I am sitting here wearing these very birkenstock sandals.  The first part of this year I was homebound with a broken foot.  My podiatrist had my foot in a cast, then the walking boot, for 4 months. I had two problems, Plantar Fasciitis and metatarsal stress syndrom(which is a broken metatarsal).  My Dr. had special orthotics made for me and they helped some.  I read up on Birkenstock shoes and realized my orthotics looked just like the shoe footbed of Birkenstock shoes.  So I ordered this sandal and within a few days of wearing the sandals, my foots pain was fading away.  I highly recommend Birkenstocks if you have PF.