I've been battling plantar fasciitis for over two years now. It feels like my heel is very badly bruised, it's painful to stand or walk, or sometimes even just sit there. I'd gotten some custom orthotics for my shoes in August 2005. I wasn't given clear instructions that I should break my feet in to them slowly. My feet have suffered ever since. I went back to the podiatrist who suggested I may have plantar fasciitis but then never did anything beyond that. I had to go back repeatedly to have minor adjustments made to the orthotics to no avail. In March 2007 I saw a different podiatrist, the first words out of his mouth were: you have plantar fasciitis, we need to do this, that and the other thing to treat it. Which included a walking cast for 2 months, 2 rounds of cortisone injections, and ultimately 2 more sets of custom orthotics (anyone seeing a pattern here, just wait there's more). The second set actually made my feet much, much worse. :-( Finally, this doctor suggested a couple of experimental (read: not covered by insurance) procedures. I don't think so.
Last April I started seeing a new massage therapist, Carmen Strand, specializing in myofascial work. Oversimplified, the fascia is the stuff that connects the skin to the muscles. There is nothing quite like having someone dig their thumbs into the already very painful, tender soles of your feet. The upside is that it actually gives me some relief. Unfortunately it is only temporary relief. Carmen actually pointed out that I have plantar fasciitis in both feet, I can just feel it more in the right foot. I don't want to post her phone number here but if you want a great massage therapist contact me and I'll put you in touch.
The day after Christmas I saw a new doctor who specializes in managing pain. One of the things he does is called prolotherapy. It involves injecting a sugar solution into the painful location causing the body to go into a super healing mode. I finally made my appointment. Get this, I'm going in on 2/20 at 2:20 and the appointment should last about 20 minutes. If only we were doing both feet, it could be 2-20 minutes. I'm not sure what the numerological meaning is, but it looks like it has to mean something.
I'm still seeing Carmen and I'm hoping the prolotherapy will really help. Keep your fingers crossed.
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2 comments:
Fingers crossed! I was wondering how that was going to work out, and I can't wait to hear. I do hope it works like magic!
I hope it works too.. I'm glad my orthotics came with instructions. I got them from The Orthotic Shop and when they came the instructions informed me about the break-in period and how to care for them. Sounds like a major problem was avoided.
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