In 2011 John Cain retired from his role as Head Stevedore at Victoria Wharf in Plymouth. After 40 years working outdoors in a physically demanding job, he was looking forward to spending more time with his wife Sue, enjoying the good times ahead, including plenty of walking.
Fast forward to 2016 and John started to experience serious footpain, which his doctor diagnosed as arthritis in the balls of his feet. “She said it was not something that would get better, so I tried to put up with it,” said John.
The pain got worse until he reached the point where his doctor recommended a series of painful cortisone injections to ease things. The thought of injections in to sensitive areas of his feet was less than appealing, but was the lesser of two evils so he agreed and waited for his appointment date to be set.
Just before Christmas in 2018, Sue got a call from John who was walking their dog, Sam. “He was at the end of Mountbatten pier,” said Sue, “and the pain had got so bad he couldn’t walk home. I had to go and collect him in the car, and that’s when I remembered seeing Foot Solutions shop on Royal Parade.”
They made an appointment for a free foot assessment between Christmas and New Year, and after carrying out a range of examinations Foot Solutions’ advisor Lauren recommended John should try an over the counter insert with a pair of Brooks trainers for walking, and ordered a specifically designed custom orthotic.
“The improvement in just one day was wonderful,” said John. “The pain immediately reduced and after a couple of days I called my doctor, who agreed that there was no point having the cortisone if the insert and trainers were working so well.” When the custom orthotic arrived, it was another level of improvement altogether. “It’s changed my life around,” said John. “Walks with Sue and Sam are now a pleasure again.
You can’t get rid of arthritis but my Brooks trainers and custom insert from Foot Solutions have made such a difference to us.”
