Just got back from a walk in the woods overlooking the Strait and was marveling at how good my feet feel since I quit wearing my much-vaunted NeoVita orthotics, which I bought a year ago for big bucks to cure a pesky case of plantar fasciitis. I should have sought out a podiatrist, but I wandered into a NeoVita store in Seattle on the strength of their radio commercials, which seemed to promise instant results.
Oddly, several weeks worth of wearing the orthotics did nothing for the PF. What did help was doing some simple stretching exercises before putting weight on my feet. Within days of my starting the exercises, the PF was much diminished and soon gone. But I kept wearing the orthotics thinking that the PF would surely come back and haunt me if I didn't. And anyway, I had all this money invested!
I gave away all the shoes that didn't work with the orthotics, I bought orthopedicky flats and walking shoes, and resigned myself to never wearing pretty shoes again.
But I was still limping around, experiencing pain on the side of my foot and in my hip, and gradually the idea began to grow that maybe the orthotics were aggravating the situation. The orthotics had never become comfortable; they always felt like I was walking on a golf ball. And long walks had become out of the question because of the pain. I'd figured I was just getting oldish and creakyish.
My sister had also been wearing orthotics (she'd actually gone to a podiatrist) and last weekend at the wedding she told me that she'd quit wearing them, that she thought the orthotics were more of a problem than a help. And her pain was gone.
That was all it took. I removed the orthotics (4 pairs of them!) from the shoes they were in, put back the original insoles, and voila! every day since has been better than the day before.
Suggestion to anyone considering orthotics: Go to a podiatrist, not a store. Find out about exercises for PF; you can google it and find info. If your feet hurt after using orthotics for awhile, the orthotics might be the problem. Shout at the NeoVita commercials on the radio; it will do you good!
21 comments:
Reminds me of what they say about jogging: the real benefit is that it feels so good when you stop.
Agree 100%. Paid over 500 bucks for NeoVita orthotics. Worst purchase I have ever made.
My feet were fine before I bought them, but I thought it might be good to have an arch support.
NeoVita's idea is to force the foot to form around their orthotics. Terrible product. Save your money.
NEOVITA HAS CHANGED MY LIFE!
I know longer experience foot pain. I have tried all types of foot products from custom molded orthotics to Dr. sholls and nothing compares to NEOVITAS CUSTOM FIT ARCH SUPPORTS and personal service. I would of paid thousands for the relief and the life I have now.
I have owned neovita arch supports for 4 years now and they have eliminated my heel pain better than anything I have ever tried. They are so worth the money. If your claim of them not working is true why havent they gone out of business yet. Its common sense if a neovita couldnt satisfy there customers they would have went out of business along time ago.
Ms.K I bought neovitas arch support system for my Plantar Faciitis and had amazing results. I have many friends and family that cant live without them. The break in period was different for all my friends and family, some were able to wear them very quickly and some had to follow there program for a couple months. They provide you with this information during your analysis and give you written instructions. I think you didnt follow there program correctly. Give it a chance you'll be glad you did. I swear by there arch supports and would recommend them to anybody.
I have had neovitas arch support system for 2 years and love them. They helped not only my foot pain but also my back pain. I am going to be taking my grandmother in next to be outfitted with there arch support system. I agree with bethany you probably didnt follow there instructions correctly. These blogs are silly because only the 1 person out of thousands they have probably helped would take the time to right a comment like Ms.K. Its ridiculous. Check out Neovita you'll be glad you did.
Dear Cindy, Julie, and Bethany, thanks for your comments. I am sure NeoVita has been great for a lot of people, but it wasn't for me. That's all I'm saying in this post. I know I did the program correctly and I used them for a full year before deciding they weren't working. I still recommend trying other methods before investing the almost $700 to get NeoVita orthotics.
And, by the way, they are not "custom fitted". They come off a shelf in the back of a store, according to the salesman who fitted me, and are sized much like other clothing is sized. A custom fit would mean that there is a mold taken of your foot and the orthotic is designed to fit that mold. As anonymous says earlier, NeoVita's idea is to force the foot to conform to the orthotic, which hurts.
I'm glad you've had good success. I didn't.
By the way, why have four different people in one day written to defend NeoVita? Did someone ask you to do so?
One thing I notice that you have in common is that you all have the same writing style----misspelled words, run-on sentences, poor punctuation. And none of you apparently read my post closely enough to see that I used the orthotics for a full year before giving up on them. I'm really glad NeoVita works for you. But there are cheaper solutions out there for many people.
Thanks for the info-- I was going out this morning to "Good Feet" which is like neovita. we don't have that one here in AZ. Ms. Kitty-- thanks for pointing out the writing of the other posts. I noticed too the misspellings and grammar (there vs their, etc).
Mrs. K,
Neovitas arch supports are fantastic! I have had Neovita's arch supports for over 3 years now. As a chef, I am on my feet all day long. The arch supports have taken away that sored tired feeling I used to get in my feet.
I have tried everything and nothing works like their arch supports.
Ms K...
I do not agree with your blog... and I think it is sad that thousands of people may not be helped if they log on to google and you are front and center.... I had severe leg pain so much so I had to lift my leg into the car to drive and I am only 35...after the very nice lady at Neovita helped me I feel 100% better. It was well worth the money and I plan to invest in more pairs for all my shoes!! Many thanks...lisette
I must say that I love my job. I get to wake up every morning and make a positive difference in people's lives. I have personally helped over 1000 clients with almost a 98% satisfaction rate. That's right - it is not 100%. About 2 to 3% of the clients who purchase from me (which is right in line with our company statistics of over 65,000 clients) are truly unhappy with our system. I wish it was 100% of our clients who are satisfied and I work hard every day to make it so.
For those 2-3% whose foot rejects the original system that was recommended, the best thing to do is notify a Neovita technician immediately to fix the problem or move on to something else. We don't have a 100% success rate, but we do go above and beyond what anyone else in the entire industry will do.
You still have options.
We have 9 different types of arch supports in 77 different sizes. Often times, moving to something less aggressive works out excellently. If you are so upset that you absolutely will not deal with any of Neovita's arch supports anymore we will gladly exchange the corrective and retainer inserts for a Custom Mold of your foot at NO CHARGE. You can even see a DPM and have prescription modifications written so that you get exactly what the doctor ordered.
If you don't like either of those options, please feel free to return the Summit or Pinnacle arch support for a store credit to use on shoes (and yes you can place special orders if you don't like what we have in stock).
I am truly sorry that it did not work out for you Ms. K. I want you to know that you do have options, and most of all, we do care.
Sincerely,
James Battle - Store Manager
Neovita Tacoma
tacoma@neovita.net
Thank you, Mr. Battle. I will consider your offer and I am grateful for your comment, which will be helpful to many who go looking for information about NeoVita.
NeoVita shoes turned out to be a BIG mistake for me. I was willing to try anything to help with my foot pain. I paid over $500. on my shoes and both my feet ached even more! Of course all sales are final and that should of told me something right there. With the $500. I could of made extra car payments or bought me pretty shoes and a handbag!
Neovita Arch supports are fantastic
Neovita arch supports helped with my foot and back pain. They are worth every dollar. If you stick to their program you will feel the results.
Don't buy NoeVita !! I spent over $600.00 and they did not help. I went to a doctor because my feet and back were still hurting and he told me that Neovita are not custom arch supports, they are off the shelf supports that they charge 3 times as much for and most of the time do not work because they are not fitted for your foot. I had custome made arch supports made for a third of the price and I feel much better.
Don't be fooled, go to a professional and get custom ones.
Rod
Hi Ms Kitty,
I wanted to show my appreciation to Neovita by sharing my personal experience. They helped me with a similar pain you describe in your original post. I was suffer from this agonizing heel pain for what seemed like forever. The best way to describe it is like knives in the bottom of my feet and for some reason it always seemed to be more intense in the morning or after I was sitting for long periods of time. My chiropractor and long time friend thought I had Plantar Fasciitis. Plantar what? I just wanted to know how I could get rid of it. She recommended I visit Neovita, so I did. I ended up going to the store across the street from Alderwood Mall (for those of you new to town that's in Lynnwood). That's where I met a lovely older woman who scanned my feet and proceeded to show me how to wear their arch support system. She seemed to very knowledgeable in her field (I liked that) and after describing my situation she said I was in the right place. I was still skeptical, but considering I was referred by my friend, who coincidentally has almost her entire family wearing them, I didn't really have a choice. I'd tried everything else...custom molded orthotics, over the counter inserts, the list goes on...why not this? I bought the system and haven't turned back. It took some time, but I followed her instructions carefully (this is very important). And thank god I did because my heel pain is gone. I'm now back to going on walks around Green Lake again. Can't believe it! And crazy enough my friend was worse off then me. She also had a bad back. I know...I know I tend to ramble (or so my husband says), but if you're truly experiencing anything like I described go to Neovita!
By the way, they also make custom molded orthotics like I had made with a foot doctor (I do not recommend by the way!) that they can switch you into at no additional charge if for some reason their system does not work for you, but please if you have any problems make sure you follow their program properly before giving up. Ms Kitty, I truly believe this is why you had a bad experience.
One final thing I'd like to mention. For those that keep complaining of the price you're not getting the entire picture. First of all I spent more money on my custom molded orthotic that did not work. Secondly, Neovita is not selling an arch support for $600. That is false! I received a number of products all of which you use in conjunction with one another to achieve your desired results (not to mention a level of service I did not receive from anywhere else). I bought into a program or, as it was described to me, a system.
Anyways thank you for listening as you can probably tell I'm a believer. If I can save just one person from going through what I went through then I've done my part. Thanks again Neovita! I hope this helps the cause...
Karen
Hi, Karen, I'm glad it worked for you but it sure didn't for me and I used the system faithfully for a full year before giving up. I still feel cheated and hope others will consult a podiatrist first before trying Neovita.
My mother had them for about a year and threw them away after going back to the store 3 times for adjustments. Sad thing is her foot problems persist but the orthotics did not help what-so-ever.
My $.02 is to go to a doctor, they are trained in what can make feet hurt and not driven by $$$$
HIGHLY RECOMMEND NEOVITA! I have had foot and back pain for years. Went to doctors only to be given injections, surgery, etc. which never helped. I was skeptical at first, but then I thought how could Neovita be in business for 9 years and have products that dont work. So I decided to go to Neovita. I had a free footscan done and was custom fit for there arch supports. I followed their program and all my pain went away. I wish I would of known about them sooner. I can now exercise, travel, and play with my kids. Thank you Neovita!
I find all the negative reviews on here about Neovita as quite humorous. Let me begin by saying yes I own the Neovita arch supports and have followed their system diligently for about a year and a half. The results have been amazing!!! I wear them in all my shoes including house slippers with the exception of sandals (flipflops) during the summer.
Allow me to elaborate a little more as to why I find this discussion board humorous. Neovita offers a NO OBLIGATION, YES I SAID NO OBLIGATION CONSULTATION AND FOOT SCAN. From the scan and a series of questions they ask pertaining to lifestyle and types of shoes you wear they fit you with the appropriate arch supports. Then after placing them in your shoes they encourage you to walk around and experience the product first hand. And YES I DID SAY YOU ARE NOT OBLIGATED TO PURCHASE ANYTHING!!! I've been to multiple foot doctors (podiatrists) in the past and spent thousands of dollars on custom molded orthotics WITHOUT SUCCESS. I hope this isn't too much reality for everyone, but DOCTORS WANT YOU TO SPEND YOUR MONEY WITH THEM!!! ALSO I DID NOT RECEIVE A REFUND FOR THE ORTHOTICS THE DOCTOR GAVE ME!!! This is the way the health care industry is and I understand why. Who wants to wear an orthotic or arch support someone else has worn? Definitely not me!
Before I go I'll leave you with these final words. Don't be misled that Neovita is the "bad guy" here, but rather experience them for yourselves at no obligation and see for yourself. The people at Neovita have been very pleasant to me personally and they still check in on me from time to time.
Best regards,
Alice
Post a Comment