My Ghost 11s were comfortable from the very beginning and needed no breaking in at all. bless her heart, as they say. The design is absolutely poor as there are multiple areas that rub the back of the heel raw. She had bought these before and found them to be very wearable. Just put the bottoms and sammich them in there. I will exchange them, but the problem is that I don?t know if I have to change them for a smaller size or I was sent the wrong size. the surface is flat and you can keep them standing. It isnt quite as supportive as I expected, but because the whole insert comes out, if it turns out to not be enough, my other arch supports fit! The upper portion was so inflexible my son couldn?t even get his foot under it and he has very slim, small feet without abnormally high arches. The last word is that these earphones are perfect.