Shoes for leg splints!?!

Hi all,

Meg (14) has picked up her leg splints today which she really wasn't happy about but we told her that she could have some new shoes to soften the blow.....

She's a size 4 and we understood that she would have to have shoes that would be bigger to accommodate the splints.... after hours of shopping (2 hours in Clarks with some really helpful assistants) she has ended up with a pair of men's trainers, size 9!!!! as they are quite literally the only things that were wide enough to accommodate the splints due to the size of the heel and their width....

Obviously this wasn't the idea of her having new shoes and it's been a difficultly day all round. I've trawled the internet this evening and can't seem to find anything so am reaching out for suggestions.

Does anyone know if there is any alternative to a splint supplied by the NHS that might be lower profile and more suited to 'normal' shoes? We would even consider having her some shoes made I think if it would bring a smile but wouldn't have a clue where to start with that!

Any suggestions or advice gratefully received!

Thanks in advance,

Mike 🙂

[wobblybee]

Hi Mike😊

How frustrating🙄

Have you googled 'shoes suitable to be worn with leg splints'? There are numerous links, hopefully one would be useful 👍xB

[SueMillman Partner Ataxia UK]

Hi Mike

I can definitely see the problem. 14 year olds have a very distinctive attitude to the world, and lots of concerns about how the world sees them. Therefore I understand it's important to see if the shoes can fall into Meg's view of fashionable!

There are many bespoke shoemakers on the internet. Among them, this looks promising specialfootwear.co.uk/ and this one has a number of suppliers listed who may be able to help. onlybespoke.com/bespoke-sho.... I'm afraid any of these options will come at a price!

Sue

[Winstonpj]

I find trainers work best with my daughter's splints because they tend to be wider, especially skater type. My daughter last time wanted black shoes for school and these we're more difficult to find but ballet style pumps worked ok, i had top attach a strap so they stayed on. Its am ongoing problem with splints because they are so wide. Hope good helps

[Hidden]

Thanks everyone, we've been back to the physio and

they are going to try and trim down the splints a bit which may make them a bit smaller?.... thanks for the suggestions, I'll have a look at the websites and it looks

like trainers may be the way forward! 🙂👍

[emmanik]

We had the same problem with insoles. They're so fat that my daughters toes get crushed so they've gone back to see if they can be shaved off. They are rock hard and my daughter is hypersensitive, especially with her legs and feet so I'm not holding out much hope for her being able to use them.

She needs a shoe with an ankle support and if we're needing to go up a size or two and have a different width, it's going to be a nightmare as all the boots are gone at this time of year.

About your splints: we were offered splints by the physio but she decided to refer us back to orthotics because she said orthotics splints were softer, better and more comfortable than those that the physio could provide.

We're waiting to pick them up. They're just for sleeping in. Good luck on the shoe front.

Brands called Superfit and Ricosta tend to be good as they often come up high, have very flexible soles and often the insole comes out giving more space for your own. I find them far better than Clarks.

[Hidden in reply to emmanik]

Thanks Emmanik,

We've gone back to the physio and they've manged to shave a fiar bit off the splints although they're still pretty bulky! We're waiting for some shoes to arrive through the physio now to see if we'll be able to get Meg into those....

At the moment Meg's only wearing the splints around the house because she has no shoes that will go over the top of them so we'll just have to see what they come back with. We've just ordered a new wheelchair for her so the amount of time that she's actually walking in the splints is neglible anway really but just trying to follow the physio's advice, I think she'll just end up sleeping in them but will have to see how that works out.

Thanks for your suggestions, I'll let you know how we get on!

Mike