I am very careful about shoes. I don't buy anything that rubs on my bunions! I find that shoe shopping is best when I have been on my feet a while and the bunions and callouses are achy. Then I can really feel it when something is going to rub.

I have had great success with a pair of $15 shoes from Kmart! They are in their Route 66 line and have big toe boxes and no seams at the toes (which rub on the sore areas). The shoes are pull-on. They are suede looking and resemble the slippers my dad wore when I was little, with elastic gussets on either side of the top of the shoe. They were in the winter line and some stores have a few left. Even for my feet - a 10 WWW at New Balance - they were extremely comfortable.

What's middle age these days? I can pluck weeds but not lift pots. Changing activities does work and keeping them under a half hour for me has worked more as I do garden all day long. I don't have bunion but have had a spur. Have always tried to walk barefooted when I can and let the earth treat me feet. I think it's a natural thing to walk over pebbles and tree roots, helps with something I'm sure, it's reflexology like. My sister has bad feet and I try and tell her to loose weight and releave some of the pressure and switch to shoes like the pair Nacy suggested. Maybe it's time to change your gardening style or design.

For your wrists, you may want to try magnet wrist wrappers. I bought them at Wal-mart in the pharmacy area. They're blue with small round magnets sewn in. They're tied with velcro.

I was first introduced to use magnets in relieving pains at a study held at TIRR (Texas Institution of Research and Rehabilitation). The study had much success with magnets. When I saw these wrist bands sold at Wal-mart, I bought one to try out. It really works.

I get my hand and wrist pains from typing and using the mouse for work. After wearing these for 15 mins. the pain and tingling sensations are gone. Now I keep a pair at work and a pair at home.

These magnets wrist band costs less than $15. It's worth buying one and give it a try.

i started a whole business for ergonomic tools [garden, household etc] because my whole body fell apart [elbows to fingertips and lower back] if i'd only known then what i know now, maybe i'd be a healthier person! try to avoid additional meds by altering your work habits and finding tools/gloves that help you do the job easier. stretch, take breaks, change the activity [eg. weed for 15 minutes, then prune, then go back to weeding, etc]

I injured both my wrists lifting a security gate at work back in 1999. I've had 3 surgeries on the right and 1 on the left. They still aren't right. The last doc I went to said to wear the wrists braces whenever I do anything that puts a strain on them. He was right! I wear them driving and gardening.

Resist the urge to just pull at the weeds. Use an ergonomic hand trowel to loosen the weed first. It it's too big a weed, get a shovel, but avoid pulling. That really strains your wrist.

WalMart does have a nice selection of hand and wrists braces, with or without magnets.

Oh yeah. I say I pull the weekds but actually I guess I just lift them out. I use a spading fork to poke holes in and wiggle it then pull it out and continue by turning the fork cross wise and doing it in the other direction. Only about my fingers length between poke and wiggles. That loosens enough to just pick the weeds up. A final dusting with my spread out fingers evens the area out like a rake.
The block looks like this:
:::::
:::::
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and is real easy to pull them up then. No lifting of dirt just poking in and rocking it back and forth a few times. That makes me change positions too. Stand to poke, sit or crawl (with a bucket along) to pick the weeds and on to the next section standing again. Normally a iced tea or water bottle near by so I lean back and watch birds too once in a while. Fun to watch the robins right behind you going for the worms that run from the disturbed tunnels.

I was diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome in '85 and everyone pressured me to have surgery. I didn't and probably won't (too many friends with CTS were having bad outcomes from the surgery or were having to have it done again a few years later--no thank you). Shortly after that, I found some research done by a chemist who discovered that caffeine aggravated such problems as CTS and that a small daily supplement of B6 reduced the pain in several double blind tests. (I'm sorry but over the years, I have lost the report I had about this.) Anyway, I quit drinking anything with caffeine and now take a B complex supplement every morning. I have found that the B complex is more effective for me than the B6 alone.

My CTS was caused by lifestyle. I replaced woven cane, splint and rush seats for a furniture refinisher as well as folks who heard about me from other customers. I have a small herd of dairy goats to provide my family with milk and meat from cull animals and as a hand spinner, I knit almost constantly. I actually took a knitting project when I had an exam to test electrical conductivity in the nerves of my hands and arms and the doctors called me a "hard core knitter." Any of the three activities would do it but I was busy constantly with all three. I have since given up the chair seat weaving (folks didn't want to pay what my time and skills were worth even though they would SAY I ought to charge more). I still knit as time allows and the goats are in the barn awaiting me now. I'm planning to get back into horseback riding next spring for exercise (we are planning to adopt from a rescue agency a senior Tennessee Walking horse that is a "babysitter" horse and I won't ask him for anything faster than a flat footed walk for his sake and mine).

If anyone reading this decides to quit caffeine, please do it slowly. Withdrawal, cold turkey, causes major headaches, fast heartbeat, nervousness and overall discomfort. I did it cold turkey twice and will never do it again.

I also have flat feet and bad ankles and knees. I can't get through the day without planning sitting jobs into my schedule. Glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate taken as a capsule have really helped me but it takes a few weeks for it to work into your system. I also know that losing some weight (I'm workin' on it!) would relieve stress on the legs too. It seems that when the CTS comes back from overwork, I also will have tendonitis in my ankles and that leads me to believe that it is somewhat nutritionally caused.

I love my SAS shoes but buy slightly oversized boots for outdoor work.

Best wishes to all of you for painfree days and good gardens

Idabean,

I'm sure that heavy work in the garden and my dogs giving me a time on walks led me to need 2 carpol tunnel surgeries - one for each wrist. I found an excellent surgeon who specialized in hands using micro-surgery.

But after that I was afraid to keep going at the same pace. I can tell you that the hand braces work great. I still sleep with them when my hands start hurting again. I learned how important it is to keep my wrists straight while using my hands. The braces help to keep them straight over night.

Vitamin B6 is said to be good for wrist problems. Check on the recommended dosage, if you chose to use it, and stay within the peramiters.

Weeding is best done after a rain. The weeds pull up much easier after rainfall. Weeds can be discouraged if you mulch well - at least 3" over the soil. Even better if one places a weed cloth or newspapers under the mulch.

Don't wait until exhaustion before you take a break ... I need to remember to pace myself too!

I want to address the bunion issue under a different subject line as I have the option to get bunion surgery.

Hello Fellow Travellers! I am so glad to have found this forum. It seems that no matter what I'm going through, Garden Web has the forum for me!

This thread seems to best match what my current challenges are. For years, I have been coping with recurrent bouts of tendonitis in both wrists. Lasagna gardening, weeding after a rain, and other strategies have helped some. I still find some of the lifting and carrying of some of the materials difficult, and would like to hear people's views on different garden carts.

This fall, as a very healthy 46 year old, I had a mild stroke (they found a hole in my heart, there since birth). On my soapbox for a moment: a "mild" stroke doesn't mean an immediate recovery; I've been told as long as 18 months. For those who've suffered strokes without a good chance of total recovery: I hold you in the Light.

I'm really doing much better, went back to work (although REALLY hard!), some sleep disturbances and higher-order thinking challenges, such as planning ahead, weighing consequences, impulsivity, etc.

We moved into a new-old home this fall, and I've started a lasagna bed of perennials out front, planted a gorgeous empty wood raised bed with the kitchen-herb garden that just seemed to be waiting to be put in, and have begun a potager-in-the-round in the backyard.

Then two weeks ago, I broke my foot and did ligament damage. I am just aching to get out there and take care of my garden, weed, harvest, etc. I am currently using a wheelchair; I hope that on this payday, I can buy a little riding stool.

I will appreciate hearing your most-helpful tips for dealing with like challenges.

Thanks so much,
Mountainsong

I've got bad knees, bad hands and a "profound" hearing loss. I see I'm not alone!
I'm container gardening these days on the front and back patios at my condo. Condo maintenance takes care of the heavy stuff and I've learned that I can get heavy things delivered and I'm not shy about asking young strong neighbors to help.
I've got a lot of big pots and some water gardens. While it's not the 1/2 acre I used to garden, it's manageable and gives me joy.
One of the best things I've found for my wrists when they get bad is to sleep with braces on. This helps more than you'd imagine.
Years of taking anti-inflammatories have done so much damage to my stomach and digestion that I've had to give those up entirely as well as anything with cortisone and aspirin so I try to be careful of how much I do at one time.
These new "reachers" help a lot, too. I use them to avoid having to get down on my knees to pick things up that hide under tables and chairs. I've also got an assortment of "things with wheels" that let me move stuff around more easily.

Wal-Mart's "No Boundaries" sandals, $8.92, are very comfortable for my wide feet.

Okabashi has a similar shoe called Cleo that has maybe a 1" wedge heel, very comfortable if you like a little lift.
They're slightly narrower than the No Boundaries sandals.

They're maybe $12 or $15, & you can order them online from Okabashi.

Payless Air-Walks (Airwalks? Air Walks?), a clog-type shoe, are around $15.

I like them for colder weather.

("Colder weather":
The last time I saw snow was about 4 years ago, during a freakish cold snap. The snow lasted about 2 hours, & we all ran up & down the streets with our cameras!
I call it cold weather if I have to put on my socks.)

All these shoes are made of wonderfully cushiony rubber,
they come in various colors, & you clean them with a water hose!