Review (5/5): Amazing!
I have really high arches so wearing flats a lot puts most of the stress on my instep as there is nothing to support underneath (like in an arched bridge) so wearing heels is actually more comfortable BUT eventually all the weight on the ball of my foot ends up hurting, too.
I have tried all kinds of inserts. The ones I had liked the most were [[ASIN:B0013DAI3C Dr Scholl's For Her Sole Expressions Insole, Women's 6-10, 3-Pair Package]]. They were economical and cute looking. I preferred the fabric over the gel because the gel ended up causing my feet to get sweaty and they felt slippery. I wasn't completely satisfied with them but they had been the ones I liked the most. I felt I needed more cushion, they helped but at the end of the night my feet still hurt and sometimes they made the shoe fit a little tight so I had to account for that when shoe shopping.
I continued my search and found these. I read mixed reviews but I decided to try them because the concept was different. Instead of trying ease the pain by providing more cushion to help absorb the weight, they were supposed to redistribute it. After all the cushioned inserts I've tried, I've found that this alone is not the solution.
They are more expensive, for the price I could get almost twice as many dr. scholls but I have to say that they have been worth it. I wear a 6.5-7 and I got that size. The shape resembles the outer shape of a small spoon with a fat handle and made of a flexible polyurethane plastic. I would have preferred that they be covered in a fabric because they make for less slip and sweating but at least its not on the ball of the foot where there is more shifting and could potentially cause blisters.
The thing is that they are tricky to place, they have to be placed just so in order for them to be effective so read the directions! They are placed with the bowl part of the "spoon" at the heel. About half an inch down it starts to get a little thicker and continues all the way down to the handle, which is what they refer to as "the bump".
You start by removing a small part of the plastic liner and placing the bowl about 3mm (1/8in) away from the end of your shoe at the heel part and keep shifting them up or down until they sit just right. Then you remove the liner and permanently adhere.
If you pull your leg up and take a sideways look at it, you have the ball of your foot that then arches up, at the other end you have your heel that also begins to arch up and they meet in the middle. The idea is to get that bump right underneath where your HEEL starts to arch up (the calcaneus). Thats where you want it. I can't insert any links but google Insolia, fitting tips from the product engineer and you can read more about it there, they do a much better job of explaining, with pictures and everything.
I tried them on a 4inch pair of pumps that had very little cushion and they worked great. They didn't feel like the most comfortable shoes in the world and they mention that it doesn't aim to add comfort. Instead of starting out with a comfort level of 8 and, after all that strain of carrying all your weight on the balls of your feet, 4 hours later you end up with a comfort level of 2, you start out with a comfort level of lets say 5 and end up with a comfort level of 4-5 at the end of the night. It works, I came home after 4 hours, a lot of walking and standing, and my feet hurt a little but they were not throbbing with the pain I usually have even with really cushioned heels.
Since they don't cover the entire length of the shoe, I am going to try adding some cushions to the ball of my foot and see if that works better. I am also going to experiment with adding the Dr. Scholls sole expressions over them to see if that helps any. That might add to much height and make my shoe slip off but I won't know for sure until I try. But I am definitely buying more of these for the rest of my ridiculously high shoes.
My only real gripe was getting that plastic liner off, I don't know if they are all like that or if I got a defective pair. OMG, it took me like 25min to remove separate those liners. I broke two nails and almost threw them away in frustration. You would think that company who thought of this brilliant idea would add a little tab or something to help with that.