Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Four-stars 3/28/2015 I spent two years hemming-and-hawing over whether to purchase these, and finally did three weeks ago. I thought I'd pass on my thoughts for other people who, like me, are struggling with whether to spend $65 on these. Even though I've rarely worn high heels, and never spikes, I've had bad feet all my life -- was told by a podiatrist at 25 that I had the feet of a 50 year-old woman. He said the main problem was that my toes are way too long for my feet, so any shoe that fit at the arch jam my toes, and any shoes that allowed enough room for my toes would be too big elsewhere. His solution: surgery to remove one knuckle from the long toes. I said no thanks, and began buying my shoes larger, and developed a few hacks for keeping them on. But, in general, my feet have basically hurt every day of my adult life, and my hammertoes gradually got worse and worse. Probably at a slower pace than they would have, had I continued to wear shoes that fit. About 7 years ago, my lifestyle changed so that I rarely need very dressy shoes, and I began wearing a brand of shoes that reduced a lot of the pain (Ariat boots and clogs - dressy enough for my current work). They aren't particularly wide in the toe box, but they work for me. But my hammertoes continued to get worse. About 2 years ago, I started exploring the "barefoot" shoe craze, and have purchased various Vivobarefoot shoes. I like them -- and I've seen some serious improvement in my toes -- but I am limited in how far I can go in them. I have a 3/4 mile walk to work each day, and I can do that 1.5 miles in addition to ordinary daily activities. But, much more than that, and my feet and hips are sore in the evening. The style of shoes also are limited. But I have liked the awareness that I've developed about how I walk -- and I began using my toes when walking. In old-style shoes, particularly my "stability" running shoes, I basically used my foot as a big slab at the end of my leg. During these experiments/explorations of how I might change my posture while walking/jogging, I found various websites related to Correct Toes. I was dubious about any kind of "orthotic" approach, but an explanation that misaligned toes might cause circulatory issues in the feet did make sense to me. Because a vigorous foot massage -- particularly along the inside of the foot, from heel to big toes -- in the evening would relieve a lot of pain, and I would find my feet less stiff in the mornings. It felt as if what I was doing was getting the blood flowing more normally. After two years of wearing Vivobarefoots about 25% to 50% of the time, my toes (and toe nails) were noticeably better off, and my feet and toes developed strength and flexibility they didn't have before. But I also seemed to reach the point of diminishing returns: my toes still looked hammered (LOL), but I could see my toenails when looking down from above -- a big improvement, from them being curled completely. I figured that this might be as good as it gets, without surgery -- or perhaps with Correct Toes. For 3 months, I tried to justify buying the Correct Toes. In addition to the price, I was just kind of hesitant about the idea of forcibly interfering with the "natural" way my feet were working, now that I wasn't jamming my toes into an unnatural position in normal shoes. An extended bout of plantar pain, which corresponded with my efforts to increase my walking and jogging, finally pushed me over the edge. I was surprised when they arrived -- they are more flexible than I expected. They are also easier to put on and take off than I expected (but it does take a few minutes to get them positioned). I could only wear them for about 30 minutes at first -- my baby toes, in particular, really objected -- they are normally tightly pressed up against the fourth toe! But after a few days, it became easy to wear them for several hours a day around the house. One pair of my Vivobarefoots is wide enough to accommodate them -- their desert boots -- and so I sometimes wear them with shoes. But I don't have any trouble keeping them on, either barefoot or with socks. I haven't worn them with toe socks yet, but it doesn't bother me to have them directly on my feet. I can't quite imagine wearing them all day, or when I'm running, but I think that is partially because the medium-size is slightly to large on me. I might give the smaller size a try -- or try some of the directions on how to trim them -- but I've been hesitant to start cutting them up.... So, with three weeks of use, let me say: I love these, and wish I bought them sooner. What I've noticed is that the plantar pain and stiffness drops by 90% on the days after I've worn these around the house in the evening. I skipped 2 evenings last week, and the pain was back on the 3rd day. I have also noticed that I have a lot more control over each individual toe after I take them off. Rather than pressing down or pulling up only with all four toes (as a group), I can "play the piano" with them, so to speak, rolling from left to right and then right to left, up or down, one toe at a time. And, even after just 3 weeks, I've noticed that when I stand barefoot, that last knuckle of my long toes stretches out nearly flat. I'm sorry for all the detail -- but I found it hard to find many reviews that went into detail about what worked and what didn't with these. Since we all have different issues, I thought I would explain what I was looking for, and how they worked on me, rather than just saying "I like these." I will also update this review as time goes on, and let you know how they hold up (one of the complaints that runs through reviews) and whether the relief is dependent on my using these all the time, or whether my feet actually ever reach the point of being healed, so to speak. In other words, are these a treatment of symptoms, or a treatment of the underlying problem? Either way, I'm happy right now to have a treatment of the symptom of plantar pain! But won't it be great if I can get my toes straightened out, non-surgically?