Arthritic Pain and Birks!
If you have RA, you likely have experienced some pain in your feet. For me, RA foot pain was actually one of the first places that I did indeed feel pain; incredibly stiff and sore, it would be difficult for me to even walk most days.
Thankfully, my medication has helped with that — there's no doubt about it. But one accessibility need that I had not considered was that there would be days when my medicine wouldn't help the best, when I needed something else to get me through heavy pain days.
Why I love Birkenstocks for RA foot pain
One of the major reliefs I found? My Birkenstocks. Angela previously wrote about how much she loves her Birks, and I want to echo those sentiments in providing my experience with them, even when some may argue that they are actually not helpful.
With the way I walk, I need strong support for and along my heels. It's not that I'm flat-footed, but I do hit the pavement with my feet. I also walk very quickly, so I need shoes that form to my feet. Enter Birks: they are large sandals that form to your feet and provide immense comfort. Three important points for me: 1) I live in Florida, so sandals are a must; 2) the soft leather forms to your feet as you wear them (more on that in the next section); and 3) they provide my feet immense comfort and relieve the arthritic pain I feel on my feet.
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View all responsesBreaking in a new pair
Now, for the actual forming aspect: this process can actually take some time. The Birkenstocks website indicates that it can take a long time to break in your sandals for them to feel comfortable. In my personal experience, this is 100 percent true. It took around 2 weeks or so for my Birks to fit my feet. During that time, I had blisters up and down my feet, felt, unfortunately, more pain in my feet, and then had some broken blisters from wearing the Birks, too.
You might be asking yourself: why would you torture your feet like this for a pair of sandals? Well, as soon as those sandals finally fit, they feel like clouds on your feet. You can't imagine the relief of pain and how good it feels. The fit is incredibly important. I will say: I have fairly large feet, so I was in between sizes when using the printout Birks fit-sizer. I went with the larger size because otherwise my toes would hang over the top of the Birks.
My Birks have helped me explore and travel more
Unfortunately, some have argued that Birkenstocks are actually not helpful for rheumatoid arthritis and that they, in fact, can be more harmful. The Arthritis Foundation has a handy guide for picking out shoes they deem best for different forms of arthritis.1
I've read some bloggers also echo this sentiment. To be honest, I don't really care what anyone says or what the science argues; these shoes have helped me explore and travel more, so I will take that in stride — laced up in my Birks.
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