How does the Bracehorn change the daily routine for someone who wears braces?
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Short answer: Dominic describes the practical change the Bracehorn makes to the daily routine of putting shoes on. Without it, the process involves jiggling and working the shoe onto the braced foot, which is time consuming and awkward. He points to a specific reason this is so difficult: the heel counter on most shoes is soft, so it bends under pressure rather than holding its shape, which is exactly what makes the brace hard to get in. The Bracehorn addresses that by giving the brace a firm surface to glide along, so the brace moves through the device and into the shoe rather than fighting a collapsing heel counter. The overall effect he emphasizes is straightforward: putting shoes on becomes significantly easier and requires far less manipulation of the shoe itself.
In Dominic's words
Definitely. It is so much easier to put the shoes on without trying to jiggle the shoe onto it. Because usually shoes are soft on the heel counter, and they always bend. So it just makes it easier to glide through the Bracehorn onto the shoe.
So it makes it a lot easier to put the shoes on, definitely. That soft heel counter is really the heart of the problem. When you press down on a normal shoe without a guide, the back of the shoe folds over instead of staying open, and then you are stuck trying to work it back into shape while also trying to get the brace in. The Bracehorn holds that path open and gives the brace something firm and smooth to travel down.
So instead of a routine of jiggling, adjusting and repositioning every single morning, it becomes one motion. And that is every day, twice a day, for somebody who is wearing a brace all the time. Taking that struggle out of the routine adds up.