For over 25 years Pedors Shoes has designed and manufactured shoes for problem feet. Our goal is to get our customers back on their feet again with affordable, quality footwear that addresses their specific needs. We’re here to help. Your footwear problems are our challenges.
If you are struggling to find the best shoes for your edema, we are here to help. For some women the swelling might be in just one foot. For others there may be edema in both. Many have different amounts of edema in each foot. There may be other foot issues to contend with as well - like a bunion for example. This guide will help you find footwear that will fit your feet.
The shoe needs to be wide enough, comfortable and easy to put on and take off. Ideally the shoe should also offer some compression to help keep the edema down. The shoe should open wide enough so that you can easily place your foot on the footbed. The shoe should have an insole that provides some cushion and be easily removable to accommodate an insert or an orthotic if necessary. Velcro closures are usually easier to undo and close than laces and are easily adjusted as the edema increases over the course of the day. Bunions, hammertoes, overlapping toes are more prevalant in women than men, so shoes for edema for women should also have a wide deep toe box and have soft accommodating materials that do not constrict or cause blisters for a woman with forefoot deformities.
It’s the width in the shoe that accommodates the edema. Pedors offers a total of six widths from medium all the way out to xxxxxw or 10E width shoes. Usually, for people with edema, they will require at least one width wider than their normal shoe width before the edema came along. For example if you used to wear a women’s size 8 medium before the onset of the edema, then you will need to go to an 8 wide. If the edema is quite severe you may need to go up two widths to an 8 extra wide or 2E width. Similarly if you used to be an 8 wide prior to swelling you will need to go to at least an 8 extra wide (2E) or possibly an 8 double extra wide or (4E) width. For people with lymphedema a triple extra wide XXXW or 6E width is usually the minimum. For extremely severe lymphedema or for people wearing compression wraps inside their shoe only a 10E width will be wide enough.
Of course it is. The mistake people make when trying to buy shoes for edema at a local shoe store is that they go up 2-3 sizes to get more volume in the shoe instead of going wider and if you do that you risk ending up in a shoe that is too long for your foot and it increases the risk of tripping. Unless there is a lot of edema in the toes, the bones in your feet have not grown since the edema came along, so you should order your normal shoe size, certainly no longer than the next size up. Pedors offers shoes from as small as a women’s size 3 in multiple widths, so finding the perfect fit for each foot is not a problem.
The key measurements for fitting for edema is the length of the foot and the girth around the arch of the foot. You will need to take measurements for each foot.
The easiest way to measure the length is to take a tracing of the foot and measure the longest length from the longest toe to the heel. Measure to the nearest 1/8th of an inch.
To measure the girth using a tailor’s tape measure, place the start of the tape on the top of the foot where the swelling is at it’s most and then wrap the tape under the foot and back to the top of the foot where it meets the start of the tape measure. Note the circumference of the foot to the nearest 1/8th of an inch.
• Visit our sizing chart at www.pedors.com/sizing-guide/
• Trace your foot length to determine your shoe size
• Skip the width chart and go straight to the girth chart
• Find your shoe size and track across to match the range for your shoe girth to determine what your width is.
• Repeat for the other foot.
In most instances, a single pair of shoes will work where the edema is approximately comparable. In shoes where there are velcro closures like the Pedors Classic MAX the straps can be easily adjusted dependent on the amount of swelling in each foot.
However, if one foot is markedly different in either length or girth - and this is quite common - or if compression garments are being worn on just one side, ideally if the budget allows, you might want to consider ordering two pairs of shoes to make a “mis-mate custom” pair. Obviously more expensive but considerably less than having a shoemaker make a truely custom pair of shoes that involves taking a mold of each foot and making a custom last to build the shoes.
We'd love to hear from you! Call 800 750 6729 Monday through Friday, 8:30 am - 5:00 pm EST or use email us at support@pedors.com.