Latest weigh in and more foot pain

I just had another weigh in this morning and came in at 101 kg! That's
about 225 pounds, down from 123kg (274 pounds).

I am so proud of myself. Having this newsgroup to read has been so
inspirational, too. Thanks everyone.

On a not-so-bright note, I did see a podiatrist who put some padding into my
shoes and gave me exercises to do to help my feet and ankles. But walking
home from work yesterday was complete agony. By the time I got back to my
car I was almost sobbing in pain. ( Is it supposed to hurt worse before
it gets better, or did I just get a dud podiatrist who doesn't know what
she's doing? She told me to wear my shoes all the time, but there's not way
I'm going to put those torture devices on if I don't have to. Does anyone
here have any experience with plantar faciitis, which is what she said my
problem was?

Thanks in advance for any input.


By the way, Beverly, Krista's sight was very interesting. Thanks for
telling me about it.

Rowena.

"diva_ex_machina" wrote in message

I just had another weigh in this morning and came in at 101 kg!
That's about 225 pounds, down from 123kg (274 pounds).

I am so proud of myself. Having this newsgroup to read has been so
inspirational, too. Thanks everyone.

Congrats on the weight loss!

On a not-so-bright note, I did see a podiatrist who put some padding
into my shoes and gave me exercises to do to help my feet and ankles.
But walking home from work yesterday was complete agony. By the time
I got back to my car I was almost sobbing in pain. ( Is it
supposed to hurt worse before it gets better, or did I just get a dud
podiatrist who doesn't know what she's doing? She told me to wear my
shoes all the time, but there's not way I'm going to put those
torture devices on if I don't have to. Does anyone here have any
experience with plantar faciitis, which is what she said my problem
was?

I used to suffer terribly from plantar faciitis. Your doctor is right. You
should wear good fitting, supportive shoes whenever you're on your feet. Do
not walk barefoot. Ice packs and antiinflamatory pain medicine like
ibuprofen will help to reduce the swelling. Doing the exercises consistantly
will definitely help.

Another thing that will help is using heel cushions that have a gel spot in
the center. You can find them in most pharmacies.
--
Jeri
265/189/120
Atkins since 11/5/01
"Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right."

"diva_ex_machina" wrote in message
...
I just had another weigh in this morning and came in at 101 kg! That's
about 225 pounds, down from 123kg (274 pounds).

I am so proud of myself. Having this newsgroup to read has been so
inspirational, too. Thanks everyone.

On a not-so-bright note, I did see a podiatrist who put some padding into
my
shoes and gave me exercises to do to help my feet and ankles. But walking
home from work yesterday was complete agony. By the time I got back to my
car I was almost sobbing in pain. ( Is it supposed to hurt worse
before
it gets better, or did I just get a dud podiatrist who doesn't know what
she's doing? She told me to wear my shoes all the time, but there's not
way
I'm going to put those torture devices on if I don't have to. Does anyone
here have any experience with plantar faciitis, which is what she said my
problem was?

Thanks in advance for any input.


By the way, Beverly, Krista's sight was very interesting. Thanks for
telling me about it.

Rowena.

Congrats on the loss! Continue to feel proud! Sorry about the feet, I wish
I could help but I'm clueless.

Jenn

On Sat, 4 Oct 2003 10:03:43 +1000, "diva_ex_machina"
wrote:

I just had another weigh in this morning and came in at 101 kg! That's
about 225 pounds, down from 123kg (274 pounds).
I am so proud of myself. Having this newsgroup to read has been so
inspirational, too. Thanks everyone.

Wonderful progress, Rowena! You should indeed feel proud!

On a not-so-bright note, I did see a podiatrist who put some padding into my
shoes and gave me exercises to do to help my feet and ankles. But walking
home from work yesterday was complete agony. By the time I got back to my
car I was almost sobbing in pain. ( Is it supposed to hurt worse before
it gets better, or did I just get a dud podiatrist who doesn't know what
she's doing? She told me to wear my shoes all the time, but there's not way
I'm going to put those torture devices on if I don't have to. Does anyone
here have any experience with plantar faciitis, which is what she said my
problem was?

I had plantar fasciitis once, around 6-7 years ago -- got it from
walking around for two days, wearing dress pumps, on the concrete
floors at a trade show. It took many months to heal, but eventually
it did and I had no traces of it afterward. I didn't do anything
particular for it -- just tried to do whatever was most comfortable.
I went without shoes quite a bit. Subsequent to having this, I saw a
pamphlet at my orthopedist's office with some exercises that are
supposed to help. I did a quick web search and found the following:
http://www.med.umich.edu/1libr/sma/sma_planfasc_rex.htm. I'm sure you
could find more -- I got lots of hits (googled "plantar fasciitis"
exercises). These may well be the same exercises as the podiatrist
recommended.

Chris

Ouch. I sympathize with you. I suffered enormously for almost a year about
ten years ago. Oddly enough, it was when I sustained another tennis injury
that the root of my problems were solved with PT.

The facia is a thin, fibrous material (for lack of a better word) that
covers the bottom of the foot. When it becomes inflamed, it is painful and
miserable. Frequently, the first few steps in the morning are very painful.

You are already addressing one of the biggest contributing factors and that
would be losing weight. Every pound you lose results in exponentially fewer
pounds of impact on your feet every day.

Good shoes are mandatory. If 90 percent of your clothing budget goes to
shoes, it is worth it. The toes of the shoes should be relatively stiff as
this will help flex the facia and make it more pliable. Some OT's and PT's
advocate the use of a heel lift inside the shoe. Shoes are individual as
well. They need to fit your feet. Just because I always wear Avias with a
high arch support does not mean that you will fare equally as well. It may
take a while to find the shoes that work for you.

Specific gentle stretching exercises also help. Anti-inflammatory drugs are
also very useful. The key is to take them before you really need them and
then not to use the pain free intervals to re-injure yourself.

My tennis injury involved tearing the belly of my calf muscle resulting in
scar tissue and stiff and tender muscle for many months. It was notable
that I felt the muscle split (I get queasy thinking of it to this day) when
I leaned over to pick up a tennis ball. I was completely disabled! I
couldn't walk off the tennis court. In order for me not to hurt myself, I
had to constantly stretch my calves. For me, that was what eventually
offered long term help with my feet. There are numerous ways to stretch
your calves but all should be done slowly and without bouncing movements
that may injure the muscles. The easiest way to do this on the fly is to
face a wall, back up a few feet and lean against the wall. Gently lower
your heels to the floor and hold for a few minutes. Apparently, calves
frequently contribute to the problem although I am at a loss as to
understand how

Ice is good for inflammation. You might try icing your feet after walking.
Keep one of those blue things in the freezer just for your feet and use it
when you get home in the evenings.

Although it will take a while for your faciitis to resolve, you should see a
steady decline in the pain. If you begin to get better and then it suddenly
gets worse again, you may have inadvertently caused a reinjury. In this
case, look carefully at the prior 24 hours to determine what you may have
done.

Walking is good. I, personally, could not do any high impact aerobics or
running while my foot was inflamed. However, keeping off your foot without
doing the appropriate exercises may cause it to become worse.

If you get no relief, ask for a physical therapy apt. Taping the foot helps
for some people but it didn't for me. Wearing a brace at night to keep your
foot from relaxing too much also is reported to help with a.m. pain. I
didn't do all of that.

I do remember how very painful it was for me to have this problem. At the
time I worked in the CCU on very hard floors frequently doing 12 hours
shifts. I would have to take patients to CT and the OR or push crash carts,
etc. around. It was miserable! Like you, there were days I wanted to cry.
Thank goodness, I hurt my calf playing tennis and finally took a week off my
feet and then slowly learned how to treat them right!

j


"diva_ex_machina" wrote in message
...
I just had another weigh in this morning and came in at 101 kg! That's
about 225 pounds, down from 123kg (274 pounds).

I am so proud of myself. Having this newsgroup to read has been so
inspirational, too. Thanks everyone.

On a not-so-bright note, I did see a podiatrist who put some padding into
my
shoes and gave me exercises to do to help my feet and ankles. But walking
home from work yesterday was complete agony. By the time I got back to my
car I was almost sobbing in pain. ( Is it supposed to hurt worse
before
it gets better, or did I just get a dud podiatrist who doesn't know what
she's doing? She told me to wear my shoes all the time, but there's not
way
I'm going to put those torture devices on if I don't have to. Does anyone
here have any experience with plantar faciitis, which is what she said my
problem was?

Thanks in advance for any input.


By the way, Beverly, Krista's sight was very interesting. Thanks for
telling me about it.

Rowena.

Hi Julianne

"Julianne" :
Ouch. I sympathize with you. I suffered enormously for almost a year
about
ten years ago. Oddly enough, it was when I sustained another tennis
injury
that the root of my problems were solved with PT.

The facia is a thin, fibrous material (for lack of a better word) that
covers the bottom of the foot. When it becomes inflamed, it is painful
and
miserable. Frequently, the first few steps in the morning are very
painful.

That's true, but mine seem to hurt all the way to work, which is about a
fifteen minute walk. They settle down a bit after that, mainly because I
have a job which allows me to sit most of the day. So I take my shoes off
and rub my feet together and stretch them.

You are already addressing one of the biggest contributing factors and
that
would be losing weight. Every pound you lose results in exponentially
fewer
pounds of impact on your feet every day.

True, but it's a long wait until I get down enough to make them stop
hurting, unfortunately.

Good shoes are mandatory. If 90 percent of your clothing budget goes to
shoes, it is worth it. The toes of the shoes should be relatively stiff
as
this will help flex the facia and make it more pliable. Some OT's and
PT's
advocate the use of a heel lift inside the shoe. Shoes are individual as
well. They need to fit your feet. Just because I always wear Avias with
a
high arch support does not mean that you will fare equally as well. It
may
take a while to find the shoes that work for you.

The first thing I did when the pain became intollerable was buy new shoes.
I have a hard time finding ones which fit well. Aside from having flat
feet, mine are pretty wide. The shoes I bought are quite roomy in the toe
area, unusually, but they slide up and down over my heels. No matter which
way I tie them I can't get rid of that.

My podiatrist returned my call this morning and told me to take a layer off
the padding she put onto my insoles, and that seems to have helped a little
bit.

Specific gentle stretching exercises also help. Anti-inflammatory drugs
are
also very useful. The key is to take them before you really need them and
then not to use the pain free intervals to re-injure yourself.

Hm, I have some anti-inflammatories around here I could use. They're left
over from when I had rheumatoid arthritis. I'll give it a shot. My
podiatrist mentioned that I should stretch my feet before I get out of bed
and then rub some dencorub or other heating gel into my them. So far my
colleagues haven't commented on the smell. ) I have to say the dencorub
doesn't do much good.

Do you know if anti-inflammatory drugs actually help fix the root cause of
the problem, or do they just help get rid of soreness?

My tennis injury involved tearing the belly of my calf muscle resulting in
scar tissue and stiff and tender muscle for many months. It was notable
that I felt the muscle split (I get queasy thinking of it to this day)
when
I leaned over to pick up a tennis ball. I was completely disabled!

Ouch!

I
couldn't walk off the tennis court. In order for me not to hurt myself,
I
had to constantly stretch my calves. For me, that was what eventually
offered long term help with my feet. There are numerous ways to stretch
your calves but all should be done slowly and without bouncing movements
that may injure the muscles. The easiest way to do this on the fly is to
face a wall, back up a few feet and lean against the wall. Gently lower
your heels to the floor and hold for a few minutes. Apparently, calves
frequently contribute to the problem although I am at a loss as to
understand how

I do have pretty flexible calf muscles from stetching twice a day, which the
podiatrist commented upon when I saw her. The stretching exercises she gave
me put a lot of pressure on my poor feet though, so I'm going to keep doing
the ones I do already. This involves bending over and grabbing and pulling
up my toes while keeping my knees straight.

Ice is good for inflammation. You might try icing your feet after
walking.
Keep one of those blue things in the freezer just for your feet and use it
when you get home in the evenings.

This is interesting. My thoughts on ice were that it just helps with the
pain and does bugger all to actually fix the problem so why bother? But I
tried alternately icing and stretching my feet last night and it was like a
miracle! My feet still feel better for it this morning.

Although it will take a while for your faciitis to resolve, you should see
a
steady decline in the pain. If you begin to get better and then it
suddenly
gets worse again, you may have inadvertently caused a reinjury. In this
case, look carefully at the prior 24 hours to determine what you may have
done.

Walking is good. I, personally, could not do any high impact aerobics or
running while my foot was inflamed. However, keeping off your foot
without
doing the appropriate exercises may cause it to become worse.

Interesting. My problem seems to have developed when I was walking up and
down the back stairs for 20 minutes each day. I don't do that anymore,
needless to say.

If you get no relief, ask for a physical therapy apt. Taping the foot
helps
for some people but it didn't for me. Wearing a brace at night to keep
your
foot from relaxing too much also is reported to help with a.m. pain. I
didn't do all of that.

I do remember how very painful it was for me to have this problem. At the
time I worked in the CCU on very hard floors frequently doing 12 hours
shifts. I would have to take patients to CT and the OR or push crash
carts,
etc. around. It was miserable! Like you, there were days I wanted to
cry.
Thank goodness, I hurt my calf playing tennis and finally took a week off
my
feet and then slowly learned how to treat them right!

That's pretty ironic. It's amazing how we will often ignore pain until it
becomes intolerable, and then end up with a bigger problem to fix.

Thanks for the tips.

Rowena.

273/225/150

"diva_ex_machina" wrote in message
...
Hi Julianne

"Julianne" :
Ouch. I sympathize with you. I suffered enormously for almost a year
about
ten years ago. Oddly enough, it was when I sustained another tennis
injury
that the root of my problems were solved with PT.

The facia is a thin, fibrous material (for lack of a better word) that
covers the bottom of the foot. When it becomes inflamed, it is painful
and
miserable. Frequently, the first few steps in the morning are very
painful.

That's true, but mine seem to hurt all the way to work, which is about a
fifteen minute walk. They settle down a bit after that, mainly because I
have a job which allows me to sit most of the day. So I take my shoes off
and rub my feet together and stretch them.

You are already addressing one of the biggest contributing factors and
that
would be losing weight. Every pound you lose results in exponentially
fewer
pounds of impact on your feet every day.

True, but it's a long wait until I get down enough to make them stop
hurting, unfortunately.

I seriously wish I wasn't so bad with remembering numbers. It's not age or
anything - just a learning disability Anyway, the numbers I read were
something like a ten pound weight loss can take over a thousand pounds of
cumulative pressure over the course of a day! So, although you have a ways
to go, you have already decreased the amount of weight on your feet
tremendously. Keep it up.

Good shoes are mandatory. If 90 percent of your clothing budget goes to
shoes, it is worth it. The toes of the shoes should be relatively stiff
as
this will help flex the facia and make it more pliable. Some OT's and
PT's
advocate the use of a heel lift inside the shoe. Shoes are individual
as
well. They need to fit your feet. Just because I always wear Avias
with
a
high arch support does not mean that you will fare equally as well. It
may
take a while to find the shoes that work for you.

The first thing I did when the pain became intollerable was buy new shoes.
I have a hard time finding ones which fit well. Aside from having flat
feet, mine are pretty wide. The shoes I bought are quite roomy in the toe
area, unusually, but they slide up and down over my heels. No matter
which
way I tie them I can't get rid of that.

Go without electricity if you have to in order to buy new shoes. If they
are riding up and down on your heel they don't fit well. When I first had
my problem, I bought a very expensive pair of Nikes. After a week, they
killed me. I was able to return them and apply the money to new shoes. I
also have flat, wide (and short) feet and do not like 'toe heavy' shoes
because they interfere with my ability to run fast on the tennis courts.
However, 'toe heavy' shoes with a high arch work very well for me. Avias
and another brand that escape my memory temporarily fit into that category.
The one that escapes my memory is marketed primarily as a tennis shoe and
has a blue and red logo. They are far more attractive than regular athletic
shoes but the arch is not as high. The arch causes the foot to gently
stretch all day long. It is interesting to know that I ended up with two
identical pair of shoes. I wore one to death and the other was left behind
somewhere. Now, the shoes I've worn the most cause my feet to be tired
while thel ess worn ones make my feet feel good. The rule is new shoes
every six months if you wear them several times a week for serious activity.

My podiatrist returned my call this morning and told me to take a layer
off
the padding she put onto my insoles, and that seems to have helped a
little
bit.

Specific gentle stretching exercises also help. Anti-inflammatory drugs
are
also very useful. The key is to take them before you really need them
and
then not to use the pain free intervals to re-injure yourself.

Hm, I have some anti-inflammatories around here I could use. They're left
over from when I had rheumatoid arthritis. I'll give it a shot. My
podiatrist mentioned that I should stretch my feet before I get out of bed
and then rub some dencorub or other heating gel into my them. So far my
colleagues haven't commented on the smell. ) I have to say the
dencorub
doesn't do much good.

Do you know if anti-inflammatory drugs actually help fix the root cause of
the problem, or do they just help get rid of soreness?

The soreness results from something gone awry such as too much repetitive
movement, poor fitting shoes, etc. The drugs won't cure that. But, if you
take them early, the pain will be prevented as anti-inflammatories inhibit
the body's response. If you wait until you are in great pain, the whole
bottle will be of little use unless you go into a coma and the pain is
secondary The danger is in taking the meds, becoming pain free and
re-injuring your foot. Pain is a good thing - really It keeps us from
being stupid. Sometimes, when we get rid of the pain, we do stupid things
and the problem ends up worse. There is an ER intown doc who plays tennis.
He kept injecting himself with cortisone so he could play tennis. He
totally trashed his elbow. Cortisone might have been good for pain relief
but to relieve the pain and then abuse the joint was foolish. (You would
think a doc would know better but I understand, as a fellow tennis player.

My tennis injury involved tearing the belly of my calf muscle resulting
in
scar tissue and stiff and tender muscle for many months. It was notable
that I felt the muscle split (I get queasy thinking of it to this day)
when
I leaned over to pick up a tennis ball. I was completely disabled!

Ouch!

We'll not talk about this anymore as it may incite post traumatic stress
disorder. While I have had more painful things happen, nothing has ever
been as 'gross' as that.

I
couldn't walk off the tennis court. In order for me not to hurt
myself,
I
had to constantly stretch my calves. For me, that was what eventually
offered long term help with my feet. There are numerous ways to stretch
your calves but all should be done slowly and without bouncing movements
that may injure the muscles. The easiest way to do this on the fly is
to
face a wall, back up a few feet and lean against the wall. Gently lower
your heels to the floor and hold for a few minutes. Apparently, calves
frequently contribute to the problem although I am at a loss as to
understand how

I do have pretty flexible calf muscles from stetching twice a day, which
the
podiatrist commented upon when I saw her. The stretching exercises she
gave
me put a lot of pressure on my poor feet though, so I'm going to keep
doing
the ones I do already. This involves bending over and grabbing and
pulling
up my toes while keeping my knees straight.

Do you have short legs? I always used to feel so inadequate because I
couldn't reach my toes, etc. like the other women in my gym and finally an
instructor told me that it was unlikely I would ever be able to do what she
did because my legs were so much longer. I felt much better The calf
stretches from the wall are good because you can do them anywhere, including
the ladies room, when your feet are tired. But, if you can reach your toes,
go for it!

Ice is good for inflammation. You might try icing your feet after
walking.
Keep one of those blue things in the freezer just for your feet and use
it
when you get home in the evenings.

This is interesting. My thoughts on ice were that it just helps with the
pain and does bugger all to actually fix the problem so why bother? But I
tried alternately icing and stretching my feet last night and it was like
a
miracle! My feet still feel better for it this morning.

Actually, my understanding is that ice helps with inflammation. Try it. It
will not hurt the overall problem in this case. Those little blue things in
the freezer are cheap and you can mark with a sharpie that they are for
feet. Anytime I have an injury that I feel might result in swelling, I go
for ice. Think RICE as cut and pasted from the NIH website below.


R.I.C.E.
Rest
Reduce or stop using the injured area for 48 hours. If you have a leg
injury, you may need to stay off of it completely.

Ice
Put an ice pack on the injured area for 20 minutes at a time, 4 to 8 times
per day. Use a cold pack, ice bag, or a plastic bag filled with crushed ice
that has been wrapped in a towel.

Compression
Compression of an injured ankle, knee, or wrist may help reduce the
swelling. These include bandages such as elastic wraps, special boots, air
casts and splints. Ask your doctor which one is best.

Elevation
Keep the injured area elevated above the level of the heart. Use a pillow to
help elevate an injured limb.

RICE is a good rule of thumb but not always practical and your injury is not
acute. However, use the principles to employ ice, compression (imo - good
shoes) and elevation as in putting your feet up once in a while. If you
suddenly get much worse, go for a day of rest!


Although it will take a while for your faciitis to resolve, you should
see
a
steady decline in the pain. If you begin to get better and then it
suddenly
gets worse again, you may have inadvertently caused a reinjury. In this
case, look carefully at the prior 24 hours to determine what you may
have
done.

Walking is good. I, personally, could not do any high impact aerobics
or
running while my foot was inflamed. However, keeping off your foot
without
doing the appropriate exercises may cause it to become worse.

Interesting. My problem seems to have developed when I was walking up and
down the back stairs for 20 minutes each day. I don't do that anymore,
needless to say.


I like stair climbers but many stairs are not ergonomically good for
exercise. Now that my foot is healed, I am actively trying to delay my
first knee replacement. Frequently, stairs cause knees to bend greater than
90 degress. For anyone over 30, I recommend equipment that can be
controlled. I know that when I used to run stairs in school, it was always
running down stairs that hurt me more than running up stairs. Find
something else. Tennis is good if you can find someone else to pick up
balls for you

If you get no relief, ask for a physical therapy apt. Taping the foot
helps
for some people but it didn't for me. Wearing a brace at night to keep
your
foot from relaxing too much also is reported to help with a.m. pain. I
didn't do all of that.

I do remember how very painful it was for me to have this problem. At
the
time I worked in the CCU on very hard floors frequently doing 12 hours
shifts. I would have to take patients to CT and the OR or push crash
carts,
etc. around. It was miserable! Like you, there were days I wanted to
cry.
Thank goodness, I hurt my calf playing tennis and finally took a week
off
my
feet and then slowly learned how to treat them right!

That's pretty ironic. It's amazing how we will often ignore pain until it
becomes intolerable, and then end up with a bigger problem to fix.

Thanks for the tips.

I do so wish you well. My best advice is to take it seriously and be
patient. Truthfully, I remember the pain being such that I laid in bed in
the mornings dreading getting up and bearing weight. And yet, although I
can remember so many things, I do not remember when it went away. I just
sort of got on a routine and forgot about taking advil and motrin and bought
a pair of heels (do NOT do this until your foot is healed) and it somehow
became a distant memory. It will for you, too. Give it time and do the
right thing.

Rowena.

273/225/150

On Sat, 4 Oct 2003 10:03:43 +1000, "diva_ex_machina"
wrote:

I just had another weigh in this morning and came in at 101 kg! That's
about 225 pounds, down from 123kg (274 pounds).

I am so proud of myself. Having this newsgroup to read has been so
inspirational, too. Thanks everyone.

On a not-so-bright note, I did see a podiatrist who put some padding into my
shoes and gave me exercises to do to help my feet and ankles. But walking
home from work yesterday was complete agony. By the time I got back to my
car I was almost sobbing in pain. ( Is it supposed to hurt worse before
it gets better, or did I just get a dud podiatrist who doesn't know what
she's doing? She told me to wear my shoes all the time, but there's not way
I'm going to put those torture devices on if I don't have to. Does anyone
here have any experience with plantar faciitis, which is what she said my
problem was?

Yep, I get it from time to time. I am also heavy... currently, as of
today, 239.5. And I have bad ankles from childhood. So I hear you
about the pain! I was about there yesterday after being up and down on
a ladder most of the day. Could hardly stand or walk.

And that was just my ankles... I was not having plantar fasciitis
problems.

When I do have that problem, I have found that soaking my feet in ice
water helps. It's not pleasant, but it has helped me with the
inflammation.

That and trying not to be on my feet too much. I have never gone to a
doctor for it though, so take the above with a grain of salt.

I do think you should call your doctor and ask if the shoes/padding is
supposed to hurt so! And maybe get a second opinion from a different
podiatrist.

262/239.0/200 first goal