Like a lot of women who love to wear heels I tried everything being marketed promising high heel comfort. Unhappy with what I found - and tiring of the hype and false hope about what was being offered - I invented (and patented) my own high heel inserts. I put them into every pair of high heel shoes I own. My feet no longer hurt EVER and I want the same freedom from high heel pain for every woman who has ever suffered for fashion in high heels! According to research high heels will start to hurt on average after wear of 1 hour, 6 minutes and 48 seconds.
At a consumer show, the National Women's Show in Ottawa in April 2016 my number one question from customers was, "How are the high heel inserts you are selling different from everything else out there?" My response was that there are only two high heel inserts being sold that are 'functional' meaning that they do something to stop foot pain from occurring by stabilizing the foot, rather than just adding cushioning attached in various places in a shoe or on the foot to cushion pain after the fact. My inserts, Killer Heels Comfort, Canada Patent 2015 are one, and the other is a gel 3/4 shoe insole patented several decades ago, and marketed by various companies.
Killer Heels Comfort were designed literally"from the ground up" by me through dozens of iterations of prototypes in a completely new way. The focus is on stabilizing the foot in heels by two separate soft insert pieces that cradle the foot from underneath keeping it at all times in the exact place inside a shoe where the shoe designer intended it to be, even during vigorous activity such as walking and dancing.
Killer Heels Comfort inserts are custom fitted uniquely to every foot. The inserts are in two pieces that can be fitted 360 degrees for a perfect fit that puts the inserts exactly where they are needed to completely stop the foot from sliding forward or sideways. No other insert for high heels has patented this function. Pain is prevented from starting from forward or sideways displacement of the foot, plus more of the wearer's weight is kept on the heel area of the shoe stopping heel gaps and relieving pressure on the ball of the foot. The foot is stabilized in the shoe making walking in heels easy, and allows for a confident natural stride.
The Poron shock absorbing cushion under the ball of the foot is custom fitted to have the centre 'button' of cushion exactly under the middle of the ball of the foot where it does the most good. The design of the inserts maximizes function and minimizes the space that the inserts take inside shoes. They will add no bulk inside correctly fitting shoes and will not make those shoes feel tight. Each tiny insert piece weighs about the same as one dry Tetley Orange Pekoe tea bag,
In my inserts both pieces, the front of heel piece, plus the forefoot piece are custom fitted to every individual foot with the help of a template included with the inserts. A correct fit ensures that the cushioning of each piece is placed in the right spot to optimally stop the foot from sliding forward or sideways. The front of heel piece stops forward/sideways movement of the heel and the forefoot piece stops forward/sideways movement of the ball of the foot. Cushioning of the ball of the foot extension is directly under the middle of the ball of the foot.
The other distinguishing characteristics of Killer Heels Comfort is that they fit entirely under the foot into the two natural hollows in the arch area and under the middle three toes therefore they are invisible and take up 'no room' inside heels. The inserts are made of Poron, a non slippery, and un-crushable soft polyurethane that absorbs the shock of hard surfaces.
How 3/4 gel insoles are supposed to add comfort to high heels.
A 3/4 gel insole that is sold for high heels is supposed to function by redistributing some of the wearer's weight onto the instep of the foot by enlarging the area that the wearer's heel rests on. This function relies on a perfect fit of the insole with regard to the height and shape of the arch of the wearer's foot as well as foot length from heel to ball of foot. This kind of fit is difficult to get if the insole has a standard height and shape of the bump at the arch and is of a standard shape and length and if it does not attach securely to the inside of the shoe. Some small percentage of women by luck have a foot configuration that corresponds exactly or closely to the foot shape and length for whom the insoles were designed, and wear heels that are roomy enough for bulky insoles. These women are able to increase the comfort of their shoes, especially during standing in heels, but when walking about may have problems.
A problem is that the heel area of the foot is raised up by the 3/4 gel insole. This increases instability of the shoe, especially for strappy styles or shoe styles such as slingbacks or mules that are open at the heel end. The raising of the foot upwards and the increase in slope of the inside of the shoe makes the high heel shoe unstable and may lead to injury from a fall off the shoe, or the loss of a shoe during walking even of a closed heel shoe. The effectiveness of 3/4 insoles with built in features such as ball of foot cushioning or a raised bump under the arch of the foot is greatly compromised, or may even be negative if the insoles do not fit the wearer's foot perfectly.