Plantar fasciitis

Pronounced "Fa-she-eye-tis," is a painful inflammatory condition of the foot caused by excessive wear to the plantar fascia or plantar aponeurosis that supports the arches of the foot or by biomechanical faults that cause abnormal pronation. Basically, the tendon which runs from your heal to your toes gets messed up. This is commonly caused by long periods of weight bearing or sudden changes in weight bearing or activity. Jobs that require a lot of walking on hard surfaces, shoes with little or no arch support, a sudden increase in weight and over activity are also associated with the condition.

All this copied from wikipedia. So why am I telling you about this? Because I have developed it. It's a wonderful condition wherein your first steps in the morning cause sharp pain in your heel or arch. The first thing I have to do when I wake up is flex and stretch my foot, or I run the risk of falling over due to pain. Some people sleep with a brace that keeps their foot flexed so the plantar fascia doesn't get tight overnight (I rhymed).

How did I develop it? Good question. I haven't had "long periods of weight bearing, a sudden increase in weight, or over activity." I have had jobs in the past that required a lot of walking on hard surfaces, namely the hospital, but I was wearing my $250 MBTs so they probably prevented it (though they could've caused my feet to become dependent upon them since they do a lot of the walking for you). Funny thing is, I frequently went without shoes or was wearing my Vibrams back in the States, and never did I develop PF. Therefore, I don't believe "lack of arch support" caused it; I think evil shoes cause it. I'm wearing my $140 Clark's everyday and they're darn comfy, but I'm on them about 10 hours a day, and in that day I walk about a half mile or more, and down 6 flights of stairs, twice, taking the kids to the buses. I wish I had my MBTs so I could wear those for a week or two and see what happens.

I had an idea to go running tomorrow and start stretching regularly to increase my flexibility, but I read this: people with plantar fasciitis should be careful to wear supportive and stable shoes. They should avoid open-back shoes, sandals, and flip-flops. They should also try keeping off the foot as much as possible and lessen activities which place more pressure on the balls of the feet because these increase tension in the plantar fascia.

The only shoes I brought that I can run in are my Vibrams, which aren't "supportive," and I would be running on the balls of my feet. I wouldn't be lessening activity, but rather increasing it. But, since what they think cause PF doesn't actually cause it (more anti-barefeet proganda bullcrap), I don't believe their "cure" will cure it. If anything, it will only lessen the symptoms but never heal the problem. However, since I am lazy, I've decided I'm going to just do Yoga to see if a simple increase in flexibility will help. If after a couple of weeks nothing has gotten better, I'll start running...maybe.