Planter Facciitis..Heel Pain...and Weight Loss?

Question

I did see a doctor for this and she did not take any pictures or anything but was pretty sure that this was my problem. She said though, that not much can be done for it without insurance which I am working on getting.

I am alittle over weight, I am 5'6 and about 230 lbs. I use to excersise regularly, and I miss my excersising (walking and Short Jogs). However, With my feet problems, I cannot do it anymore :0(

I am a very active person, so this is really affecting my life style. We do alot of activities with family and out door evets (Camping, swimming, games such as horse shoes, botchi ball, Crochet)..... I am a sunday school teacher of Pre Schoolers and we do many field trips and activites...they keep be very active. I want to loose weight and was putting an honest effort into it, except now I cannot do my excersise routine. My eating habits have changed...but I dont think that is enough. I did weight about 265 or so, so I was doing really well at losing the weight, but not I have stopped and I am sure its because I am not excersing as I was 5 months ago. I am still doing alittle such as water aerobics, but I dont think it is enough.

With my heal pain, how do I excersise and continue to loose the weight if I cannot hadle being on my feet...so frustrating.

Any advice would be really helpful!! Thanks!

Answer 1

I feel your pain! I had physical therapy for over a year, cortisone shots and prescribed exercises. I also tried every shoe insert available, I think! The exercises were with a theraband, picking up marbles with my toes and placing them in a cup, keeping the heel on the floor, and scrunching up a towel with my toes. There are also splints available that you sleep in that keep your toes flexed. You can find these are feelgoodstore.com or footsolutions.com Also, the shoe insert that worked for me was from yoursole.com. You heat it up in the oven, put it in your shoe and put your foot in. It molds to your foot. I wore tennis shoes continuously for over a year, but these worked!

Water aerobics are not going to give you enough exercise if you are used to walking. Swimming is the best non-impact aerobic exercise there is. I swim for 30 minutes almost every day and love it. The key for me was to plug the orifices that water could go in, i.e. eyes, ears and nose and now I'm almost a water baby! I found the reason I didn't like swimming was water getting in my ears! Another option is the stationary bike.

I hope this helps.  

Answer 2

Hi there, First of all congrats on your weight loss :) I also have PF and when it first started hurting I though oh well I will just go to the dr.'s office and they can help me, to my surprise they told me there was no cure for this. He said he could try injection cortisone in to he heel so I tried that...it did not work for me and I really did not like the feeling it gave (the fluid in the heel) I went to a foot doctor and what they told me that Foot orthotics may help, well for me they were great and reduced the amount of pain I have to this day. There are many ways of getting fit for these and the best way I found was to have the plaster make a cast of the foot. They cost me 400.00 and were worth every penny. The ones I have are half my foot length and go in the back of my shoe to support my heel. Hope you can find what works for you as I know how painful it can me.

Answer 3

Stacia:

I put up with the heel pain for more than 6 months. My doctor only prescribed anti-inflammatories, ice packs and foot baths with Epsom salts.  Then I saw a flyer at the chiropractor's office about podiatry.   Up until then, I had replaced all my shoes with Birkenstocks (outrageously expensive), risked being hunted down by the fashion police because they don't go with business suits, and had to pass up going anywhere that involved walking, with my kids (then 7 & 9).

I was told this was caused by my weight loss, and that the fat pads in my feet were dissolving and created this!  I hadn't lost more than 50 pounds.  

The podiatrist took an imprint of both feet, and within a week I had orthotics to put into my shoes.  He said I'd have to wear just my running shoes for a couple of weeks, but then I could gradually go back to regular shoes over time.  I picked up my orthotics the day before going away on a 2-week vacation.  Within the first hour, ALL the pain in the affected foot was gone.  I packed the car, went to the grocery store and cleaned the pool that night.  My husband thought I was on drugs. These really made a difference.  I also noticed that the orthotics made me stand straighter and that my back hurt alot less when standing.  I walked everywhere on vacation, without so much as an ice pack or foot bath, which had become a twice-a-day necessity.

I even climbed the stairs in the Utah State Capital building!  Twice.

The insurance covered the orthotics and when I got smaller ones for my dress shoes they paid for those too.  

So, there is life after Plantar Fasciitis. Lots of it!!

Good luck.