New Footwear Obsession

4 out of my 5 pairs of Orthaheel flip flops. Love the variety.

Hoozey has a new footwear obsession. At the end of this summer I was experiencing plantar fasciitis. I thought I had bruised my heel but when I shared this with hubby he was like "Nope, that's PF. Exactly what I felt & it's really hard to bruise your heel without remembering what you stepped on to do that." I had been running the neighborhood- hard pavement- more than I've done previously. I am stickler for good running shoes, as I have flat feet, so wondered what else I could do to help with PF. One thing that is recommended is varying heel height. I have always found flats hurt- as did cheap flip flops- so the only flip flops I had were Fit Flops which I loved for many years & collected many pairs. Problem with Fit Flops is that they were basically like wearing my running shoes so one day I randomly posted on Facebook how I was wearing heels around the house while cleaning as my PF helping technique. A friend posted she too had PF & found Orthaheels as a helper for her feet. So I ordered 2 pairs from 6 p.m. (on clearance as it was getting towards the end of the season.) One Salmon pair of "Tide" & one bronzy pair with embellishments. 

At first, I found the Orthaheels a bit odd feeling- there is a lot of arch support so my flat feet took some time getting used to this feature. Soon I grew to love them and recently ordered 3 more pairs (from 6 p.m. again as I find their pricing best-- seriously cannot justify paying full price for flip flops no matter how great they are.) Love the colors and different looks. 

So why do I prefer Orthaheels to Fit Flops? 

Fit Flop arch is much flatter.

Orthaheel very distinct arch support

#1 The more rigid arch support helps keep foot from rolling in- very common for those who have flat feet. You know the look of people wearing cheap flip flops & looking like they are walking on the inner sides of feet rather than soles? I think QVC sells Orthaheels & does a demonstration of a model with lines drawn on shins-- showing how different the alignment ends up being in Orthaheels. 

#2 The footbed is less spongy/foamy compared to Fit Flops- so Orthaheels seem more durable as the footbeds will not collapse as Fit Flops eventually do. Trust me- my original Fit Flops are very flat with no arches left. 

#3 The less spongy footbeds of Orthaheels prevent my turning my ankle like I often did in my Fit Flops. Fit Flops' straps get stretched out & seem to cause me to hit the wrong part of the Fit Flop- in turn causing me to turn my ankle since the footbeds are taller than Orthaheels footbed. 

Grungy footbed even after LOTS of scrubbing.

#4 Orthaheels clean up better. One of my pet peeves with Fit Flops was that the white/light colored footbeds always got so disgusting looking. I routinely scrubbed- we are talking baking soda plus detergent plus nail brush- my Fit Flops but no matter how much I scrubbed the ground in dirt "foot" stains remained. Fit Flops offer dark colored footbeds but I notice these collapse sooner than lighter versions. The Orthaheels have harder footbeds so even with light colors they clean up better. Some even have nice sueded footbeds. 

Most worn pair of Orthaheels I have. Clean up nicely. 

#5 Orthaheels aren't so bulky so they look a little more dressy. The large footbed of Fit Flops detract from the shoe regardless of style you choose in my opinion. Some of the Orthaheels look quite sporty (Tide- salmon/grey) while others can look rather dressy. Orthaheels even makes sandals & heeled versions. Only downside is that their closed shoes are pretty hideous so I don't see myself buying any of those. LOL My 5 pairs of Orthaheels give me quite a wardrobe for my feet whereas I had about a dozen Fit Flops but only real variation was the colors. Already looking for the warmer weather to come back so I can wear my Orthaheels.