Earlier this year I mentioned that I have plantar fasciitis and that I went to Foot Solutions to get some shoe inserts to help. Unfortunately the inserts didn’t help and I still have plantar fasciitis, which I’ve had since February. I’ve tried all the following remedies, none of which have solved the problem:

• Icing my heel
  
• Stretching a few times a day
  
• Wearing a night splint
  
• Shoe inserts to help support my arch (which I was told was collapsing)
  
• Stayed off it for a week
  
• Reduced the amount of hiking we do
  
• Massaging my heel with a massage ball
  

So, I finally decided to go to the podiatrist to see if he could help me. I walked there after work yesterday since his office was only a 5 minute walk away from my building. It's so nice to work and live downtown and be able to walk places. Anyway, he diagnosed me with plantar fasciitis, bunions, and over-pronation. He said usually this problem happens over time and there probably wasn’t a single instance that occurred. I do believe that it happened in February because we walked around Vancouver so much and I wasn’t used to all that walking since we hadn’t done much hiking/walking during the winter.

He said I do not have high arches, just that I over-pronate and my feet become flat when I walk. The bunions have been caused by the over-pronation as well, although they haven’t gotten bad enough to bother me yet. They took x-rays of my feet while I was there and also taped my feet with some padding on the bottom. It felt tight, but the support seemed to instantly help my heel. The tape is only meant to last a few days and it’s best to keep them dry.

He recommended doing more rigorous stretching, continuing to ice my heel after activities, continuing to wear my night splint, and getting custom orthotics (shoe inserts). He said the generic ones I got from Foot Solutions are better than nothing, but that they won’t completely fix the problem. They aren’t cheap though and I haven’t met my insurance deductible this year, so I doubt insurance will cover any of the cost. The only other options are to have cortisone shots or surgery. I suppose it would be worth it to get custom ones made. I just wish I hadn’t wasted the money on the ones from Foot Solutions.

I’m going back to see him again next Tuesday so we can make the final decision on what to do. He told me to bring in all the pairs of shoes I normally wear so he can look at them and see how they’ve worn and how supportive they are and which type of orthotics would fit the best for all of them. If we decide to go with the custom orthotics, he will do a casting of my foot and send it off to be made, which takes 3 weeks. Hopefully this will allow my heel to heal and keep me from over-pronating.