Dr. Scholl’s Support for Sore Feet

An avid supporter of good (flexible) orthotics for feet, I’ve had the privilege of trying a number of brands since I first enrolled in chiropractic college.

The higher end brands that patients can only receive by getting their feet cast by a doctor are made with high quality materials, and they use a “wet sand,” or air bladder, or thermography-type scan to determine the appropriate cast and orthotic style.

This higher-end technology used by health professionals is now available “over the counter” for the consumer by Dr. Scholl’s.

The Dr. Scholl’s kiosk, available at CVS and Wal-Mart (among other retailers nationally), looks more like a video game experience at an arcade complete with hand rails, touch screen, and a stainless steel plate to scan your bare feet.

Dr. Scholl’s kiosk

The welcome screen guides you through the steps of what to do.  Stand on the platform with both feet.  Then, alternately with each foot.  In order to provide an accurate scan, you must be barefoot.

There’s a sign that indicates the platform is cleaned regularly.  However, placing my bare feet on a platform that’s frequented by others always makes me a little nervous.  After all, there’s textbooks full of the various viruses and fungi that are passed to the feet from public surfaces.

What does “cleaned regularly” mean . . . exactly?  Is that after every person steps on it?  Is it just once a day? Once a week?

A little clarification on that sign would be helpful.  I guarantee that in a doctor’s office when I scan patient’s feet for orthotics, either casting is done in a specific surface for only that patient’s feet.  Or, a high-tech platform is sanitized after every person uses it with bare feet.

I didn’t have the same assurance with the Dr. Scholl’s kiosk.

After taking a few minutes to complete the scan, my final report told me what type of arches I had (high arches–I find this very interesting since I apparently had flat arches before I entered the military). Who says arches can’t be changed?

The Dr. Scholl’s scanner recommended I use the 110 (yellow label) custom orthotics with lots of flexible support designed specifically to assist the pressure points in a high arched foot with four layers of surfaces in each orthotic.

Based on the kiosk options, there are only four product options.

The Dr. Scholl’s orthotics aren’t full foot length, but 3/4 length, so they fit several types of shoes, including those with narrow toes or shallow toe boxes.

Since most of my shoes already have great support already built-in (I’m not a woman you’ll find wearing heels), I only had a couple of pairs of shoes that were completely flat where it was worth it to try them out.

Since I wear my flat Toms shoes almost daily where I’m on my feet for eight to twelve hour days, it was a great start to try the Dr. Scholl’s orthotics in them.

Squishy.

Spongy.

Airy.

Quite comfortable.

When I tried them out in my flat canvas shoes, the thickness of the heel of the orthotics raised my heel so much that my slip-on slouchy canvas shoes wouldn’t stay on.  I had to remove the insoles so I had a deep enough fit in the heel to keep my shoes on.

Yet, it wasn’t a problem keeping my shoes on my feet when wearing them with my Toms.

After four weeks of use, I rather like wearing my Dr. Scholl’s custom 3/4 length orthotics in my Toms.

They don’t absorb any odor, and they’ve kept their shape.  For $49.99, they’re pricer than other over-the-counter orthotics, but they’re significantly cheaper (by $100 or more) than what you’ll be able to get from a doctor’s office.

Of course, you do get what you pay for, and compared to higher end orthotics, the Dr. Scholl’s custom fit orthotics are middle-of-the-road.  Not a bad in-between option.

I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Dr. Scholl’s and received a Custom Fit Orthotics from Dr. Scholl’s to facilitate my review.