blisters and/or callouses in and around your first and second toes
Pain when walking or wearing restrictive shoes (such as high heels)
Your second toe overlapping your first toe
Ingrown toenails
Sores between your toes
Arthritis in your big toe
If you might have a bunion, confirm your condition with a foot and ankle specialist (podatrist).
Are There Any Serious Concerns With Bunions?
As a progressive deformity, bunions start out small but grow worse over time. Because bunions are painful, you’ll walk differently to compensate. That’s why bunions can also affect the ball of your foot and the area under your big toe. By placing your weight onto these other areas of your foot, you risk additional foot pain, foot health conditions, and even stress fractures as a result of untreated bunions.
How Do I Treat And Prevent Bunions?
Non-surgical treatments won’t correct your bone deformity, but you can alleviate your bunion pain and perhaps put off surgery for a while. The most important non-surgical treatment for a bunion is simple: Wear roomy and comfortable shoes.
Look for shoes that have:
Stretchable, breathable qualities
(like a good slip-on shoe)
Good arch support
A wide toe box
Also consider the following non-surgical bunion treatments:
Padding and toe spacers. Cushioning (such as silicone pads) help alleviate pressure around your toe joints, reduce friction, and protect the tender area around your bunion.
Shields and splints. These treatments help alleviate pressure on your bunion, properly adjust the positioning of your toes, and provide extra room to decrease irritation.
Medication. Pain relievers such as naproxen, ibuprofen, or even a cortisone injection may help with bunion pain and swelling.
Icing and cold therapy. Ice can help reduce bunion-related swelling and alleviate pain.
Modifying your activities. Reduce any heavy exercising, walking, or standing if you normally put pressure on your feet for long periods of time every day.
What If Non-Surgical Treatments Do Not Work?
Since bunion surgery will have a serious effect on your feet for up to 6-12 months, only consider surgical treatment if:
Your bunion pain prevents you from performing your routine daily activities.
Non-surgical treatments have failed to alleviate your bunion pain and swelling.
Bunion surgery may involve:
A simple bone shaving if the bunion is small, with minimal pain.
Cutting the foot bone and then shaving the bump. This kind of bunion surgery is more common, especially for severe bunions that cause you a lot of pain. The surgeon will cut your foot bone, adjust it back to the correct position, and secure it with screws, pins, or wires. Then the surgeon will shave the bump.
Bunion surgery recovery time may take up to 6-12 months, with the most intense recovery time occurring up to 3 months after surgery. You will experience some pain, wear a cast or splint, and undergo physical therapy. Your podiatrist will also likely recommend an ongoing application of the non-surgical therapies listed above to help prevent future bunions.