So today I gave in and saw the podiatrist. All in all, the whole thing took less than an hour, but it was not the most pleasant experience I've ever had at a doctor's office. I think my annual pelvic exam was easier/more comfortable than this.
I got there and after filling out the requisite paperwork they ushered me back and told me to take off my left shoe. Then they herded me back to an x-ray thingie and snapped some shots of my lovely, bony, size-9 foot. Then I saw the doctor, who felt my foot briefly and concluded that yep, it was plantar fasciitis. Then Mr. Podiatrist ushers me into his office and shows me the X-rays, which look pretty normal. As an aside, he points out that I was born with only one certain weird little bone in my foot, when there are normally supposed to be two. Whatever, OK.
He showed me that my foot was "overly pronated," which is a fancy way of saying it doesn't arch like it should. Apparently this causes the plantar fascia to stretch out and separate from its anchoring point, thereby inducing the sore feeling on the sole of my foot. BONUS: He pointed out that a heel spur (a calcification that occurs sometimes with plantar fasciitis) was starting to develop, so it's a good thing I got this taken care of now.
Then he got down to business: The Treatment. He said I would need an injection in my foot every week for the next three weeks. Starting today. The words "injection" and "foot" in the same sentence scare me, and I was almost ready to get up, put my New Balance back on, and tell him thanks but no thanks. But like a good girl, I went back in the exam room and tried to talk about the work that I do while Mr. Podiatrist stuck a needle in the sole of my foot, lobbing a few cc's of steroids in there.
The injection site actually doesn't hurt any more. I think just the image of the needle in my foot is what is getting to me. Yeah, I ought to be pretty distraught when Injection Day comes around next week.
Lastly, he told me to buy some orthotic inserts and I am wearing them now in my shoes. They feel good - kinda like walking on a bouncy mattress. But no treadmill for the next few weeks. Looks like Rodney Yee and I are going to have regular yoga dates for a while.
Felt pain all night after treadmill session, so I'm keeping my podiatrist appointment. Still waiting on the Rodney Yee DVD for some non-treadmill exercise options. It probably won't get here till Saturday though, so I'm just calling off exercise till Monday. I did three sessions this week, and I've been watching what I eat, so I'm good.
Last night I made a tilapia recipe for dinner that I found in Fitness. The recipe came from this diet book - the principle is you can feel fuller and eat more, as long as you are eating foods with "low energy density" - i.e., less calories per gram. Sounds like a "duh" idea, and certainly one that's not new to the health-conscious. But anyway, I made the recipe. It was pretty good. Basically you bake some fish in the oven with a little oil and then sautee some veggies to top it with.
Mark grimaced as he ate it, nearly cleaned his plate, looked at me and said, "Don't ever do this again." Like I had somehow betrayed him by not serving our usual fat-saturated dinners. A healthy eater, he's not. But I'll break him.
Just did 20 minute walk session on the treadmill to test for foot pain. Feeling a slight twinge but nothing significant. Still deciding whether to cancel appointment...
Ah, how easy it is to drop off the face of the earth, blogging-wise. Yes, my foot started hurting again, so yes, I quit exercising for a while. After the millionth time this happened I began to worry that something was terribly wrong in my foot, so I called a podiatrist and I have an appointment on Friday. The problem? Yep - the foot no longer hurts. I tentatively began exercising again with my Crunch: Fat-Burning Pilates DVD (which really isn't Pilates at all, but more like a step class with Pilatesish names for the moves) and haven't felt discomfort in my foot at all.
So I began thinking that maybe it's the repetitive motion of treadmill-walking that was getting to me. After all, when you walk on a uniform surface for 25 minutes straight you're exerting the same muscles over and over; one of them is bound to cry out in pain sooner or later. So I think my solution is alternating light treadmill sessions with many and varied workout DVDs (Netflix, I heart you) and see how that goes. I might cancel the podiatrist appointment if all continues to go well. We'll see.
Name: Jen Location: DFW, TX Occupation: Journalist WHY this stupid blog?: To lose the 20 pounds I've packed on since high school and to entertain you with stories about my fabulous life. Current Weight: 138 My Goal Weight: 115 Pounds to Go: 23
