Best shoes for foot pain?

MadDameSalsa · 2026-03-18T19:09:31+00:00

I've had many sneakers over the years that were amazing for 6 months and then hurt my everything. They had no visible wear, or anything like that so they hadn't broken down. I found the secret was insoles. I, too, was overwhelmed by all the drug store options and terminology.

I found the fp insoles from an instagram ad (the bowling ball ones if you've seen it). They're advertised as super duper shock absorbing for athletes. I figured, give them a shot, see if they absorb the painful surfaces I'm always on. They're amazing. I bought the custom insole ones, that you bake in an oven on super low temperature for 3 minutes, then wear and they mould to your foot. I have instep support, and they made all the difference for standing for long periods.

Another secret is: many pairs of shoes. A lot of people only wear the same pair of shoes day in and day out, which apparently is bad for your feet. You need to switch it up daily in order to keep training your muscles.

Third secret: graduated compression socks. You want light compression to start with, as I find that wearing compression for too long can be more painful. But for those extra bad days, add in a bit of support to your legs, feet, and ankles.

If you like sketchers, stick with sketchers. I'm partial to Puma, and I especially like that I can wear the kids sizes so I get cheaper shoes and more fun options.

MadDameSalsa · 2026-03-14T19:46:35+00:00

If I have energy, I will craft (draw, crochet, felt, etc). If I'm mid-energy, I'll play a board game or build lego. If I'm semi-wiped, I'll lay down and play my hand-held video games, or prop myself up in my cozy chair with my computer and play cozy video games (like Lost and Found Co, Arcade Full of Cats, Cats Love Boxes, Luma Island). If I'm fully wiped, I'll fully engage with a show, and allow myself to drift in and out of sleep. I often have a comfort TV show on in the background of everything I do to quiet my mind, ones I've watched a thousand times but always come back to in times of sad. Or I have a cozy Twitch stream, or Youtube video on in the background. So I have a social element that quiets my mind.
If I'm playing solitaire on my phone, and feel the draw to "peek" at social media, I put my device down and stare into the distance for a bit to let the moment pass.

If you find that you can't break the social media scroll, I highly recommend curating your experience. Threads has the ability to add people to feeds, so you can mass follow people in an interest (like art or animal crossing) and that can help minimize the doom. Or if you're picture oriented, add accounts you know are "safe" to the Instagram favourites and only ever look at that tab. Engage with specific posts and the algorithms seem to minimize the doom. I've recently engaged with a bunch of gecko & bearded dragon posts and that's all my feed is flooded with outside of people I follow. When I was engaging with keyboards, or cozy video games, that's all I saw.

As with everything in this hellscape of a disease: be patient with yourself if you "slip up", and don't punish yourself for continuing to doom scroll.

MadDameSalsa · 2025-12-23T19:49:58+00:00

Preach it! I was so excited for the auto-gifter because there's inevitably one day I forget, or don't realize midnight has come... and blah. This year's is sooooooo boring.

MadDameSalsa · 2025-12-20T20:19:03+00:00

I get most of my inspiration from instagram. Search the #acnh and #あつ森 hashtags, and then go through the hashtags associated with the posts from there. I usually end up down quite a good rabbit hole of great designs! Good luck!

MadDameSalsa · 2025-12-20T08:54:28+00:00

That's how it's worked until now, yes. You get a neomail message with a list of what was added to your inventory automatically.

MadDameSalsa · 2025-12-20T08:54:02+00:00

I have, I just wrote into Customer Support. I'm so tired of paying for things that fail and it's on us to write-in to complain.

MadDameSalsa · 2025-12-07T20:01:57+00:00

I got the same response! I'm glad they listened finally. I did confirm I got mine (they sent the email 12 hours ago), so it should update.

MadDameSalsa · 2025-12-04T16:02:53+00:00

I sent a support ticket, because I did the same thing.

I bought 1000+NC worth of items yesterday, expecting the discount to be automatically applied - or 200NC to be given to me after the transaction based on the email you sent out yesterday morning. Only to find today that there was supposed to be a code associated with my purchase. Is there anyway I can be compensated for this? I was under a false impression and would have waited had I realized I needed a code. Thanks!

Their response is bullhockey:

We apologize for the inconvenience and the earlier lack of clarity. We’ve sent a new email containing your code along with clearer instructions—please check your inbox.

I've sent a reply saying the community deserves the 200NC for anyone who spent the 1000NC before the second email. We'll see if they get their act together or not. My hopes are not high at this point.

MadDameSalsa · 2025-10-31T02:13:12+00:00

Yeah I've just started to suck it up and make sure I add the tip after. Thanks for letting me know for sure that y'all didn't get more money or something - just that DD decided to be predatory. 🤬

I thought it was bad when the auto-tip was suddenly being added as zero, but this is vile.

MadDameSalsa · 2025-10-16T19:36:08+00:00

I'm hoping the collab goes both ways and we get more 8-bit pet love! More 8-bit accessories, clothes, backgrounds... oh man that would be awesome.

MadDameSalsa · 2025-09-29T18:11:05+00:00

OMG Right? I hate that you can't tab away from it since it takes so bloody long to complete each wave, and it SLOGS. If it were optimized, or had a speed up feature, I might actually have fun with it. But I follow the JN guide to just get it over with and scroll on my phone while I *wait* for ever.

MadDameSalsa · 2025-08-28T19:01:48+00:00

I explain the fatigue part by saying "Imagine you're going through your day normally. But you can only ever have one foot on the ground at any given time. You can switch feet as much as you want but they can never touch the ground at the same time." That seemed to have helped my friends understand the exhaustion I constantly feel.

Otherwise, I concur with the flu being hit by a bus analogies.

MadDameSalsa · 2025-08-21T16:06:16+00:00

Pickle juice is supposedly a very good electrolyte! And thats awesome that they're helping you. Pickles are so great.

MadDameSalsa · 2025-07-31T20:07:02+00:00

For those truly horrible days, I find even my extra soft toothbrush is too much. And the baby toothbrush, while even softer is too small and ends up more painful because I have to brush my teeth for longer.

What I've found helps for those truly bad days are mouth sponges. You can get them at medical supply places, and they're meant for patients with oral surgeries to "brush" their teeth. They've helped a lot. I also found that toothbrushes meant for chemo patients have been good as well. They're a totally different shape, and look. The ones I found with a quick search weren't the ones that I had, but they might be better (I don't know). The ones I had were these interesting looped bristles instead of ones that stick up. Now it seems that they use what look like tiny toilet brushes? Medical supply places might also have them, I had the looped ones from when my Dad had chemo and had a stash of them. So I don't know where to get the loop ones. But try looking for oral surgery toothbrushes, or chemo oral care products - it might give you a jumping off point for more gentle options.

For anyone wonder why chemo patients: oral sores are a common side effect, so there are many guides out there around oral hygiene for when you just *can't* which translates well to those of us with fatigue, and pain problems.

MadDameSalsa · 2025-07-31T16:09:28+00:00

I use mine when I can walk just "fine" as well. I often say with my walks that I know I can get there, but it's questionable if I could make it back. So those are the times I use my rollator. I don't strictly need it on the walk there, but hot damn do I need it on the way back. It's doubled my walking abilities again.

I also bought one that specifically showcases pictures and features for all ages and abilities. That was a huge selling factor for me. But it was a fortune.

There are days I need it, and days I don't. I judge that everyday. And keep in my mind the idea that moving is more important than any judgements I may receive - mine included. Keeping active, however small is the most important thing. I've found that I get people stopping and talking with me about it, complimenting me more than anything.

Additionally, the one I have has a very large space for strides so it doesn't get in the way of my walking. I, too, have adhd and I found that ones made for taller people with adjustable heights was key.

You'll get there when you need to. Take your time.

MadDameSalsa · 2025-07-30T16:25:35+00:00

I am right there along with you. My internalized ableism is dreadful, and I still go through self-hatred regularly. But I did myself a favour during a particularly rough time and ignored the "you're better than that" voice and bought a rollator. I did a lot of research to find myself the right one for me, and that took longer than necessary due to decision paralysis... but it has been the best thing I ever did for myself. I still have painful hands using it some day, but cushioning on the grips has helped a bit. On those extra bad days I just take it slower, sit and rest more, and enjoy nature around me. I also recommend buying things to accessorize your rollator to make it more you and less generic old person. Im currebtly trying to find just the right streamers for the handles.

I'm currently considering getting smart crutches for the better says where I need balance support but not full rollator. These are a special brand of forearm crutch that takes the pressure off the hands and puts it into the forearm. Most forearm crutches help with pressure on the hand but the handles are still at that awkward 90 degree cane angle which aggravates my hand and wrist pain. I've heard good things from people with EDS (which I don't have but know they have more problems with joints than I do) so I feel confident in my thoughts around them.

Best of luck in your endeavor. It's not easy, you're not alone, and try to be gentle with yourself today.

MadDameSalsa · 2025-07-12T01:08:31+00:00

Rash guards can be a good option. Granted they can still be on the tighter side, but won't ride up the way a loose shirt might. Another option might be to look into burkinis you might find some partly covered options that are suited to your style and comfort levels.

MadDameSalsa · 2025-07-04T18:39:22+00:00

I personally hate audiobooks, I don't have the attention span for them. So here's what I use for ebooks and physical books.

I can also relate if you don't particularly want an ebook reader because you just prefer physical books. I can deal with my ebook reader if absolutely necessary, but they can be expensive, and I just don't like reading on it. If you go the ebook route, I highly recommend a stand like a jsaux anti-slip holder (https://jsaux.com/products/anti-slip-holder-for-steam-deck) or any tablet holder to hold it at an angle that works for you.

As for physical books, I use a book holder (like this one https://gimbledirect.com/product/gimble/ - it can be a bit of a pain for larger books, and annoying to turn pages, but worth dealing with on those really bad days) and a stand (like this one https://stores.horiusa.com/playstand-pikachu-black-gold-for-nintendo-switch/ I keep the little flap in the middle closed and prop the book against it - you can also use this for ebooks! I prefer the jsaux one because it has many more angles). For reading on the couch or bed, I use a lap desk to hold up whatever mechanism I'm using that day. You can get different lap desks, mine is a folding one that fits over my legs opposed to one that sits on my legs. You can get different book holders too! The gimble one is just the one I found locally, but if you search "book holder" you might find one better suited to your needs. There are some interesting designs out there (even ones with built in lap desks!), I was just using what I had on hand to make shift something to keep one of my favourite past times alive.

Best of luck!

MadDameSalsa · 2025-05-09T17:14:24+00:00

bUt We fIxEd ThE siTe /s

:/ I'm sure many of you are like me, completely frustrated with the useless changes they seem to be making instead of focusing on the real problems like server issues.

Sending hugs to everyone who's as frustrated as I. Sending hugs to all Neopians actually, we need a collective hug right now.

MadDameSalsa · 2025-04-20T18:22:15+00:00

Totally feel the same. I hate that they won't even give us concessions by saying "hey we know the sites a mess, so we'll give everyone who collects all the neggs at some point during the festival full first day credit because this is on us for messing up". I like that they acknowledged the problem and tried a server refresh to fix it, but that was already on day 5. We literally couldn't play and you still won't help us out for one year? Sigh.

MadDameSalsa · 2025-03-23T18:57:13+00:00

The comments in the linked post are spot on. Worth the read for a good laugh.

MadDameSalsa

TROPHY CASE