In November 2011 after wearing a new pair of ankle boots a few times I started to feel a sharp pain in my left foot. When I first wore the boots I thought they were a bit stiff around my ankles but I also believed they would loosen up. It eventually got harder for me to walk in them and so I ditched them. The pain didn’t go away and I paid a nervous visit to a foot doctor in Perth City. I had no idea what to expect. One thing that popped into my head was maybe I’d torn a muscle, but I couldn’t remember how I would’ve done that.
The diagnosis
The podiatrist made the announcement within 5 minutes of his thorough test. He showed me some 3D images of both feet and then gave me a note to say I’ve got what we call fallen arches, which meant my left foot had lost the curving arch on the inner side of the sole, just in front of the heel and that my right foot was on its way, too. He couldn’t tell what has caused it but I put it both to my weight and those stupid boots.
Fixing my feet
I invested in some very expensive custom-designed orthotics which both my health insurance provider and Medicare wouldn’t cover. The orthotics failed to fit into any pair of shoes that I could afford. I thought I’d rather read up on how to go natural and retrain my feet, if at all possible. I found exercises involving a tennis ball and also movements similar to what ballet dancers would use to exercise their feet. I swear to God this helped me a lot, along with instructions to walk as much barefoot as possible when home and to also wear flat shoes as often as possible.
Taking care of my feet
Today I’m taking really good care of both feet. I don’t want to allow my right foot to reach the same point my left did. I now do exercises as often as I can remember to do so, and I try not to walk too much so I can avoid pain coming on. I rarely wear shoes with high heels, and when I do they’re only short square heels which don’t require me stretching my foot muscles too much and which don’t make me wobble nor require me to try and balance myself as I walk!
How about you? Do you suffer from pain in your feet? How do you treat them?
