Everything you want to know before you buy.

You wear your stepz® completely normally for 30 days in everyday life, at work, on hard floors, in your own shoes. Exactly where the pressure builds up. If they don't convince you in that time, you write to us and get your money back.

The 30 days start on the day your parcel arrives, not on the day you order.

No. Returning them worn is expressly allowed, otherwise a trial wouldn't make any sense. An insole you just take out of the packaging and look at tells you nothing. Only after several days in your working routine do you know whether anything has changed.

With an email to support@wearstepz.com. Please include:

• Your order number (it's in the confirmation email)
• Your name
• Briefly, what didn't work for you

We reply within 24 hours and send you all the information you need for the return. You don't have to fill in a form or hunt for a portal, an email is enough.

The original packaging is handy, but not a must. All that matters is that the insoles aren't damaged in transit, a sturdy envelope or box is enough.

As soon as your return reaches us, we refund within 3–7 business days, automatically to the payment method you ordered with. With credit cards, your bank may take another day or two before the amount shows up in your account.

Yes. 100% of the purchase price, no processing fee, no withheld portion, no discussion about how often you wore them. We don't deduct anything.

Within 24 hours, seven days a week. An email to support@wearstepz.com is enough, for questions about sizing, your order, or a return.

There's no ticketing system and no hold queue. You write, a person replies.

Most insoles rely on soft cushioning. That feels good at first, but under load the material gives way: the foot sinks in, the arch loses its support, and the heel carries the full load again.

stepz® works the other way round. Structured massage points, an active arch support, and multi-layer cushioning distribute the pressure away from the zones where the pain arises, instead of just dampening it.

In short: not softer, but more structured.

88% of our customers report noticeable relief as early as the first time they wear them. That's an average, though, not a promise, how quickly something changes depends on how long the symptoms have existed and how many hours a day you're on your feet.

Realistically: in the first few days you'll mainly feel that the pressure is distributed differently. Whether your evenings change, you'll know after one to two weeks. That's why it's a 30-day trial and not a three-day one.

Yes, and it's the most common reason people give up too early. If your foot has stood on flat, soft soles for years, structured contact is unfamiliar at first, some describe it as a light tingling or a feeling of pressure at the points.

This usually settles after 3 to 7 days. During this time, wear them for a few hours a day at first and then increase gradually.

What's not normal: sharp, localised pain or pressure marks. In that case the size isn't right, write to us.

A heel spur itself won't disappear because of any insole, it's a bony structure. What can be changed is the load on that spot: when the pressure is moved away from the heel and distributed across the whole surface of the foot, many customers report that the first steps in the morning become more bearable.

That's exactly the difference we promise, relief, not a cure.

That's what they're built for. Concrete, tiles, and industrial floors cushion nothing, the entire impact lands in the foot with every step. It's exactly in this group (care, retail, warehouse, trades, hospitality) that we get the most feedback about the so-called afternoon slump: the point from which every hour gets longer.

If you stand for many hours a day, we recommend more than one pair, one for each shoe you wear regularly. Swapping them over is something you reliably forget in everyday life.

No. stepz® are not a medical device and not a therapy. They replace neither a diagnosis nor medical treatment.

If you have severe, persistent, or sudden pain, open areas on your foot, a known nerve condition, or diabetes, please have it checked by a doctor, and talk to your doctor before using them.

We'd rather state this upfront than afterwards:

• They don't heal plantar fasciitis and don't reverse a heel spur.
• They don't replace physiotherapy or medical treatment.
• They don't work the same for everyone, the causes of foot pain vary.
• They're not a custom-made product based on a foot impression.

What they do: distribute the pressure in a structured way, instead of just dampening it. That's why there are the 30 days, so you can test it on your own foot, rather than take our word for it.

The stepz® pressure-relief insoles are available in sizes 36 to 48. The sizes are designed so that you can trim them down if needed, see the next question.

Always the larger one. Smaller is always possible, larger is not: you can trim an oversized insole to fit in two minutes, but one that's too small stays too small.

Yes. There are cutting lines printed on the underside. Take your shoe's original insole as a template, place it on top, and cut along the line with normal household scissors, always only at the front in the toe area, never at the heel.

The relief zones at the heel and arch remain fully intact. That's exactly where the work happens; only the front is adjusted.

Tip: it's better to cut in two steps and try them on in between.

In most closed shoes: sneakers, work and safety shoes, boots, low shoes, hiking shoes.

Not suitable are very flat or narrow models without a removable insole, such as slim business shoes, ballet flats, or pumps. There simply isn't enough room in those.

Yes, if it's removable. Two insoles on top of each other make the shoe tight, press on the instep, and change the pressure distribution, exactly what we want to avoid.

If the insole is firmly glued in, simply place the stepz® on top of it. Then make sure the shoe still has enough room.

Breaking in: Two to three hours on the first day, then increase daily. After about a week you'll be wearing them normally all day.

Number: One pair for each shoe you wear regularly. Anyone who switches daily between work shoes and everyday shoes doesn't get far with a single pair, in our experience, swapping them over is reliably forgotten in the morning, and that's exactly when the relief is missing where you stand the longest.

With daily use and normal care, over 12 months. For comparison: soft gel and foam insoles often lose their shape after just a few weeks, that's the main reason people believe insoles are fundamentally useless.

The material is designed for shape stability, not for soft give, that's why the relief zones don't collapse the way pure foam soles do.

There's still wear, especially if you stand for many hours a day on hard floors. The honest sentence for it: they last considerably longer than gel insoles, but they don't last forever.

Wipe them by hand with lukewarm water and a little mild soap, then let them dry at room temperature.

Not in the washing machine, not in the dryer, not on the radiator, and not in direct sunlight. Heat deforms the material, and with it exactly the structure that distributes the pressure.

When the massage points are visibly flattened, when the sole is permanently compressed in the heel area, or when you notice that the relief you felt before is fading. The latter is usually the more reliable signal.

In Germany. That's not a given in this product category, a large share of the massage and relief insoles on the market are imported and merely repackaged.

They were developed together with Dr. Gilbert, MD, a specialist in orthopaedics with a focus on foot and ankle surgery, and other foot specialists in Germany.

Four things in particular were tested: material density, arch angle, heel depth, and the arrangement of the pressure zones. The goal was the middle ground between two known mistakes, too soft (the foot sinks in) and too hard (the insole presses).

Of a multi-layer construction: structured massage points on the top, a supportive arch zone, and a cushioning base layer. The breathable memory-foam material is perforated so that moisture can escape and the foot stays dry even after hours in a closed shoe.

Yes. The reviews come from verified buyers and are collected via an independent review service, we can neither write them ourselves nor alter them afterwards.

That's why there are also critical and mediocre reviews there. A product page with nothing but five stars would be the real warning sign.

Because two cost blocks fall away: the individual moulding along with the readjustment appointments, and the intermediate trade via a medical supply store and practice.

The honest distinction: a custom-made insole is cast to your foot impression, stepz® are not. We work with a pressure distribution designed for the typical load zones in heel and arch pain. For many people, that's exactly enough. If you have a misalignment that needs orthopaedic correction, a custom-made insole is the right way to go.

5–8 business days from ordering. This information is on every product page before purchase and again in your confirmation email, it's not hidden in the fine print.

To Germany and Austria. Other countries are currently not possible.

Yes. As soon as your parcel leaves our warehouse, you'll receive an email with the tracking number and the link to follow it. If no email arrives, please take a quick look in your spam folder, and write to us if it isn't there either.

All common payment methods:

• PayPal
• Credit card (Visa, Mastercard)
• Apple Pay
• Google Pay

Payment runs encrypted via the Shopify checkout. Your card details are never held by us at any point.

As long as the parcel hasn't yet left our warehouse, yes, size, colour, address, or full cancellation. To do so, write to us as quickly as possible at support@wearstepz.com with your order number.

If the shipment is already on its way, you simply use the 30-day trial.

For targeted additional relief directly at the heel, useful when the pain is clearly localised there. They can be worn together with the pressure-relief insoles. To the heel pads

They support circulation and counteract the heavy, swollen feeling after long standing shifts. Many customers combine them with the insoles. To the compression socks

It holds the foot in a stretched position at night so that the plantar fascia doesn't shorten over hours. It's aimed above all at anyone for whom the first steps in the morning are the worst moment of the day. To the night splint

They carry the principle of the pressure-relief insoles over to home, for the hours after a shift, when most people walk barefoot or in flat house shoes on tiles. To the massage slippers