I can't believe I dropped two hundred and thirty five bucks on a pair of sandals. OK, MBT does not like to refer to them as "shoes or sandals". They prefer to call them medical devices (probably to try and justify the price of their "shoes"). Either way, they are extremely expensive and I'm still in sticker shock after owning them for five days. Besides living with the guilt of paying so much money for "medical devices" and the fear of being mugged over a pair of sandals, I'll write the review to try and help you make your decision.
WHY I BOUGHT THEM:
For the last five or six years I've been suffering with extremely tight calf muscles that even exercise does not always help to loosen. At night they tighten up even more and then pull the tendon in my heels making it almost impossible to walk in the mornings. I do not have a heal spur and the Dr. diagnosed it as Planter Fascia which from what I understand are small tears in the ligament that runs down the length of the heel and foot. I also suffer from lower back pain mostly when sleeping or shopping and standing for a while on a hard floor. I refuse to get cortisone shots since this really hurts and doesn't not fix the problem but only masks it. So I found the MBT shoe line which promises all sorts of great things such as: less stress on your joints, relief of back pain, less stress on your heels, more flexibility of your calf muscles, full toning of your legs and hips which means less cellulite and improvement on varicose veins. Since I'm on my feet all day as a Hair Stylist I have pretty much all of the problems the MBT company says can be improved by purchasing their shoes. I think the only thing that these sandals does not claim to do is cure cancer. Since I really would pay ANY price for relief I plunked down the cash - reluctantly, and only after trying them on. (Make sure you try them - I wore an entire size bigger in the shoe then the sandal).
WHAT I LOVE ABOUT THEM:
At first the sandals felt really weird since they are rounded on the bottom, sort of like a rocking chair. (My husband said he could strap a couple of colanders on my feet and it would be much cheaper). You actually are doing a little balancing act thing while you wear them. (I never felt like I would fall down or anything like that). Eventually you don't think about it but this is why the sandals tone your hips and legs. You are using different muscles in your legs then when you stand on a flat surface in flat hard shoes. It's almost like your legs are constantly wobbling a little though you become very accustomed to it and it is not at all annoying. The sandals are extremely comfie since you can adjust them across the toe, around the heel and across the top of the foot. The first few days the bottoms of my feet burned because of the roughness of the foot fabric. Eventually that went away as the fabric softened. I had a big knot in my back while in the mall before I bought them as I usually get while shopping. I put the sandals on after purchasing and within five minutes the lower back pain was completely gone. I believe this is because the design of the shoe forces you to stand more erectly using more of your upper back then your lower back muscles while holding your posture. My heels stopped hurting pretty much immediately since the stress of the weight is put more on the arch of your foot instead of the heel.
Needless to say - that instantaneous relief was worth the $235 right there. Also, I actually had to take some Tylenol at bed time because my upper leg muscles, butt, hips and upper back felt like I went to the gym. It was not a bad aching but it's the type of ache that you would get from using certain muscles that you don't normally use. Because of this extra muscle usage the company claims that you also burn more calories just by wearing and using their shoes!
WHAT I HATE ABOUT THEM:
The price mostly. Also, you can not bend the foot bed in any way such as by kneeling - you might break the fiberglass bed in the sole. Also, you can not get them wet with certain things like salt water, blood (ewww) and other chemicals that might break down the materials in the soles. You can not machine wash them, hand wash only and the thing I hate most about them....they make your feet stink! I have never had stinky feet in my life. I took them off the first day and couldn't figure out what that funky smell was in my house! I realized it was my feet! So at the end of the day I have a nice little foot bath to give relief to all within a five feet(no pun intended)radius! The other thing I hated a whole lot was that the store had an absolutely no return policy on the shoes which was bogus for the price you pay for them. It also led me think something was fishy (and I don't mean my feet) about that policy. I really felt like I took a gamble buying them but I bought them anyway.
Luckily so far the gamble paid off. I love these sandals and have not been able to wear anything else since I purchased them. I'm already trying to figure out how to pay for a couple more pairs since they are the only shoes I want to wear from now on. I'm even ready to toss my sexy high heels for these puppys! Of course that means I have to change my entire wardrobe to one that would go with these weird looking (but kinda cute too) shoes!
WARRANTY INFO:
I did find out after writing to the company that the shoes/sandals are covered for 90 days for defects and breakage by the MBT company. The original store you purchased them from must send them back to the company however. At that time the company decides if the defect was from you doing something to them or natural breakage. The Naturalizer store I purchased them from will not exchange them for any reason - even a size exchange - I was told. They evidently did not know about the warranty. I printed it in case my $235 sandals break within 90 days. As much as I wear them you never know.
WHAT COMES IN THE BOX:
The shoes, a little book on how to care for the shoes and a DVD on how to walk properly in your shoes. The DVD also has complete info on the benefits of wearing MBT's and the construction of the shoe. Or if you want to view a brief video you can get online at MBT and download a little video on the shoes. The warranty was not listed anywhere in the box. You'd have to write to the company and they email you a copy of their warranty. This is kind of strange I think. It's almost like they don't want you to know there IS a warranty.
WHERE PURCHASED:
NATURALIZER SHOE STORE
PRICE:
$235 PLUS TAX
COST OF RELIEF:
PRICELESS
UPDATE*****
NEW RECOMMENDATION: I recently purchased a pair of MBT Black Professional Clogs as well. There is no category for this shoe on Epinions but I want to tell you that they too are amazing. Even more impressive was the online company I purchased them from. Footwearetc.com carries the MBT line. They offer a 90 day exchange guarantee on their MBT's as long as they are not worn. I am very impressed as well with Footwear Etc.'s customer service. They emailed answers back to my questions about the shoes the same day I emailed them. Not a fly by night operation in my opinion. Also, my shoes got here in three super fast days. The packing was excellent and they even threw in an MBT DVD, booklet, info card, pedometer and a shoehorn! Shipping is free with the MBT's. If you decide to order online I would have to highly recommend this company since their Customer Service was superior to any experience I have ever had ordering online.
2nd UPDATE*****
I have now purchased the high profile tennis shoes at the tune of $255. I wear a different size in every style of shoe since the tennis shoes seem very narrow in the toes.
I love these tennies as well. They are a bit higher so you get a real workout. I have noticed after wearing MBT's for the past 3 months or so that my cellulite is NOTICEABLY reduced, my butt is looking more curvier and uplifted and my lower back problems have all but disappeared. The soles of my feet are feeling a little sore after a few 2 mile walks but it's not the usual heel pain that I suffer from. It's more in my arches. I am very happy to have these shoes. I'm planning on wearing them for a full three days at Disney so I'll let you know how I fared with long term, full day wear. Still lovin' them.
Recommended:
