Productivity Boosting Shoes? Finn Comfort Review – 2 Weeks In

A reader named Brandon emailed me wondering why I hadn’t followed up on my Finn Comfort shoe reviews from a few weeks ago.  He is debating getting a pair for himself and because of the price, he’s still undecided.

Well, I didn’t post because I didn’t want to bore anyone and I also didn’t realize some of you were waiting to see what happened after they broke in.  Sorry – my fault.

So here is the latest…

The shoes have broken in very well as of a few days ago. They are very comfortable for the feel. I still notice some of the pressure points pushing into parts of my foot that I am not used to.  But they aren’t painful or irritating, just a new feeling I am still adjusting to.

Brandon asked me if they were worth the $300 price tag. Well, me being from from meager heritage, I’ve inherited much frugality. So I would feel bad recommending them if they weren’t all they claim to be.

Whether they are worth it is an individual opinion.  If you, like me, have foot, leg or knee pain from ill fitting shoes, how much is it worth to get rid of the pain?  If you take OTC pain medication because of it, that expense adds up over time.  But it would take at least 40 bottles of Tylenol to pay for a pair of Finn Comforts.  And me not being a podiatrist, I can’t really say if they will in fact help you.

I am only speaking as someone who had moderate pain every day as a result of walking in the shoes I used to wear. 

Since I last blogged about them, I’ve put some miles on the Finns…yes MILES.  Last weekend, my son volunteered to help a local animal rescue by walking a cute little dog in a parade.  Unexpectedly, the organizers asked me to accompany the walkers to help look after the smaller kids riding on the float. This troubled me some because I had slipped on the Finns before going to the parade. I had only been wearing the Finns for 5 days… Probably not long enough for a full break in.

I dreaded the possibility of limping in agony and hating the shoes by the end of the parade.  But we had battled traffic, parking and parade organizers  to get where we were.  And the Finns were the only shoes I had.   I didn’t have much of a choice.

So, my family walked the entire parade route… I am guessing 2.5 – 3.0 miles.

At the end of the parade, we stood around and chatted with potential adoptee families and viewed some of the other parade exhibits.

By the end, I had completely forgotten about the shoes until Kim mentioned how much her feet hurt from all that walking. I immediately zeroed in on how my feet were feeling. All I noticed was a slight irritation in my right big toe from my socks rubbing around inside the shoes. This was likely because I didn’t have them tied tight enough.

I have never been one to tie my shoes tightly because It always feels like I am cutting off the circulation to half my foot. Not so in the Finns, when I tie them tightly they feel just fine. And having them snug stops the rubbing around inside the shoe.

So, after a parade, the shoes were feeling wonderful. I would have never been able to walk a parade in Doc Marteens or Birkenstocks.  I would have opted for some running shoes for that distance.  Yet, even with running shoes, I’d expect at least some pain.

Restless Leg Syndrome

Another early benefit appears to be when I am not wearing the shoes. More frequently than I’d like to admit, I get foot cramps and leg restlessness at bedtime. It is very irritating and at times has kept me awake through most of the night. I don’t know if it is restless leg syndrome since I haven’t talked with a doctor about it.  But to me, it’s irritating as hell leg jumpiness syndrome. 

Since starting the Finns, I haven’t had this restless leg (or whatever it is) one time.

Yes, the jury is still out, but I hope it continues.  If these shoes stave off having to take some prescription pill or buy some specialized chair, then they would save money over time.

Less Expensive Alternative?

Now for price, are they worth the price? Here’s what I told Brandon. If there is a pair of shoes you like the style of but they don’t feel that great, consider purchasing the shoes and a quality Orthotic. Quality orthotics run between $20 and $50.  And are best fitted by an expert.  Otherwise, they can slide around or try to fix the wrong problem – thus resulting in not fixing your pain and perhaps creating new pain – definitely not recommended.    

Anyway, I told him to add the price of new shoes plus orthotic. Is the price near the cost of Finn Comforts or much less? If there isn’t much of a difference, the Finns are the way to go. If the prices aren’t even close, you can try the less expensive way. Unfortunately the consideration that you may be losing some of the insole quality and benefit by “rolling your own” might weigh on you.  But that’s possibly worth the risk if you are saving over $100. For me, I did the math and it just didn’t seem to be a good deal.  Plus, curiosity got me too – were they really that good?  So far, I’ll say they are. 

So that’s my 2 week update. I’ll let you know another update when I hit the next milestone.

P.S.  If you decide to buy a pair of Finn Comforts, please consider using my Amazon links above.  Amazon sends me a gift card every month for my referrals.  I’d like to use the next one to get my wife a pair too.