PF, solutions, questions, my foot history.

Posted by Jo Hartman on 12/03/98
Last year I was diagnosed with PF. I just "suddenly" woke up one morning unable to walk on my heel without excruciating pain. Good thing it was only one foot. I've always had calf and arch cramps from wearing silly shoes, and had run around the mall at Christmas time. The same thing I'm doing now! My daughter's birthday is the 21st which doesn't help. The podiatrist I went to is pretty good, but does not know enough about the other available products. He cast my feet and gave me huge, think hard resin blue things that killed me and made my arches swell more than wearing my "silly" shoes. They were so thick I could only wear athletic shoes which my heel still popped out of. I couldn't even wear them long enough to show him what they did. Before he did this though I was desparate as I had a birthday and Christmas and a trip out of town to deal with in 2 days. We opted for the cortizone shot with a lidacaine buffer. Worked right away on the heel pain and I could walk, but later after comparing memories of dentists realized I must be sensitive to any "caine" drugs as I thought my entire leg was going to explode about an hour later. I always wondered why the dentist hurt so much down to the bone, compared to other people. He took an xray and said there was no heel spur. He said the heel spur is actually extra calcium trying to form to correct the injury of the pulled PF where it connects to the heel bone. I also have a 45 degree angle to my arch. He said 30 degrees is about normal. He also said a high arch is as bad as flat feet and overstretches that area, especially now that I'm getting a little older. He did say weight did not necessarily have anything to do with it. I think he didn't want to hurt my feelings.

The next thing I did, was to give up all the silly shoes, well mostly, and bought several pairs of Cobbie Cuddlers, K-mart's brand of nurse type shoes but they have other styles. These work pretty good but I might have not been that far gone as some people I see here. Their sandals do not have as much arch support as the closed in shoes. My 10 year old daughter wears some, as she is big for her age and has a high arch, but a wide bone on top. Kinda weird looking. My kids get it from my husband, who also had custom arch supports in high school, but can't remember what he had. If I stick to these shoes I'm pretty much fine.

I still haven't found something good enough for athletic shoes. I have a short and narrow heel, most good athletic shoes kill my ankle bone and make my ankles swell. I just gave away an expensive pair. It is frustrating as I can't walk long distance to lose weight which would help my ability to walk in the first place! Yes, I have the extra 40 pounds from having kids. And I'm not that active, but in spurts when dealing with kids.

Actually I had my first heel pain when I was pregnant 10 years ago, but didn't know what it was then and not so severe. My sister told me to use the Dr. Scholls leather type arch support inserts. I think around $10. They are thin and stiff, but kind of mold to your foot over time, which is good, but then eventualy mold too much andlast only about 6 months. I have a pair I still wear when I just have to wear those cheap flats, but not enough support for long term mall shopping!I've used their athletic shoe replacement, which was pretty good though not sold as a support. My daughter used their combo heel and arch support for her soccer shoes, because she could feel the spikes, but not very much arch to them.

My Aunt in Palm Springs got the Alznner's and swears by them. She wanted the barefoots which wear cheaper, but she is very petite and they didn't have her size. There is a store local to me here in Orange County. I didn't see them talked about on the website and wondered if anyone has tried them?

Well, I think this is enough history. Next week I plan to look at some local stores to compare choices.

Would be glad to hear from anyone,
Jo
hil-c45-060-vty154.as.wcom.net 19:37:40



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