foot pain

[sasha_feather]

For those of you with foot and/or leg pain, what do you do about it?

I already have comfy shoes that I rotate around, and I do a fair amount of walking every day.

Comments

[themeletor]

for me, a lot of my leg pain comes from trouble with my hips and spinal curvature, so i also find that alternating my sleep positions from night to night -- switching sides, sleeping on my back sometimes -- has helped somewhat. also, i love my memory foam mattress topper. i have no idea whether this will be relevant to your situation, but hey, more info is always better, right?

[sasha_feather]

That's good advice! I'm not sure if I can sleep on my back, but I can certainly put pillows certain places and switch sides.

Presented in the vein of "Works for me..." not "You Should..."

[jackandahat]

It depends on the type of pain, but I've had a lot of success with Radox - strictly the original stuff, none of this fancy pants pepper business. I just soak my feet, don't do baths, so it's a washing up bowl full of that and hot water on the floor, and stick my feet in it while I read for a while. Picked it up years ago from a bunch of dancers, seems to be meant for if you're beating your feet to hell, but it's good if your feet feel like that just walking to the fridge.

Also, Very Gentle Stretching. Though that's been more of a progressive thing, but it's helped with reducing the amount of pain I get, rather than reducing the pain once it arrives.

Re: Presented in the vein of "Works for me..." not "You Should..."

[sasha_feather]

Ooooh that looks nice! I wonder if I can get that here in the States. If not, I will at least try some other bath salts. :)

[challyzatb]

I use heat, so I'll have a bath or use a wheat pack.

[sasha_feather]

I loooove wheat packs, and also my heating pad that turns itself off after 2 hours. I mostly use that on my tum or back and put the ice packs on my feet, and wrap my comforter around me. :)

[tangledaxon]

Stretching, heat packs, and self-massages when it's bearable--this for the leg pain. For the foot pain I experience, the most I can do is self-massage, but so little seems to help.

[sasha_feather]

Agree with you on the "so little seems to help". Elevating my legs does seem to help some.

[opinion_rush]

elevate them, epsom salts in warm water soak (don't know if this does any good per se but it feels good). If it is a muscle thing, maybe a bigish rubber ball that you can roll feet and lower leg muscles over (I've heard also tennis balls or tennis balls dipped in water and frozen but in my experience they have too much give)

[sasha_feather]

The epsom salts sound nice. :)

[veejane]

Depends on the foot pain, really. My doctor seemed kind of relieved that my hurt wasn't plantar fasciitis, because it's apparently a bear to deal with, with custom orthotics and I don't know what all. I've got something in the front of my foot, probably a swollen nerve (neuroma), probably to be treated with a steroid shot. I'm still waiting for my specialist appointment, and in the meantime have become the world's most annoying expert in the construction of footbed support, because that and Advil were all my regular doc could tell me.

I haven't had much luck with gel inserts in my already-sensible shoes, although I keep trying.

[sasha_feather]

Ugh, neuroma. :( Hope your foot improves!

[sparkymonster]

I think it depends on what is causing the pains.

Elevating feet helps swollen achy feet.

Regular stretching helps everything.

I tend to pause and do mini stretches if I find my legs are starting to hurt. At the end of the day, or whenever possible, a heating pad is wonderful. Also a hot bath....yes.

[sasha_feather]

Heh, I never know what is causing my pains! And I wish bath tubs were bigger. :)

[eruthros]

It depends on what kind of pain it is. For things that feel like inflammation, or like they need cold, I use ice packs in a variety of ways. I freeze water bottles, and then roll the bottoms of my feet over them as a sort of stretch-and-ice thing, or I wrap an ice pack around a joint.

If it feels like it needs hot, I do rice-filled hot packs, or I take a hot shower, or I use a plug-in heating pack. (This is especially true for pain radiating from the hips or spine.) My PT told me that I shouldn't use heat continuously unless I really need it to move, and I was surprised to discover that mostly I do get better results from thirty minutes on, thirty minutes off.

I wear shoes or shoe-like things (lately some padded acorn flip-flops) around the house, so that I get cushioning and arch support, which helps me, but I know other people whose feet do much better when they are mostly barefoot.

[sasha_feather]

I think house shoes are the way to go for me!

[susanreads]

For my knees, Voltaren gel (if my legs are aching more generally, only taking the weight off them seems to help). For my feet, custom orthotics - I've got three different pairs of orthotics acquired over several years from different podiatrists, which I use in different shoes. The main thing I've done that helps both is give up Aikido and take up Tai Chi (low impact, no kneeling) instead!

Why does this reply box start so far over that it extends behind the sidebar?

[sasha_feather]

Why does this reply box start so far over that it extends behind the sidebar?


I don't know; that doesn't happen for me! It could be your browser, or that your text size is big? Or maybe a random bug?

Yay for Tai Chi. :)

[sasha_feather]

Thanks!

[sassbandit]

Plantar fasciitis tips, if that's relevant.

[sasha_feather]

Thanks!