Maggie's Farm

It helps to wear Dansko or Sanita clogs. No cushioning (as so many of us have in the squishy "running" or walking shoes many people think will help). In fact, the shock absorbency of many of these deteriorate fairly quickly if one walks an average of 5 miles a day, but one has got used to landing more heavily on heels than one would in traditional leather soled, non-cushioned shoes.

I spoke once to a shoemaker who worked as a reenactor at a historical village making all the leather shoes as they would have worn them in the mid 1700s, and he said that when he first began doing it and wearing them himself for his costume, he had a bad case of plantar fasciitis. The first few days he was in agony, but it was work, so he persisted. After the initial few days, his foot pain decreased a lot, and he realised that he was walking differently. Since then he has never had a recurrence (no, he does not wear silver buckled shoes, but he does wear shoes with LESS arch support and cushioning. Think of Greek and Roman soldiers marching all those miles in sandals....). Think also of all those Ethiopian runners barefoot....Altho they are thinner than most middle aged American sufferers from this condition, obviously, there MAY be something better for our gait about FEELING the ground more as we walk or run.

The clogs help, with bunion problems also (a more modern foot doc told me) because one rocks on their curved soles as one walks and doesn't have to bend the foot and snap tendons painfully with every step. Also, no cushioning, so one learns again to stand and walk more normally. Tho clogs make arthritic knees MORE painful (any extra weight on feet increases knee troubles).

(Old and Busted Former Marathoner)