Isn’t being young wonderful? You can run and jump and play all day, and wake up feeling fresh and flexible. I was a Scottish dancer since I was four years old, and then switched to aerobics when I was eighteen. I jumped around every day, pain free! Soon, I was taking classes and teaching aerobics. And that’s when the foot pain began.
Plantar Fasciitis in my Twenties
After a few years of teaching aerobics, I started having extreme pain in my arches and heels. I’d wake up and could hardly walk some days. As the day went on, the pain would lessen, but it never disappeared. Young and stubborn me thought the pain would fix itself, but it didn’t. It got worse. And jumping really started to hurt! I don’t know how long I put up with the pain until I went to the doctor. It turned out that I had something called plantar fasciitis.
I didn’t even know what plantar fasciitis was – it sounded like something “old people” got! My doctor prescribed some calf stretches and orthotics. They were uncomfortable at first, and I had to wear them all the time – even at home. I hated it, but it worked! I championed orthotics to everyone, and I assumed I would need them forever. If I slacked off wearing them, the pain would come back, and into my shoes they would go.
Understanding Your Feet
When I discovered corrective exercise, functional training, and Pilates, I began learning how my body was moving, and how it could move better with training. In one workshop, we measured how far we could dorsiflex our feet – pulling the foot toward the shin from the ankle joint. My dorsiflexion was TERRIBLE. Looking back, I had spent most of my life up on my toes; as a Highland dancer and then teaching aerobics. Hopping and bouncing on my toes for all those years made my calves incredibly tight, which contributed significantly to my plantar fasciitis.
Read more about how our feet speak to us: The Story My Left Shoe Tells Me
Pilates and the other new forms of exercise got me exploring and practicing ways to improve the mobility and strength of my feet and ankles. By understanding how my feet were meant to move, I could strengthen and correct any imbalances. Pilates helped me become more aware of my feet, as we position our feet in multiple, specific ways during a workout. Soon, I was able to go without orthotics most of the time, even for some runs!
Consistency Counts
When the pain is gone, it can be easy to slip out of the practices that got us there. I still was doing Pilates and would wear my orthotics on occasion, but I wasn’t consciously working on my feet. Then one day, I went on a marathon training run for 22km in the snow. I know, it sounds crazy. The snow turned to slush, and I won’t ever forget that day. It felt like with every step forward, I slid back ½ a step, and afterward my arches and heels ached. Yup, my Plantar fasciitis was back.
It took some work to make the pain go away this time. But with time and consistency of doing all the things I’ve learned over the years, my heel got better faster than before. I did stretches and Pilates for plantar fasciitis, and worked on my mobility. I wore my orthotics more, I discovered the MELT Method (rolling your feel with little balls), and I learned how important it is to do the toe gizmo and foot corrector exercises regularly. Soon enough, my feet were flexible and pain free again.
Video: How to use the Toe Gizmo
Having my foot pain return was an “aha moment” for me in my own Pilates practice and as an instructor. Pilates keeps our bodies mobile and strong, so we can do all the other activities we love – but it needs to be practiced consistently.