Getting Plantar Fasciitis

I have officially become a statistic. It’s not that I haven’t already become one, but this one is pretty hard to take. Several weeks ago I wrote about plantar fasciitis (heel pain) in my blog. I had arisen one morning with the tiniest tingle in my heel and of course I immediately thought: the scourge of plantar fasciitis. So I wrote about it. I started stretching a little more every morning but within a week, I had become one of the Four F’s who statistically are much more likely to suffer from plantar fasciitis than any one else. The Four F’s are also the same unfortunate group who, as medical students and resident’s we referred to with derision when we discussed those most likely to suffer from gall bladder disease. Who are the Four F’s. No it’s not a rock group comprised of stupid people. It’s a Fat Fertile Female over Forty. And what is it about the F word that makes it so easy for some to say with an ugly scowl on your face and thereby say it with disdain. And this group of individuals who, in my experience are some of the most lovely people I treat, are some of the most mistreated. But we’ll talk about that another day. For today, we’re talking about ME, ME, ME and my stupid foot and what I’m going to do about it. Then you can try it too, because there are bunches of you out there suffering from this disorder and frankly it’s just not right.

So sure, if you’re suffering from overweight (and we’re now saying it like that so doctors and insurance companies will know this is a disorder and not just some bad habit, like biting your nails) then it could make sense that there would be increased pressure on the bottom of your foot and that could cause plantar fasciitis in and of itself. But why female? There must be some hormonal component and we know this is likely to be true and it’s so in other conditions involving soft tissues, like ACL tears. But there are plenty of men out there suffering from overweight who really should be getting plantar fasciitis, but they’re not. And why over forty? Okay, so you’ve been stomping around on your feet longer than a twenty year old. That should seem obvious. So what. There are a lot of twenty year olds who weight twice what I’ve weighed in my 53 years. Why don’t they have it? And then, why fertile? What does having babies have to do with anything like this? Or gall bladder disease for that matter? Suffice it to say, it’s just a fact. There are plenty of explanations out there for why we old overweight obese omni-nurturers (I like that onomatopoeia better) are suffering.

So here’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to try to get rid of this problem without taking a single pill. Can’t promise I can do it, but I’ve done it before with two other repetitive strain disorders and have won. No pills, no injections, no surgery! Okay, now there’s one caveat, and that is, you can’t treat a femur fracture or cancer this way. We’re just talking about plantar fasciitis today.
I’m going to stretch, stretch and stretch some more. Before I get out of bed in the morning I’m going to stretch my ankle, foot and toes back, like as if you were going to stretch your Achilles tendon, but more so. Then I’m going to massage the arch of my foot and my heel. I’m going to do this every time before I get out of bed…EVERY TIME, without fail. Well, if the house is on fire or someone is breaking in through my window, guess I’ll jump out of bed and suffer for a bit.

I’m not going to go barefoot, unless I’m in bed or in the shower. I’m going to have a variety of shoes and slippers sitting around so I can always have the bottom of my feet supported and padded.

If I’ve been sitting for a while, I’m going to stretch before standing up and while I’m sitting, I’m going to put my foot further under my chair and stretch my Achilles tendon and the bottom of my foot passively so when I stand up, the plantar fascia is already stretched out.
These things are eventually going to become habit and even though I’m currently only having symptoms on my left foot, I know I’m susceptible to having it on the right, so I’ll do the same on that side. And even when I no longer have symptoms (which could take 6-12 months…no lie…and I’ll expect that and not be surprised when my pain is not gone in 3 days) I’ll still continue to stretch.

In about a week or two, if my symptoms aren’t gradually improving I’ll start using a night splint. That is a well padded splint you can wear at night to keep the plantar fascia stretched out. At night we sleep with our feet pointed down so the plantar fascia gets tight and even though we now know that this disorder has something to do with the Four F’s, once we’ve got it, the nightly contracture of the plantar fascia keeps reinjuring it, like Prometheus and the eagle.

And last but certainly not least; I’m going to drink more water, eat more fruits and veggies, try to eat as much organic whole foods as I can and keep losing more weight. BTW, I’m only 3 of the four F’s now. Which is the one we have control over? Yeah, you got it. My BMI is now 24 and I am officially “healthy.” But I have to pay for past transgressions. Keep following my blog so you can get more updates on how I’m doing.