Hi Carol, All I wore before the neuropathy were Birkenstocks!!! I still wear them, but not as comfortably. I wore them for 20 years, at least. If you are a 7, then you are a 7 in a Spenco. A Spenco really is not a wide shoe, although it does come in a wide. It just has plenty of toe room. The shoe in general though, is not unusually wide, at all. If you are a size 7, get a 7. If you are a 7 and a half, also get a 7. I am a 9 and a half, and I wear a 9 in a Spenco. The Spenco makes my foot feel as close to normal as a shoe can make me feel. I too, have terrible sensations in shoes, but not so much in the Spenco. (usually, barely at all) In the wrong shoe, I feel like I have stones, cotton, socks bunched up, grittiness,....horrid....by the way, I was a teacher, too!!!! Good luck with the Spencos. I bought the First Nation Spenco mules from QVC.com Let me know how it goes!!! Lori Renee