Self-diagnosis

[sleigh]

For the past several days, my right heel had been bothering me -- I thought I'd bruised it, since pretty much all summer I've been either barefoot or wearing sandals rather than my usual shoes. Things were especially painful in the morning, after I'd been off the foot for hours; it would take several steps and some walking around before I could stand to put much weight on the foot, but once I was up and moving, it was fine (well, it was OK...). Then again, if I sat for a time, it might take two or three steps before the foot stopped complaining.

Tuesday night at aikido, the heel was sore enough that I was noticing it through most of the class, but toward the end of class I planted hard on that foot... and it felt like the entire bottom of my foot gave out. There was a sudden sharp pain in the entire foot and I went down. It took a few minutes before I could put weight on it again. I hobbled off the mat; Charlie (our Sensei) had someone bring me an ice pack, and I iced it down. I managed to limp out of the dojo and back home.

Yesterday morning, I really couldn't put any weight on it after getting out of bed... and it was a long time before the foot allowed me to even limp around. Denise insisted I call the doc, who said to get an X-ray to see if I'd broken anything (which I'll get later today). Yesterday was a teaching day, so I was at school from 10:30 to 9:00, and couldn't do anything about it. Putting on my usual New Balance shoes, I was able to limp around, though I brought crutches along to help (in hindsight, I would have been much better off with a cane, just to take a little weight off the foot.)

In thinking about this, I suspect that my going all summer barefoot and in sandals, without proper foot support, was the issue. I'd gone to the New Balance shoes last year because I'd been having foot soreness and wanted more support, and they'd made a big difference. I also suspect that this has been a slow cumulative breakdown, the foot slowly getting worse because I wasn't giving it support, because I was doing more exercise via aikido (in bare feet) and thus stressing it further.

And looking at the symptoms for Plantar Fascitis, that describes everything I've been experiencing... My bet is that's the diagnosis.

I need to start wearing good shoes except when I'm doing aikido.... And I need something to give me arch support while on the mat.

Comments

[cathshaffer.livejournal.com]

Oh, bummer! I feel your pain.

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

That sounds precisely like PF. And bare feet/flat shows will do it. I've had this myself and I sympathise. Shoes with arch support are the way to go.

[barbarienne.livejournal.com]

I've had PF, and yeah, that sounds like it. (Interestingly, when my back issues kicked in a few months ago, my PF disappeared. I wonder if it was simply swamped in all the other pain and so I don't notice it.)

Massage has always worked for me. I find the point of PF on my heel and rub it all in one direction. I have to repeat that every few days, but it sure beats the pain. I, too, find that wearing shoes with better support (also New Balance!) helps.

[lizziebelle.livejournal.com]

I used to sell podiatry supplies, and that's what I would have thought, too. Get a pair of those heel support shoe inserts, that's what podiatrists will sell you (and they're cheaper in the drug store).

[jennreese.livejournal.com]

Yep, I struggled with PF almost all of last year -- and going to martial arts regularly kept aggravating it! So please, be careful. The best thing that helped me was taping my arch. My kung fu sifu taught me how. It's very simple and alleviated a lot the pain. Here's an old journal entry on some things I tried: http://www.jennreese.com/?p=452 I still wear the Superfeet and recommend them, but I can't wear them for martial arts.

GOOD LUCK!!!

Semi-OT

[barbarienne.livejournal.com]

How strenuous is aikido? I am in need of a martial art for exercise, and aikido is not of the "hit and get hit" variety. However, with the situation with my back, I wonder if I could handle the throwing and falling bits (particularly the falling bits).

I think really I just want to do endless kata all day. Tai chi might be the right thing. But I do so miss the facing off with an opponent.

Re: Semi-OT

[sleigh.livejournal.com]

Hmm.. With a bad back, I'd probably recommend against aikido (as much as I love the art), since half the time you're being thrown or taken down to the ground. You might want to go to your local aikido dojo and watch a class just to see for yourself, but I think I'd be leery of telling someone with back issues that this is a good martial art for them.

Tai Chi, OTOH, sounds excellent: slow but energetic katas.

[netmouse.livejournal.com]

If the pain is just in the heel and not the arch it might be what I have, which I'm told is achilles tendonitis, not PF. In either case the treatment is similar-- before you get out of bedin themorning, and before you go to sleep at night, stretch the back of your leg, preferably with a resistance band you use to pull your toes up toward your body.

You can also roll the arch of your foot on a cold bottle or can but I didn't findthat helped as much. And then there's getting inserts for your shoes, which I got at foot locker for my shoes. They make them for sandals btw, or you can get fancier sandals to help with the problem.

Good luck!

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

I've had PF, and it really scrapes. Do establish what you have and what your treatment plan is, and then stick to it. You can get past it, but you'll need to heal, heel.

K.

[smofbabe.livejournal.com]

Oh, ouch! I've got foot problems myself and if I go without my orthotics (like over weekends when I'm barefoot or in slippers at home), I definitely feel the difference so I think your guess on the cause is likely to be correct. Hope the medical diagnosis is something you can easily make adjustments for.

No Fun!

[lsanderson.livejournal.com]

See if your insurance covers custom molded arches. They work if it involves the arch. If it's really bad, get a cortisone & cocaine isomer injection. It cures a whole lotta problems (at least temporarily), and can make the whole problem go away sometimes.

[maiac.livejournal.com]

My first thought was plantar fasciitis, but your symptoms seemed just like what I've been through. The good news is it goes away. The bad news is it can take a while.

My doctor recommended stretching/loosening the fascia and muscles by standing on an incline for three minutes a day (a sturdy two-foot-long board propped against the bottom step provides a good angle). You may need to wear a brace while you're sleeping to keep your feet at about a 90-degree angle to your leg (i.e. keep the fascia from tightening up while you sleep). If I lived a couple of hundred miles closer, I'd pass mine along to you; but I've seen them in drugstores so you can probably get one locally.

[fionapatton.livejournal.com]

Yeah, sounds like PF all right. Mortality sucks, don't it? I have it to. It has kept me away from karate for the last week or two. At one point I was wearing a special taping on my foot to help. Poor us-- all of us who have sent you "we understand" sympathy.