Co-blogger Bryan Caplan’s excellent post yesterday about how he has taken care of his health–I never knew he had such maladies–made me think of my own story and that of my daughter, Karen Henderson.
A few years ago when I went to my cottage in Canada, I did more walking than usual and worsened what had been a mild case of planter fasciitis. Then I discovered pickleball there my last of my vacation and played it way too long. Then I did most of the cottage closing by myself, which put me on my feet a lot. By the time I came home I was miserable.
I avoided walking much and it got slightly better but then I would start doing more than 20-minute walks, it got worse. My daughter, Karen, who was home from San Francisco for a weekend and who teaches Pilates, gave me a simple exercise to do and told me that I should go to Fleet Feet in Monterey and get special shoes because they measure your foot and choose shoes and inserts that are appropriate. I did that within a few days and I started doing the exercise she recommended. Within a week the planter fasciitis was pretty much gone. When it starts to come back, I realize that I’ve been walking but forgetting to do the exercise for 2 or 3 days in a row. So I start doing it regularly and bam, the pain goes away.
Here’s my daughter’s story of an even bigger of self care that ended up helping her choose her career.
READER COMMENTS
Matthias Görgens
Mar 20 2020 at 2:33am
Well, shoes actually cause plantar fasciitis in the first place.
Walking barefoot prevents it, by training your muscles properly. That’s how humans are ‘meant to’ move.
Alas, just going barefoot is not really a cure, because having the condition means that your muscles and coordination have already weakened far too much.
Btw, have you noticed how many people walk with their toes pointed outward vs forward? The former ain’t good for you. You can guess by how slowly the affected people usually move that this isn’t the effective and graceful way your body is supposed to work.
Matthias Görgens
Mar 20 2020 at 2:34am
P.S. I found this page https://posturedirect.com/how-to-fix-duck-feet-posture/ about ‘duck feet posture’.
Bacon Wrapped
Mar 20 2020 at 2:06pm
I agree with you on barefoot walking.
I moved to minimalist shoes a few years back (Merrell Bare, Lems, Xero, etc.) , i.e. shoes that are flexible enough for feet and toes to move something resembling the way they were designed to move. It was a difficult transition, especially training myself not to STOMP down with my feet with each step.
That said, I’m not sure how good any of the science is on this, but switching has helped me a lot.
Side note: A lot of what I learned about minimalist shoes and barefoot-style walking I learned from several different Physical Therapists that post free information on Instagram. For a one-time fee, or on a subscription basis, they will work directly with you via Skype, email or whatever to address any of the physical ailments they’ve been trained to deal with. The reason I mention this is that it seems how folks vision of “medicine as a service” emerged all on its own via a video/image platform like Instagram vs. through an actual hospital or specialist. Cool stuff.
Alan Goldhammer
Mar 20 2020 at 2:21pm
David – thanks for the reminder that we are the best custodians of our body. I have my own set of exercises that need to be done every single day for both my feet and my back. I get my shoes from our local Fleet Feet store. Unfortunately, the commercial insoles and arch supports don’t work for me so I need to have custom ones made. I normal walk 4 miles each morning without pain in feet or knees!!!
Roger D McKinney
Mar 21 2020 at 6:23pm
I hate giving medical advice, but I have a friend who practices a type of massage therapy that has helped people with pain that most doctors couldn’t. He says such pain, including plantar fasciitis happens when a nerve gets stuck in its tunnel through a muscle. Relief comes by finding the effected nerve, massaging it lightly and releasing it.
David Henderson
Mar 21 2020 at 7:18pm
Roger,
I usually hate getting unsolicited advice of any type. (Unless it’s for extreme situations like, “Don’t walk there because two feet beyond is a cliff and the drop is 300 feet.) But I liked your advice here. Thank you.
Comments are closed.