Hit: Cumulative Wisdom Re: Plantar Faciitis

[Hildegard Pleva <HPleva@AOL.COM>]

Please, first I beg the patience of those who are getting impatient with this
subject. I must tell you that of all the queries I have posted to this list I
received the largest number of responses by far to my request for shoe and
other suggestions regarding this condition. From this response I assume that
this is a pretty significant work-related problem for librarians. Therefore I
am going to try to give an overall summary of the wisdom contained in the
responses I received. These are the kinds of things people had to say:

1. Don't let the condition (pain in the feet especially in the heel and arch)
go untreated. Without proper diagnosis and treatment it will probably get
worse and could, if severe enough, eventually require surgery. Many people
expressed great
regret about not seeking treatment from a specialist.

2. Possible treatments running from the easiest to the worst case scenario:
     a. Supportive, cushioned shoes with good arches - the best running shoes
are
         great, recommended by my foot doctor. Folks recommended a wide
variety of
         brands. It seems to all depend on your foot and what brand best
conforms to
          its shape and particular arch. Among the suggestions were
Birkenstocks, Reebok, Clark's Mary Janes, SAS, etc.

     b. Do not go barefoot at any time. Do not wear flats without arch
supports. Do not
         wear any shoe with a heel higher than 2 inches.

     c. When the foot is particularly painful, that is when the ligament is
most
         inflammed, apply ice. Easy way to do this is to put a can of frozen
juice under
         the arch. This can can be marked so that you use it over and over
again and    not worry about someone using it for juice. As one who has had
knee surgery I learned that the best ice poack for knees is a bag or two of
frozen peas. Icing should last 20 minutes, then take a break and do it again.
Keep it up.

     d. Stretch the ligament before getting out of bed in the morning, before
putting
         weight on the foot. Do this by bringing the foot forward from the
ankles, making
         the toes point straight up in the air. Another way to do this is to
bunch up a
         long towel, place it under the foot and take one end of the towel in
each hand
         and pull the foot toward you. These exercises lessen the trauma to
the
         ligament which has retracted overnight when you take those first
steps in the
         morning.

     e. Some kind of supportive orthotic shoe insert. Recommendations went
from Dr.
         Scholl's brand to those professionally made from a mold of your foot
and
          can cost up to $300.00. I have bought a silicon heel cushion ($50 a
pair) made
          in Germany which are very good for extra cushioning in a shoe that
already
          has good arch support. Another recommendation was given for
Anti-Shox a
          sports oththotic made by Apex Foot Health Industries, South
Hackensack,
          New Jersey 07606 (1-800-526-2739). Still another was Gel-thotic or
Gel-thonics. Today I visited a local shoemaker who specializes in making
orthotics. His cost $200.00 but he recommended a commercial, full-sole
support arthotic which costs $50.00 as a first try. I am going back this week
with some of my shoes to try them out.

     f. When the pain is intense, as in the first flare up of the inflamation
in the heel
        caused by the plantar ligament pulling away from the heel bone a
doctor may
         recommend a few shots of steroid given once a week for 2-3 weeks.
The worst part of this was the novacane shot that came first. My doctor also
strapped my foot with tape (no showers for a while) each week to provide
extra arch support. In my case these shots did the trick, along with ice,
foot exercises, and good shoes.

     g. Of course, as is my case, extra body weight does not help the
situation.

     h. Some folks recommended preventive exercises (once the acute
inflamation is
         under control). These exercises included rolling a two inch section
of pipe
        under the foot (like the frozen juice can suggestion above). Also
mentioned
       were the gentle kind of arch and Achilles tendon stretching that
runners do
       where they lean into a wall and extend one leg at a time out behind
them.

     i. Surgery is the last resort. Those who have had it said that it
required a long
        recuperation and left them still requiring supportive shoes most of
the time.

3. Some people reported that they believed that their normal exercise regime
had caused the problem to flare up in the first place - the way they stepped
on the stair-stepper machine at the gym or the stretching exercises on the
balance beam.

Well, I hope that that does it. Thyanks for your patience.

Hildeagrd N. Pleva
Linden AVenue Middle School, Red Hook, New York