On Knowing How and Arch Support

I don't know if it's just me but sometimes I buy things, simple, seemingly straightforward things, and I find myself utterly confused about how to use them.  And I feel like there is not just some instruction sheet for the particular item I'm missing but some fundamental know-how that everyone but me has.  I feel left out.

The other day I bought Dr. Scholl's Massaging Gel Insoles.  I walk a lot and while I don't have terrible foot pain, I have some and I think it's time to be nicer to start being nicer to my feet. I didn't know which type of insole to buy and there wasn't one of those machines to tell me.  I decided to try the ones with arch support.

I took them out of the package the other day in eager anticipation.  Looking inside for instructions, I was disappointed to find that there were very few.  They only said to put the left insole in the left shoe, gel side down and, as one would expect, the right insole in the right shoe.  I would have figured out the left/right thing (way to go!) but I can't guarantee about the gel side down thing.  But they told me and that's fine.  I believe them.

The trouble started when I tried to figure out where in the shoe the insole goes.  They're not full length and I couldn't figure out if they went in the back or front.  The back seemed to line up reasonably well with my shoe.  Thinking that other people surely must have the same question, I looked it up on the computer.  I didn't get the impression that anyone else has ever had to ask.  I didn't see a lot of searches on this question and the Dr. Scholl's site didn't have diagrams or a FAQ for massaging gel insole placement.  Perhaps it really is just me.   

The information on the site would make it seem that my feet are a little different from everyone else's too.  Now, I know that I will never be a foot model (that dream is long dead) but I consider my feet to be at least a normal shape and the way my shoes fit suggests that I'm right about that.  Apparently though, these insoles are 3/4 length and don't need trimming.  The front of the foot and the arch are supposed to rest on them.  My foot and I would like to see how all of that really works.

Dr. Scholl may not have approved of the way in which I ended up putting the insoles in my shoes but I did my best.  At first, they felt ok when I was walking but that didn't last.  By the time I got to the grocery store, I was starting to get blisters and I had to take the insoles out.  I carried them home and haven't tried again.

I still don't know what the secret is to inserting Dr. Scholl's Massaging Gel Insoles.  Maybe the rest of the world does.  I know that they go inside shoes.  Beyond that, I'm missing the instructions that everyone else has.  For this, and perhaps for many other things too.  If someone could give me a copy of theirs, I'd be most appreciative.  I would love to read up on knowing how to do the simple things.

JAHD