Oh, My Aching Feet!

During the summer, we get numerous complaints of foot pain, especially pain that is most severe when the patient gets up on her feet in the morning. The patient often wears sandals with little to no arch support and maybe even prefers to wear those fun, strappy shoes with a good-sized heel! Although the shoes are cute and trendy, these types of shoes do two things to the foot that set you up for a problem.

1) The shoes don’t have a good arch support so the arch of the foot falls, causing the fascia (connective tissue) of that arch to be pulled tight.

2) The shoes have a heel that maintains the calf muscles in a position which shortens them. This sets you up for inflammation at the heel and ultimately a heel spur.

The foot and ankle conditions that likely develop from wearing no shoes or unsupportive shoes are plantar fasciitis and heel spurs. These conditions can be treated conservatively in our office. In our office, we adjust the bones of the foot and ankle and may recommend electrical stimulation therapy to decrease inflammation in the area. Additionally, we will likely recommend some stretches and icing that should be done at home to have the maximum benefit to treatment. If you have questions about these conditions, please don’t hesitate to talk with one of our doctors. Walk your aching feet on in here and see if we can help!