No, really! You see, I’ve been taking mine for granted.
The weather has been lovely hasn’t it? I’ve been blissfully ignoring the fact that in less than 6-months time, thanks to my Raynaud’s, I’ll be grimacing at the big freeze that numbs my toes… making each step ironically burn with the cold.
So, why have I been reminded of this so prematurely? Well, a few weeks ago, I managed to do myself a mischief thanks to a pair of wholly unsuitable shoes and a streetful of cobbles. I didn’t even know I’d done it… but as the week progressed, it became more and more painful to put one of my feet to the ground.
“What could it be?!” I asked everyone around me…
Eventually, I spoke to a doctor who decided that it sounded like Plantar Fasciitis. That’s easy for him to say… I can’t pronounce it! What it meant was that I’d “angered” the band of connective tissue that runs between the ball of the foot and the heel. Effectively, that bit under the arch. It got me thinking about just how serious a podiatry problem can be, how fully it can impact your day-to-day life, and how we just don’t really like to talk about our feet!
Well, let’s break that taboo today.
Got bunions before your time? Thought it was only your Mum who needed corn plasters? Calluses best described as barnacles?
The thing is… foot problems are often associated with the elderly. My local surgery has a visiting chiropodist who comes on a Wednesday afternoon… the waiting room is FULL of lovely nana’s queueing up to have their feet checked. I don’t know anyone under the age of 70 who regularly visits a podiatrist to have treatment, but I know plenty of people who should.
Well, let’s change that.
If you have any foot-related questions, leave a comment below and I’ll send them to leading podiatrist, Dr. Tariq Khan who works with Carnation footcare. Follow-up post coming soon!
Oooh, this is interesting!
I have a foot question then! How fun!
Why does my toe nail sometimes fall off? It sounds disgusting, I know. But technically, it’s not the whole toenail, but only half. And sometimes the nail turns black, or shows signs of distress. I’m wondering if this can be caused by shoes?
I have a question!
I wore shoes that cut the side of my big toe where it reaches my foot to shreds and now for the last month its turned into this big swollen lump which really hurts 🙁
Oh I’ve got one! My big toe nail stopped growing for about a year! Sometimes it hurt a bit and went a bit red, sometimes not at all. Then it started growing again, but not as convincingly as the rest – and it’s got a stripe in it. It doesn’t hurt. It seems very odd behaviour for a toenail.
I didn’t know that wearing slingbacks could damage my toe nails. Now my big toe nails are split in the middle, it’s obvious in the white bit the pink bit is not so bad. I stopped wearing slingbacks a few years ago but the split is still there. Will my toenails ever get back to normal?
Me please! My feet are dreadful 🙁 firstly, big blisters on the balls of my feet and on my heels, right the way through summer despite wearing birkenstocks or trainers for long walks. I have completely collapsed arches, could that be contributing? I can’t ever seem to find shoes that don’t hurt or cause blisters.
Oh, me too! It’s a bit silly, but I’ve always wondered…
Are you really supposed to cut your toenails straight across? That always makes them sharp at the corners?!
This is perfect timing.
I’ve just had a pedicure from hell at my local salon, my cuticles are so sore and they were bleeding for a couple of hours afterward. The therapist acted as if this was normal for people with *ahem* neglected cuticles/footcare. Surely not?
It hurts to wear socks/shoes! Is there anything I can do to ease the discomfort until they heal properly?
Bravo! Well…
I have a thick crust of hardened skin (gross, I know) under the outermost base of my big toe, and another at the other outermost of my foot. I know that it’s from the pressure from narrow shoes, but the toe skin just hardens and thickens and I even have to cut it off with a penknife!
Will I ever be able to restore it to a child-like softness? I’m in despair because not cutting the hardened skin off makes my feet sore and stiff, and only aggravates the narrowness of the shoes…
Oooooooh, brilliant topic!
I had Plantar Fasciitis a decade or so ago – I took up the gym, to lose weight after gaining tonnage when I gave up smoking and massacred my feet on the treadmill. Damn doctor had the cheek to tell me I needed to lose weight! Grrrrrrr! (Solved THAT problem. Changed doctor.)
Anyway, three things that helped: walking on tiptoe to the loo first thing in the morning (because yes you look silly but when you’ve had a baby that trip is pretty urgent and it’s a right pain to try to walk properly).
Wearing those arch support/heel cup orthotic things in my shoes (not glam, but better than hobbling).
And a tennis ball – you roll it around under the arch of your foot to give it a good rub and massage, and because it’s you doing it, you control the pressure so it needn’t hurt.
Now my question: do those freeze packs you can buy in the chemists to kill verrucas do the job properly? My kiddo has one and we’re treating it with the Dr Scholl’s Extra Strong. Will it do the trick or should we take her to the doc? Or should we go to a chiropodist directly?
Hi Lisa,
It could well be my recent gymmage that kick-started it. Having said that, I’m not completely convinced that my doctor’s diagnosis is right as I don’t have any pain when I put all my weight on my heels AND it doesn’t hurt more in the morning. Infact, it’s at its best in the morning and gets more painful as the day goes on! Anyway, will pass your quetion on, thanks for joining in 🙂 x
I have that myself, its meant to heal but mine never as, I’m 21 and I’ve had it since I was 12, I also have a long list of other feet problems. Witch for. Life of me I cannot spell! I do think we need to feel happier about talking about feet problems as they can ruin your life! Xxx