Recovering from summer feet

I’ve been meaning to write this post for a while, but I figured better late than never.  Many of you have been coming in this fall with what I call the repercussions of wearing crappy summer shoes.  Pain in the medial arches of the feet, underneath the calcaneus or heel bone, maybe even on the lateral or transverse arch.  Pain on the underside of your foot when you get out of bed first thing in the morning and take those first few steps.  In a lot of cases, yes it is the dreaded Plantar Fasciitis, the inflammation of the fascia on the underside of the foot.  As the fall goes on many of you have likely noticed as you change footwear an improvement in symptoms.  This is because you are likely wearing a shoe with more arch support, one that is better constructed.  So what can you do to prevent/recover from summer feet?

  1.  Limit how often you wear flip flops in the summer- any summer hikes or walks of any distance require a shoe or sandal that is strapped on better or has better support.
  2. Also limit how often you wear flats that have no support.
  3. You may need to wear a shoe or slipper with some support in the house that has proper arch support, especially first thing when you get out of bed.  Running shoes for indoor use only may be needed in severe cases.
  4. Don’t wear any boot that is so flat there is no support whatsoever as winter begins (I’ve seen cases of Plantar Fasciitis with these type of boots as well!)
  5. Tell me when you come for your next tune-up!  There are Activator checks we can do for ALL the different bones in the feet, and often an adjustment helps speed up recovery!
  6. Don’t overstretch the area as that may make the microtears worse.  Freezing a water bottle and icing the bottom of your foot at the end of a long day on your feet might help.
  7. Shop for better shoes next time around!  (There now I’ve given you an excuse to go shopping!)

Here’s hoping it won’t take all winter for your feet to recover!  Happy hiking!