My feet are killing me after a London weekend.
April 17, 2011 1:43 PM Subscribe
Can anyone help me get back on my feet (literally)? My feet are killing me after a London weekend.
3 weekends ago i enjoyed walking around in London all day and night with worn, crappy shoes. Now I'm paying the price. Although I felt some pain in my heels at the time I didn't realize until two days later that something was wrong. My heels hurt, forcing me to put pressure on my front feet and toes when walking. This genius act resulted in sustained pain all over my feet, both under and over, to the point that I am now incapable of walking further than to the toilet. Easter holiday starts now, lasting until the 26, and I am free to stay on the couch and hopefully recover.
Can these types of injuries completely heal in 10 days (is this a good idea)?
Any potential damage from staying immobilized for so long? Can bad blood circulation slow down the healing process? Should I try to keep my feet at an angle?
This has been a little slice of hell, so tips from urban city travellers on preventing this in the future would be great.
3 weekends ago i enjoyed walking around in London all day and night with worn, crappy shoes. Now I'm paying the price. Although I felt some pain in my heels at the time I didn't realize until two days later that something was wrong. My heels hurt, forcing me to put pressure on my front feet and toes when walking. This genius act resulted in sustained pain all over my feet, both under and over, to the point that I am now incapable of walking further than to the toilet. Easter holiday starts now, lasting until the 26, and I am free to stay on the couch and hopefully recover.
Can these types of injuries completely heal in 10 days (is this a good idea)?
Any potential damage from staying immobilized for so long? Can bad blood circulation slow down the healing process? Should I try to keep my feet at an angle?
This has been a little slice of hell, so tips from urban city travellers on preventing this in the future would be great.
Something similar happened to me in London and it turned out all that walking had led to Plantar Fasciitis. You might want to get checked out by a podiatrist and see if that's what is happening to you. For treatment I was prescribed rest, stretching exercises, splints to wear on my feet at night, and he showed me how to tape my feet during the day to provide extra support.
posted by platinum at 1:59 PM on April 17, 2011
posted by platinum at 1:59 PM on April 17, 2011
Your feet really shouldn't be hurting this much and you need to see a professional about it. Especially when the walking was 3 weeks ago. I'd see your GP about it ASAP and also try to find a private podiatrist, they shouldn't charge all that much for a single visit and they will be able to tell you what's wrong. It will be money well spent.
posted by tel3path at 2:06 PM on April 17, 2011
posted by tel3path at 2:06 PM on April 17, 2011
I'm not a doctor, but your symptoms kinda sound like plantar fasciitis. Ibuprofen and lots of stretching might help. As well as staying away from shoes without adequate arch support. (but seeing a professional is a very good thing!!!)
On preview: what platinum said.
posted by Neekee at 2:27 PM on April 17, 2011
On preview: what platinum said.
posted by Neekee at 2:27 PM on April 17, 2011
Sounds a lot like my fun experience with vacation-induced plantar fasciitis, too, particularly if the pain is worst first thing in the morning or after you've been off your feet for a while. If that's what it is, you're looking at rest, gentle but frequent stretching, icing a couple of times a day, and probably night splints. If you have to walk around, try some heel pads - they typically have them in the same area of the store as regular shoe insoles, or you could just get a full-shoe insole. My doctor claims the gel ones are best for PF, but really any insole seems to be helpful for me - it's just about the extra cushioning.
You might luck out and get rid of it altogether - or you might have it on and off for a long time. I wish I'd been more diligent about the stretching/icing/night splints early on, in the hopes I wouldn't still have the occasional flare-up now, years later.
Worth seeing a doctor about, I'd say.
posted by Stacey at 2:59 PM on April 17, 2011
You might luck out and get rid of it altogether - or you might have it on and off for a long time. I wish I'd been more diligent about the stretching/icing/night splints early on, in the hopes I wouldn't still have the occasional flare-up now, years later.
Worth seeing a doctor about, I'd say.
posted by Stacey at 2:59 PM on April 17, 2011
What helped me:
1) podiatrist, resulting in prescriptive shoe inserts for a year or so, now gel pads
2) ibuprophen
3) warmth = bedsocks, heating pad, hot water bottle
4) some sessions with a physical therapist and (woo, but yes) a chiropractor
5) swimming as exercise of choice - good for everything, really
oh, and 6) tossing out all horrible shoes and temporarily retiring beautiful but evil shoes
posted by likeso at 4:32 PM on April 17, 2011
1) podiatrist, resulting in prescriptive shoe inserts for a year or so, now gel pads
2) ibuprophen
3) warmth = bedsocks, heating pad, hot water bottle
4) some sessions with a physical therapist and (woo, but yes) a chiropractor
5) swimming as exercise of choice - good for everything, really
oh, and 6) tossing out all horrible shoes and temporarily retiring beautiful but evil shoes
posted by likeso at 4:32 PM on April 17, 2011
Nthing the plantar fasciitis thing. One thing that absolutely, positively helps me is taping my arches. I do a modified version of this type of taping. It's better than insoles because it lifts the arch (as opposed to pushing up on it from below) and supports the foot all over, leading to less stress on the fascia and less pain.
posted by Bella Sebastian at 6:02 PM on April 17, 2011
posted by Bella Sebastian at 6:02 PM on April 17, 2011
Our feet are our foundation and an injury there will affect your whole life. I did not take Plantar Fasciitis seriously or treat it aggressively enough. It turned into a more serious disease called Plantar Fibromatosos. You do not want this.
Calf stretches, rolling a ball with your foot, and stretching before you leave the bed in the morning.
DO see a Doctor!
posted by Pecantree at 8:11 PM on April 17, 2011
Calf stretches, rolling a ball with your foot, and stretching before you leave the bed in the morning.
DO see a Doctor!
posted by Pecantree at 8:11 PM on April 17, 2011
Response by poster: Thank you all for the great answers! Plantar fasciitis seems probable. I'll use my holiday to rest and stretch, and search around for shoes online. Thank you Bella Sebastian for pointing me to www.heel-that-pain.com. I will see my doctor as soon as possible.
The ice, just for pain relief at the moment, or helping the healing process?
posted by SurrenderMonkey at 3:11 AM on April 18, 2011
The ice, just for pain relief at the moment, or helping the healing process?
posted by SurrenderMonkey at 3:11 AM on April 18, 2011
I know many people hate them aesthetically, but Crocs are great for recuperating from Plantar Fascitis.
posted by hot soup girl at 6:01 AM on April 18, 2011
posted by hot soup girl at 6:01 AM on April 18, 2011
Response by poster: Follow up:
Strange things do happen in life. Days after my last post I was diagnosed with testicular cancer. A successful operation followed 5 days later. Within a week after that my feet magically healed. I have no pain whatsoever. My doctor could not explain this, but searching the net does reveal some links between testicular tumors and seemingly unrelated pain in other parts of the body.
Oh, and by the way, I'll live to be a hundred!
posted by SurrenderMonkey at 7:00 AM on July 24, 2011
Strange things do happen in life. Days after my last post I was diagnosed with testicular cancer. A successful operation followed 5 days later. Within a week after that my feet magically healed. I have no pain whatsoever. My doctor could not explain this, but searching the net does reveal some links between testicular tumors and seemingly unrelated pain in other parts of the body.
Oh, and by the way, I'll live to be a hundred!
posted by SurrenderMonkey at 7:00 AM on July 24, 2011
Wow, SurrenderMonkey. Wow. So good it was caught in time and so great that the treatment was quick and effective and *completely weird* that that could have been the cause of your foot pain...!
Hope you're healing nicely, and we'll be seeing you here till your 100th birthday. :)
posted by likeso at 1:03 PM on July 25, 2011
Hope you're healing nicely, and we'll be seeing you here till your 100th birthday. :)
posted by likeso at 1:03 PM on July 25, 2011
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