Foot care

Karl · Post by **Karl** » Sat Oct 29, 2005 5:07 pm

Over the past year I managed to get planters facitis in both feet. It's gone in the left foot and reluctantly leaving my right foot. The result is that after some UR walks my feet become sore.

On Wednesday I did a 2 hour hike and my feet were very sore afterward. Then my slow memory said "hey, you have some good socks for the long hikes". My wife and I have taken trips to the woodsy parts of Minnesota and Wisconsin and we like to hike on the trails - so we have some decent boots and socks (We learned about proper foot care the hard way on some early hikes. Sometimes I just have to relearn things

).

So on Friday I put on the thick wool socks and went for a 2.5 hour UR hike and the result was no sore feet. The extra cushioning really helped. BTW I don't usually UR for that long but the feet have been sore sometimes even after my typical UR walk.

So, the moral of the story is that if your feet get sore on the UR walks you might try thick wool socks (I got mine at REI Coop) and/or different insoles.

Karl

gratefuldeb67 · Post by **gratefuldeb67** » Sat Oct 29, 2005 8:03 pm

Oooh that is painful!!!

Here's my advice to you, in addition to making sure you warm up your legs and stretch before you start hitting the trails..Not sufficiently warming up and then going on an intense walk can contribute too, and keep doing what you did with the extra padding and good shoes/socks...

If you want to get the plantar fascitis under control, try circular ice massage to the feet for a while till they are sufficiently "numb" or just less sensitive to pressure, and then give yourself a really good deep massage to the painful areas... Keep alternating between the ice and the deep friction style massage to pump out all the inflammation... end with ice...
This may be a bit shocking at first when the cold hits your foot, but if you tough it out for a few minutes, it gets pretty anesthetized....
You end with ice so that the fluids which built up get pumped away from the inflamed area...

Wishing you a speedy healing time!
Remember to stretch and warm up to minimize this problem

Peace and Love,

Debbie
Who is a New York State licensed massage therapist...

Karl · Post by **Karl** » Sat Oct 29, 2005 10:47 pm

Thank you Deb, I will try the massage.

I haven't been doing any stretching lately so I know I need to add some to, if nothing else, improve my range of motion.

Do you have any recommendations for specific stretches (or books/ websites) for the feet and legs? I'm a bit nervous about stretching incorrectly and then making the PF worse.

One more question (if you don't mind) - what do you consider a sufficient warm-up?

Karl

gratefuldeb67 · Post by **gratefuldeb67** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 12:51 am

I'll look for some resources..
Meanwhile, I'd just see if regular joggers stretches, involving the gastrocs and soleus muscles (the calve muscles) would be a good way to warm up...
Hold the stretches for at least 15 or 20 seconds and repeat a few times...
I have heard that this syndrome is really caused by insufficient warming up and stretching... So just see if you can work in five minutes or so of warming up your whole legs before you get going.... Stretch your quads too...

Are you totally sure it's plantar fascitis? What's the pain like?
When is is worst?
I had sciatica when I used to jog (back in a past life!)
because the heel kept pounding on that nerve...
That was unendurable... Even after stopping jogging, the shooting pain continued for months up and down the whole leg...
Another reason to stick with plain ol'walking...

Have a nice evening...
Peace and Love,

Deb

Karl · Post by **Karl** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 4:49 am

The pain runs along the bottom of the foot from the heel towards the big toe along the arch. The pain was bad in the morning (I almost couldn't walk) and then it eased off with some walking. Also has been bad about an hour after the long walks.

I self-diagnosed as PF and have been careful with the feet by constantly wearing shoes with arch support. It has almost completely disappeared from the left foot and is just taking a little longer with the right.

I'll try the stretching tomorrow. I've been meaning to start a morning stretch routine anyway - good way to wake up the body. Then do a stretch before the UR in the evening.

I really don't know how I got it as I've never had foot trouble before. I'm just happy that it's steadily abating.

Hope the sciatica is gone for you. That sounds far more painful than the PF.

I've become convinced that moderate eating plus moderate exercise plus fresh air and sunshine is the best health program (well, that's somewhat simplified). That's why I'm here.

Karl

gratefuldeb67 · Post by **gratefuldeb67** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 11:55 am

Yeah, you are definitely experiencing symptoms which point towards PF..
The pain is usually worst in the morning before you step on it...
Can you try a soft cast which will keep your foot from going into Plantar Flexion during the night? That might be a good help... It keeps the foot on the stretch and inhibits it from going into contraction...
I am certain that if you massage it and ice it regularly for a while it will help it...
Maybe even get a tennis ball and use that to roll along the bottom of your foot... You can really get good friction with that...

My sciatica is gone, thanks... It only happened during that time I tried to jog on pavement at a weight of +190 lbs.... Not in both feet though.. Just my right one which is very laterally rotated (ie: out of allignment...)
The nerve was getting pounded when I jogged and after four months of not jogging it finally went away...
Have a great day!

Peace and Love,

Deb

Jammin' Jan · Post by **Jammin' Jan** » Sun Oct 30, 2005 10:43 pm

Here is a really terrific book on stretching:

Stretching by Bob Anderson, illustrated by Jean Anderson, 20th Anniversary Revised Edition, publisher: Shelter, ISBN# 0-936070-22-6.

It's very thorough, and very easy to use. There's good stuff in there for feet and legs (and all the rest of you, too), and some specific moves for massaging the plantar fascia.

Karl · Post by **Karl** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 12:32 am

Deb,
Thanks for the tips. I'll give the massage a try. I wish I'd talked to you about 6 months ago.

Jan,
I think I've seen that book before. I'll start looking around (people at half-price books think I work there for all the time I spend there).

Thanks to both of you. The PF is really almost gone and I feel like I've become a bit whiney about it here.

Mostly I just wanted to say "be careful with your feet, folks", especially for those who haven't done much walking and start doing lots of UR. I'm a semi-experienced hiker and should have known better. The experience came from, lets see: nearly twisted ankles on various hiking trails while wearing tennis shoes (got boots after that); blood soaked socks after hiking 10 miles in northern Yosemite Park with very new boots (the camping trip to h%$$ and back); blisters on my wife's feet while we were hiking in Colorado.

My wife and I have a very good system now and no problems for several years. Actually, I'm getting new boots tomorrow since my old ones fell apart after about 10 years. I'll do a break in while URing and then we're going to the north shore of Lake Superior for a few days next month to hit some trails and Xmas shop.

Karl

Post by **reinhard** » Wed Nov 02, 2005 3:12 am

Karl, I think I had something similar about a year ago. I remember also self diagnosing it as plantar fasciitis (I called it "fascist foot"). It bugged me for weeks, maybe even months. The cure? Decent sneakers. That was it. I've never had a problem since.

Walking is harder core than one would like sometimes!

Thanks for posting this here, it's not whining at all. I ought to have "whined" a little myself when it happened to me: might have gotten those decent sneakers faster and/or spared someone else some grief.

Karl · Post by **Karl** » Sun Nov 06, 2005 4:23 am

Reinhard,
Wearing a pair of sneakers indoors was mostly what cured my feet. Hopefully I won't have this problem again. It seems to take forever to go away.

Jan,
I did get the Stretching book by Anderson. Lots of good stuff there. Thanks again.

This last week I've been URing with the new boots for a break in. No major problems at all and they're getting nicely loosened up. I think everything will be ready for the trails.

Karl

Dixie_Amazon · Post by **Dixie_Amazon** » Mon Feb 13, 2006 4:06 pm

Has your heel pain decreased? I have been suffering with plantar fasciitis for over a year! I have had plantar fasciitis and I have tried everything except surgery or injections. I am sure my being overweight is a contributing factor, but that is on a downward trend.

I need my feet to feel better so I accelerate my weight loss a little.

Karl · Post by **Karl** » Tue Feb 14, 2006 4:30 am

Hi Dixie_Amazon,
It's almost completely gone now in the right foot - only an occasional twinge.

I really don't know why it happened or what cured it. I think just being careful and letting time do the heel healing

I did try some things like rolling a tennis ball or golf ball around with the arch of my foot for a massage type therapy. With the right pressure it felt good.

One thing that I noticed is that when I got up in the morning and plodded around the house without arch support I would feel a few sharp pains in my foot like something has just torn a bit. Started to wear shoes all the time and that stopped. I think it had healed some during the night and I was redamaging it in the morning - but I'm no doctor.

The annoying part was that I really enjoy the UR outings and the PF made that a painful chore. UR helps with the weight loss a lot.

Another person to talk to is GratefulDeb67.

Good luck with your feet,
K