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Wednesday, January 02, 2008

I am suffering pain in my foot arch near my heel

Hello Gary;

I am writing to you from Turkey. I am a male of 49 yrs old and I am in good health and posture. I am 1.85 meter height and weight is 85 kg.

I am suffering from a pain in my left foot arch near my heel (but not exactly on the heel). This arised suddenly.

I found yr mail address fro yr blog site, I downloaded the "Correcting the pronation" e-book.

I went to a doctor and he gave me an orthopedic cushion to be put in my shoes. For this, he just scanned my foot and took the picture of my feet placed me on a special plate when walking. (for both feet)

As treatment, he gave me stretching exercises to strengthen calf, achilles tendon to be done in the morning and nights. He suggested me to do these exercises during 6 wks and he will check situation afterwards.

I am now researching the main cause of this.

Other possible factors:

My father has rheumatoid arthritis.

I am not a well sportive person. I was not doing sports in my life.

I am sending the scanned pictures of this report and the picture of my feet seen at the back.

My question is:

1) Why this didn't appear on my other foot?
2) What is the probability of disappearing this with stretching?
3) Am I Going to do the stretching exercises all my life?
4) What else do you suggest?

Thanks & Best Regards,

T
______________________________________________
Gary Moller comments:
"T", my first impression of your feet is they are very good - much better than many I have seen in my time.

While your feet do pronate somewhat I would not be at all concerned about this. The exercises you are practicing should help. You need do little more other than perhaps to fit some Formthotics Active innersoles into your shoes. These will give some additional support to the feet during a long day on your feet.

I suspect that you may have strained one of the muscles of the foot arch that attaches to the heel bone. The cause may not always be all that obvious; but can be the result of a slip, stumble or doing an unusual amount of exercise, or even standing about all day in the wrong shoes. Since much time has elapsed, I think the best course of action is to find a strong Turkish masseur who can locate the painful areas in the feet and massage them progressively over several sessions until the areas are soft, supple and pain free. This therapy, when combined with stretching and strengthening exercises may give lasting relief. The exercises in my E-publication on correcting pronating feet is perfect for the feet that I can see in the photos you have supplied. Of course, as the years go by, you must keep up the exercises. These become increasingly important as one gets older.

Take every opportunity to walk on grass and sand barefoot.

Please let us know how you get on and wishing you all the best "T".


1 comment:

Unknown said...

Sounds like plantar fasciitis. Not so much a strain in the muscles; rather inflammation of the fascia that attaches to the heel on the bottom of the foot. I would presume the pain is worst in the morning? (espeically the first few steps from bed). Garys suggestions are appropriate. It has been shown that any decent generic orthotic device is effective at reducing pain from this condition, so a specific branded one may not be important.
As an alterniative to massage therapy, using a drink bottle full of ice and rolling this along the arch of you foot can be very effective and cost effective.
hope this helps