Wednesday 14 January 2009

Sporty Spice

I really did a number on myself at the gym on Monday. Or possibly I've been doing an ongoing number on myself for the past 8 years on porcelain tile floors. Either way, I'm in pain. Pain is really a terrific motivator; I can really see why torture is effective. I'll do anything! I'll say anything! Just take away the pain!
Monday night I could hardly walk: the souls of my feet, particularly my right heel, hurt so badly. I've had mild foot trouble for a year, which I've mostly ignored, particularly because it has been at its worst in the morning and I am too busy at that time of day to pay attention to pain receptors.
Dr. Ken, with the help of his assistant, WebMD, has diagnosed plantar fasciitis, a condition that is most common in the middle-aged or athletes. (I get to choose my own classification here.)
So I bought myself some new arch-support cushioned-heeled running shoes. I'm stretching my foot the way my online physiotherapist has taught me to (WebMD again). Now I just wait and see how quickly I improve. Plantar fasciitis takes about as long to get better as it took to acquire, so here's hoping it was recent gym activity and not 8 years on hard floors that I need to recover from.
There are more options, including splints to wear at night to keep my foot flexed while I sleep. The foot splints could be a nice addition to my carpel tunnel splint for my wrist and my dental splint for clenching and grinding at night, am I right?
(This picture turned out to be the best shot of both my wrist and dental splint.)

13 comments:

michelle said...

oh no! I have plantar fasciitis, too. Blast. I will say that the pain is not constant for me. If I wear my comfort shoes and/or my orthotics, I'm good. But I sure do miss cute shoes...

Neighbor Jane Payne said...

Oh Barb...ouch. Thank heavens for webmd and Dr. Ken.

Who'd have guessed when you were fifteen that you'd be wearing three daily splints?

Tiffany said...

So true--pain is certainly a motivator! It is amazing how much we take for granted and then the pain hits and I wonder how come I wasn't grateful every day I didn't have pain. Thankfully, at least for me, pain is easy to forget. I hope you can forget yours soon and heal quickly!

Tiffany said...

I'm sorry--I mean it is easy to forget *when it goes away*!! Hope yours goes away soon!

Marie said...

You really could take a while to put yourself together at bedtime if you add foot splints.

Sorry to hear about the pain.

We got the jerseys in the mail. Thanks! Carter was so excited to get a package in the mail.

Jill said...

Oh Barb, this is some bad news. I know Michelle and Claudia have both suffered a lot with their Plantar Fasciitis, so I'm familiar with the reality of it. Hopefully your WebMd/Dr. Ken diagnosis and cures will prove helpful.

Denise said...

Ugh! I have that, too. I first noticed it in college, and it's been flaring up on and off since then. It's been worse lately, probably because I'm older and *ahem* putting more weight on my feet. Bleh. But you should notice a big difference from wearing the good shoes. When I'm having trouble, I start wearing my Nikes around everywhere for awhile. Not fashionable, but very effective. I can still wear the cute shoes and sandals if I wear them for limited periods of time (to church, or to the pool, etc), and wear supportive shoes the rest of the time.

The worst part for me is that I love to go barefoot in the house. All the time. But barefoot isn't good for PF. I still do it anyway...shhh.....

Michelle Alley said...

Oh my, so sorry about all this pain. I hope that it was just your recent gym visit and not something that is as long term as PF.

melanie said...

Add me to the list of Plater Fasciitis sufferers. I most definitely don't fall into the category of 'athlete' so at 33 does that mean I fall into 'middle aged'? Yikes?! Can I add the category of working on my feet for 14 years?

I usually have more flare ups in the summer when I'm barefoot and wear flip flops. I hope WebMD delivers some sound therapy. It's where I found my sound diagnosis too, ha.

Love the new shoes.

Lucy said...

I'm sorry you're hurting. That is no fun. But, I'm also glad you know what's causing the pain and hope your new fancy helpers will get you back in your gym groove.

Anonymous said...

I was concerned about PF myself in the past. I never wore shoes in the house -- ever. Since moving here I do wear shoes most of the time (our rental carpet is rather prickly, and at first I was afraid of scorpions lurking so I got into the habit of shoes), and I don't have nearly the trouble I used to. So, hopefully you will be spared one more splint at night.

Natalie said...

Welcome to the sad world of sore feet. I can relate to your pain. I find that putting shoes on as you step out of bed helps a lot. All the repair work that is done while you sleep can be undone with a just a few steps in the morning. You'll find that supportive shoes worn ALL the time will make a huge difference too as will a little Advil! ;)

carlo said...

oh goodness. isn't growing older fun?

i too have the mouth guard for sleeping and i do not wear it as much i should though