Oh My Aching Foot

I’ve been experience foot pain on my left foot for just over 4 months now and I have tried changing the insoles of my shoes, but to no avail.  As a result I booked an appointment with my foot doctor (yeah I have a foot doctor I’ve seen in the past for other reasons) and I saw him today.

A little history here, my pain first appeared one morning when I woke up and felt some discomfort when going to the bathroom at night.  Now the pain only lasted a few short seconds and then went away.  I never thought anything about it, but over the months the pain continued and started to last longer and longer.  I would start walking to work and experience the pain, but by the time I arrived at work the pain was gone, yet only to come back when I got up from my desk to walk.  Fast forward to a few weeks ago, and the pain is pretty much constant.  I feel the discomfort all the time and sometimes I can feel it throbbing.

I’ve begun to start icing the foot near the area and that has helped some.  I try not to use my flip-flops and settle for my running shoes instead since they have a more bounce to them and cushion the pain.

My foot doctor has told me that I have the beginnings of Achilles Tendonitis. This is usually brought on by a change in shoes, weight gain, or increase activity.  Well I guess I qualify for number 2 :) .  He said to continue to ice the area as well as begin to stretch the tendon.  He suggested I get some high performance arch support shoe slips and see how that goes for a few weeks.  If all else fails, I might have to get orthotics.  I guess I’ll be spending more money on better quality shoes as well that have a greater arch support to try to heal this heel pain.

If anyone else has some suggestions, please let me know.  I’m not sure if I could handle wearing orthotics as my feet are big enough as they are and every room counts when I’m shopping for shoes :)