Re: Heel pain: bone spurs?

• From: Madelaine <mgd@xxxxxxxxxxx>
• Date: Tue, 20 Dec 2005 11:04:12 -0500

Eric wrote:

thank you. I've NOT been taking it seriously but will now before it gets worse. hardest part is REST.
Eric

John Faith wrote:

Eric,

Sounds like PF, as others have suggested.

Some suggestions:

1. Freeze a small water bottle and, 4-5 times daily for 10-15 minutes each, roll the bottle under the foot while applying pressure. Do this with a sock on - you don't want to freeze the skin on the bottom of your foot! Apply only enough pressure to really feel it, yet not cause pain. You're giving your plantar fascia an ice massage - ice is an anti-inflammatory and the ice and pressure act to break up the inflammation and encourage blood flow to the area.

2. Get a tennis ball (I prefer a golf ball), and roll it under the painful area - again, apply pressure, but not causing pain. I prefer the golf ball because I can get more direct, "pinpoint" pressure on the area. Again, this encourages blood flow and gently massages the area.

3. Get some good arch supports for your shoes. I recommend SuperFeet, we've had very good luck with them in the running store where I work - check your local running store. If you can stand the green ones (they're typically higher in the arch area than the blue, black or grey ones), use them. If not, use the blue. Wear them in all your shoes - daily and running.

4. Get some sandals or slip on with a good arch support (see #3 if necessary), and wear them around the house when you're not wearing shoes. Have them by the side of your bed and slip them on when alighting - even when/if you get up at night to use the bathroom.

5. Stretch - the classic "leaning against the tree or wall" is good, as is standing with your toes on a step or curb and gently dropping your heels below the horizontal - hang onto a banister or street sign for balance.

6. If necessary, visit your local running store again and pick up a Strassburg Sock - a "soft splint" to wear at night.

Good luck - attack this aggressively. You don't want to fool with PF, and you don't want it to get worse. It's insidious and nasty - or can be.

John

John Faith

Arlington VA USA

johncfaith@xxxxxxxxxxx

"No one can hurt you without your consent."

        -- Eleanor Roosevelt

I had this, and it took at least 6-9 months to get over, partly due to a parttime job that involved standing on concrete. However, docs are very happy to diagnose this without x-rays to rule out something more serious--I had one that diagnosed me without x-rays, then a couple of years later had one who did x-rays and sent me to an orthopedic surgeon, where I was diagnosed with severe arthritis in several joints in my feet due to a birth defect. I thought at that point, considering the constant pain that I was in, that I was rolling down a hill toward disability and possibly a wheel chair, but to my surprize I did break the pain cycle with fish oil, glucosamine, ice alternating with heat, rest (I quit the concrete-standing job). Probably the oddest thing that I did that helped was Iyengar style yoga--the constant ankle lifting required in the standing poses really strenghtened the muscles in my feet.

I can run, but I'm hoping to do my first tri on a team as the swimmer.
madelaine

Said I can run, I meant I can't.  For once, a mistake toward the positive.
Madelaine
.

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