My latest ailment

I think I am falling apart. It seems rather mean. Try to get healthier and all that happens in more pain.

My latest ailment was caused by a change in workout routines. I tried something new- something I enjoyed- but all I did was hurt. Pain in the feet and knees was too much so I had to stop. This left me with a case of plantar fasciitis.

What is plantar fasciitis? Why it is the most common condition of heel pain. This condition occurs when the long fibrous plantar fascia ligament along the bottom of the foot develops tears in the tissue resulting in pain and inflammation. The pain of plantar fasciitis is usually located close to where the fascia attaches to the calcaneous, also known as the heel bone.

It was really a case of waking up in the morning and wondering why my left heel hurt like hell. The weird thing is after walking around a bit, the pain would quickly subside and for the most part, be unnoticeable throughout the day. There would be times when I would get up from my desk at work and feel it but nothing like the morning pain.

Now being that I am not one to see doctors, I did what I usually do. Popped the symptons into a search engine and figure out whether seeing a professional was absolutely necessary. In this case it didn't appear to be the case. In fact, I followed some suggestions to ease the pain and they have worked.

Like stretching. The pain in the morning is because the fascia ligament tightens up during the night while we sleep. If you stretch it out in the morning, it helps to reduce the pain. Or if you are a light sleeper like I am, you keep stretching it during the night when you wake up. Been doing that for two days and it feels so much better. Hopefully if I keep it up the pain will go away and I won't need to buy any heel pads or a night splint.

I have gone back to cycling. No more running for me.