MBT Trainers

denled

Hi
Looking for the best deal on these shoes
Den

Bossyboots

I have just been advised to get these. Do they really work? Its a lot of money if they don't. I am currently scouting around for a good deal too so will post back what I find.

ribenagirl

Hi,

I've had some for about a year, think I paid about £100 for them. There is a shop in Kenilworth, Warwickshire called Lizzie Fitness that sells them

http://www.lizziefitness.co.uk/index.asp

and that's where I got mine. They're meant to help improve your posture, however you can still walk like a duck wearing them - you walk 'properly' to start with but very quickly get used to how your balance changes and end up walking as badly as ever! I got them to see if they would help tone me up a bit as I am on my feet around a hospital all day walking from ward to ward but I can't say I've really noticed a lot of difference either posture wise or toned-wise - sorry

Bossyboots

I have been advised to get them because I have arthritis in my big toe which is causing me to walk on the outside of my foot, especially when I am tired. It is hoped that they will take the strain and remove the pain from my outer foot. This is a last ditch attempt before surgery.

ribenagirl

Bossyboots wrote:

I have been advised to get them because I have arthritis in my big toe which is causing me to walk on the outside of my foot, especially when I am tired. It is hoped that they will take the strain and remove the pain from my outer foot. This is a last ditch attempt before surgery.

Oh dear, that sounds really painful TBH I am not sure if the MBT's would make it much better. The reason I say that is because, you sort of end up wallking with a rolling action from back to front and the last bit of weight before you bring your foot up ends up going on your toes. You can't avoid it because the front of the shoe is rounded. So whilst it would probably help you with the outside of the foot thing, it might make your toe a bit sore. Best thing to do is try it, if you look on the MBT website, https://www.mbt-uk.com, you can enter your postcode and find a retailer near you who stocks them, even if you then go on to buy them online or whatever. It might be worth just going along to try a pair first as once you've walked up and down the shop a few times you'll soon know whether or not you're going to be comfortable in them. Hope they do work for you though, it's pretty nasty when it hurts to walk

Bossyboots

Thanks.

It turns out that MIL's osteopath is a registered MBT trainer and I have been to see him tonight. He said that my foot is actually rolling inward, thus putting extra pressure on the toe. He said because of that my walking gait is not very good (he wasn't that mild!). I then try to over compensate by walking on the outer. (I got more info from him in one visit than I have my ortho doc in a year).

In the end, because the decision is surgery or shoe, I decided to go with the shoe. If I don't try it, I won't know and my surgeon won't help me if I don't take his advice so although an expensive gamble, its one I feel I have to take.

He has given me instructions on what to do and he wants me to go back so he can check how I am getting on. As the training is included in the price, they actually don't work out so bad price wise as he spent a lot of time with me tonight letting me walk, checking what I was doing and advising me. Also, he is local so thats an added bonus.