Thanks for reading along! In today’s briefing we’ll take quick look at your feet - your arches in particular, as they relate to the common complaint of PLANTAR FASCIITIS, aka heel spurs.

Arch Pain?!?!

Your feet are supposed to have an arch. The illustration above serves three purposes. The first shows what the arch should look like, the second illustrates the effect of an arch support (foot orthotic) in maintaining the arch, and finally the downward arrow demonstrates the downward forces that can flatten out your arch as you stand and walk when an arch support is not in place.

Plantar Fasciitis

Plantar fasciitis is a painful condition of the underside of the foot. Sometimes one foot only, other times both. The pain is usually felt in the area of the arch and into the bottom of the heel.

How does this happen?

We were designed to walk barefoot on the soft earth. Walking barefoot on soft and uneven ground exercises the muscles of the foot and lower leg that maintain the arch in your foot’s bone-structural arrangement. In addition, as the soft ground gives way beneath our weight, the arch of the foot is not pressed flat against the ground. But in modern life this is not what we do. We walk in shoes on hard, level ground. We walk barefoot in our homes on tile and concrete. The muscles described above become weak, and our arches flatten out under to pressure of our body weight, eventually collapsing into what we call pronation.

In most cases the pain we feel from this occurs when a band of tough connective tissue called the plantar fascia on the underside of your arch is repeatedly stretched and relaxed as the arch flattens out under your weight with each step. Your foot has an arch when you are not standing on it. If that arch flattens out under your weight as you foot makes contact with the ground and carries your weight repeatedly, the plantar fascia gets repeatedly over stretched eventually forming tiny tears that become inflamed. There is the sourse of the pain.

The Solution

Well…you could retire, move to the beach, and take daily barefoot walks in the sand, collecting sea shells!!!. Over time, this should take care of the issue. However, this is not practical or possible for most of us so here are the alternatives:

• If you have hard surfaces in your home (tile, concrete, terrazzo, laminate, etc) DON’T walk around barefoot. Put on cushiony flip flops/slippers (the more cushiony the better).

• For the majority of the time you are on your feet, wear athletic style shoes with maximum cushioning, and a good built in arch support. These will simulate the soft earth while giving your arches some degree of support. BRAND RECOMMENDATIONS - Hoka Bondi, Altra Olympus.

• OFF THE RACK ARCH SUPPORTS - Most shoe store and department stores have arch supports you can grab off the racks. This is an inexpensive way to add increased arch support to your shoes. CAUTION - most of these are merely glorified shock absorbers that don’t fully prevent arches from flattening but they are cheap and worth a try.

• CUSTOM MADE ORTHOTIC ARCH SUPPORTS - When all else fails, this is the way to go. These are usually available through chiropractors and podiatrists. AVOID getting these at a specialty shoe stores, as they are always overpriced, and not designed by a doctor. We offer what I believe to be the best custom made orthotics on the market (as seen in the picture at the top) - SOLE SUPPORTS. Very competitively priced too!

• Do take long walks when you can barefoot on the soft earth - the beach, the park - anywhere where it is safe to walk barefoot in nature.

SN. Following this advice will also spare you knee, hip, and spine issues, as they often begin with the foot problems we discussed above.

Until next time!

Dr. Seiler