Patent ID: 7062866

Claim:
A combination of a shoe having a heel of one or more inches in height and a resilient footbed removably received in the shoe wherein the shoe comprises a forward toe box for receiving the toes of the wearer without pressure being exerted against them by the toe box in normal use of the shoe to dislocate the proximal and distal phalanges of the wearer's foot, the shoe comprising a rear heel portion which grips and holds the wearer's heel firmly in a cradle-like arrangement above the calcaneus bone of the wearer's heel, the footbed having a configuration which conforms to the configuration of a inner sole of the shoe, the footbed comprising a heel cup that distributes the pressure of the wearer's heel against said footbed and contributes to the cradle-like arrangement of said rear heel portion, a calcaneus-cuboid bar underlying the forward part of the wearer's calcaneus bone, the footbed further comprising a metatarsal pad, an arch support and a bar under the wearer's toe sulcus, whereby the wearer's heel is firmly held in place and the foot is prevented from sliding forward in normal usage so that the wearer's toes are not constricted in said forward toe box, and at least one additional cavity disposed under the area of the footbed which receives the wearer's joint between the first metatarsal bone and the adjacent proximal phalange, said additional cavity increasing the compressibility of said footbed at said area.