plantars fasciitis

[Guest guest]

I have plantars fasciitis and I can tell you, it's painful. I am constantly massaging it. Heat helps. But when it acts up, I don't want to be awake, let along walk on it! I have found some shoes that comes with extra supoort built in and a "cookie" that you can add. And they help. Blessings, Joy

From Toronto Sun.com

Shock wave therapy on Worthington's painful heel hasn't improved his tennis game but has at least allowed him to participate.

By PETER WORTHINGTON, TORONTO SUN

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It's a non-invasive alternative to surgery. The "shock wave" jolts into bone, joint and tendon disorders are really "acoustic" shock waves that re-injure the damaged tissue and break up scarring that has occurred. It encourages the regeneration of blood vessels and bone cells that enhance healing. There are no side effects -- no down side, even if treatment doesn't work. Before my first session I chatted with a retired nurse whose plantars fasciitis was so painful she couldn't sleep. Painkillers didn't help, all treatments had failed, life was hell. After three sessions she said the improvement was like being able to breathe again. This nurse didn't care that OHIP didn't cover it. Pain was such that she said she'd have paid anything, even mortgage the home, to get relief. While I wasn't in her category, her experience was encouraging. The therapy doesn't exactly hurt, but it's mildly uncomfortable. The rat-tat-tat jolts going into the heel area cause sharp twinges up the bone as tender spots are hit. But it lasts only five minutes -- to be repeated a week later. Apparently some people experience increased heel pain after the first treatment, but it doesn't last. After one session, I was walking with barely a limp. Professional sports teams and athletes know and value shock wave therapy. One gathers that Gordon -- once junior tennis champion of Canada before he had to learn to play with his left hand because of his weakened right wrist -- is impatient with professional athletes who, because of high salaries, tend to get back into action when pain eases and before injuries are repaired. As well as working with Tennis Canada, Gordon is a medical consultant for the Jockey Club (shock wave therapy even helps horses). His patients include athletes from all professional sports. For the life of me, I don't understand why every professional sports team doesn't have a shock wave machine in the locker room. Perhaps the prejudices of OHIP explains why so little is known about it as a solution for plantars fasciitis, or joint trauma. The cost per session varies between $150 and $300, and there's a waiting line. (In the U.S., Gordon says, treatment costs thousands). The Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons estimates 10% of Americans --nearly 30 million people -- have endured plantars fasiitis.

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