Just a Little Plantar Fasciitis

This morning I met with a podiatrist. My left heel has been in a considerable amount of pain since we did a training hike to the waterfront back on May 17. My shoes were nearing end of life, and my inserts were well past their prime. We were hiking with full Camino packs, mostly over concrete. A perfect storm.

It was painful, but not too bad, until the next day when I walked a couple of kilometers in my Rockports. That’s when the pain became stabbing. Today was the first possible appointment.

I was dreading that some required surgery or treatment would force me to cancel my Camino. Fortunately, this is not the case. After some x-rays and various poking and prodding, the diagnosis came as a great relief: nothing broken, nothing chronic.

The x-ray showed that I have two bone spurs on that heel, one facing up, and one on the bottom facing forward. The former almost certainly contributed to my Achilles tendinitis last year, and the latter is contributing to my current pain. Neither of the spurs are significant enough to suggest surgery, but as spurs are caused by repetitive movement – in this case walking with weight – it may come to that in another decade or so.

For now, however, it looks like an ibuprofen regime, some physical therapy, and no heavy packs on the walk for at least three weeks. He also instructed me to immediately stop a hike if I have any sharp, stabbing pains. As he said, “at that point you just need to withdraw and live to fight another day”.

He said it was definitely an injury and did not appear to be a chronic condition, but he also said that my bone spurs make that injury, and tendinitis, more possible. And straining it on a full hike with pack until it’s healed could lead to a chronic condition. So training must be modified. No problem there – last year we didn’t start our heavy training until six weeks out, and it looks as though that will be the case again this year.

For what it’s worth, the Doc absolutely approved of my choice of footwear, inserts, and even socks. It was kind of wild.

Anyway, here’s the walk that did me in. It’s not even that long.