Wednesday 4th - 30 lifting for back and 30 minutes of running.

OUch my heel and my right ankle has been killing me. I can't stand up straight when I get out of bed in the middle of the night to go pee and when I first get up. I might have to see the Pediatrist to see if I have Plantar Fasciitis. That would totally suck, but it would just add to the suckiness of my ankle/foot issues I already know I have. I've been to two already. I've done physical therapy and everything. One doctor told me he needed to shorten and lengthen some ligaments on the inside and outside of my feet. The other wanted to break and reset the bones of my feet. WTH you say??! NO WAY! So after more foot problems I'm going to attempt another place to see if they can fix me. Maybe a nice pair of orthotics?

Here is what the article I found on the net said:

"Never lose sight of the fact that almost all (about 98%) is curable. So called "incurable" heel pain or intractable plantar fasciitis is treatable via ESWT (http://www.ismst.com/ or http://www.asmst.org/)."

"Most heel pain is caused by plantar fasciitis, (pronounced PLANT-tar fashee-EYE-tiss), the fascia being a band or bundle of connective tissue and "-itis" means "inflammation. The plantar fascia is the ligament that stretches from the heel bone to the ball of the foot. It is trapezoidal in shape, being narrower at its attachment at the heel bone, then widening out as it attaches to the ball of the foot. While it attaches across the ball of the foot, the strongest portion attaches to the base of the big toe.

The plantar fascia, the "ligament" that gets sore, causing pain is responsible for holding or giving support to the arch of the foot as it bowstrings across the bottom of the foot. It covers the muscles on the bottom of the foot and endures tension that is equal to about 2.5 times body weight when walking but 3 to 4 times body weight while running.

The amount of tension in the plantar fascia can be increased by tight calf muscles and also by increased body weight. Being overweight makes plantar fasciitis more common but is not usually the main cause. People with painful heels often limit the amount of walking they do creating a syndrome that can contribute to being overweight. A slow, gradual weight loss program is superior to rapid weight loss."

"Like any repetitive stress injury, it repsonds well to rest, icing, stretching, massage and to a lessor extent, anti-inflammatory medication such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication (NSAID)s. Direct treatments such as splinting, orthotics,taping and physical therapy are often more successful in helping pain caused by plantar fasciitis (PF). Sometimes professional intervention is necessary but almost never surgical treatment which gas been supplanted by Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy (ESWT) which is discussed on this site (see http://www.asmst.org/). So called heel spurs are merely a chronically inflamed plantar fascia in which calcium forms and eventually bone. Heel spur syndrome is not treated differently than plantar fasciitis. Foot pain is simply not something people need to learn to live with. Painful heels are not a normal condition and can easily be cured with the right treatment."

Well I do walk around a lot for my job, but the times it hurts the most is before running, during running sometimes, and now walking or just standing on my feet. At least the article says it's not something I need to learn to live with. That would be horrible as I love to be active and don't want to stop running! I'll make an appointment tomorrow to see if I can give this another shot.

Boy am I glad that I had enough common sense to NOT get surgery on my feet!

All in all I've been documenting my food pretty well this week, but that does not mean I've been eating 20 or less points :(. I haven't been able to get all my workouts in either, but oh well. At least I'm aware of it and I'm trying to make changes in my busy schedule - somehow. I've got to start going to the gym at lunch again, but it's so busy at work. We ended up going at 10pm last night. That is really NOT an optimal time for my body/strength, but I did it though I was bitching the entire time - ask Z! Tee hee. My heels, high arches, and the back of my heels were so sore! I'm scared to see what happens at the gym tonight when I run, though I might opt for the cross trainier. We'll see.

(Engaged 9/16/05)