Best shoes for nerve pain

[mom23]

Hello!
I have been popping in and out of carecure for almost 5 years now. My daughter has a L1 injury. She wears the ugly crocs because she says anythig else bugs her feet/toes. She will wear her AFO's with tennis shoes once a week or so for therapy, and that is it, because she hates the feeling of the toe pain. She does take gabapentin for it, and helps some. This mom would like to see her in something more attractive than crocs. When she did her internship, she did wear her tennis shoes, they are a size larger also. She just hates too. She is a stubborn one, as I don't think the pain is out of this world type pain, but annoying none the less.
Does anyone have suggestions for any nice looking shoes for a 21 yr. old?
Thanks!

[smashms]

Honestly from someone who also has nerve pain it is what ever she is comfortable in. I most of the time wear nothing on my feet and other days I can wear my sneakers. She is the one who needs to be comfortable not you remember. Also she may need her meds increased. Hope that helps good luck

[DigeeRN]

I have a similar issue and also use an afo. It is very hard to look remotely stylish, be comfortable and fit a brace. I have found New Balance sneakers to be pretty comfortable. I can actually buy them true to size, just a wider width than usual. Two companied, one called Dr. Comfort http://www.drcomfort.com/ and one called Propet (sold through Zappos, Footsmart, Amazon) make some decent dressier shoes that don't look 'old lady'. These have worked for me as well. Is she is able to wear afo's with crocs though? I couldn't wear them no matter what! Ultimately though, Mom, she is going to have to go with whatever she can tolerate the most. Good luck.

[truly]

I don't have nerve pain but suffer from numbness in the feet and an compromised gait. I've found that Skechers LIV sneakers help a lot since they have somewhat of a rocker bottom...makes it much easier to walk. They come in lace-up versions, Mary Janes and also some 'dressier' styles. It's so much a matter of what works for the individual, though. I'm not a fan of crocs, but if they feel good to her, that may be what she needs. (heck, a lot of uninjured people wear crocs...on purpose!)

I'm pretty much past mourning fancy footwear. If I find something that feels good, that's what I'll go with.

[jody]

Iv heard that new balance has shoes that fit maffo's I havnt tried them. I use dr scholles71/2 wide, and I can wear them the longest. I have the broken glass, burnny pain. dr scholles no longer makes their marry janes. boo.

those are about the only ones that work with my braces, and don't squeeze across the top of my foot. You have to take the insoles out before putting the braces in.

[Sue Pendleton]

I don't use an AFO, did for awhile, but about the only nerve pain I have is the bottom of my feet. After the first two years when I had it everywhere and then it seemed to depend day to day where it would be the next 2 years, it settled in my feet. Amazingly I noticed the few times I quit taking diazapam for spasms almost 2 years ago when we were traveling so much because of my Mom's health within 2 weeks the burning was unbearable again. I keep forgetting that Valium doesn't just keep my spasms under the control I want but also helps my nerve pain. It is a rough drug to take and not accomadate to for many. If I was taking more than my 10mg a day I would have gone to my Dad's doc out here because going cold turkey off many of these drugs, even if you no longer need them or can do without them, can be dangerous.
As for better looking shoes, I head first for Easy Spirit for sneakers, regular wear short boots and regular shoes in a half size larger than pre-SCI and in wides. Our feet tend to swell more since we are always sitting and it can really hurt even with minimal swelling.
Another possibility would be to talk with her doctor about Lidocaine patches if her pain is mainly in her feet. They have to be worn 12 hours on and 12 hours off but if it is just her feet they are much less toxic to her overall system.