About a year or so ago, I started noticing a pain in my left heel. Especially after a bit of walking. It all came about around the time my daughter was born. Due to a multitude of issues, she needed to be in a front-carrier with us almost 24 hours a day for about 4-5 months when she was an infant. Basically, this was my normal view of her:

Because it was nice weather during the summer, I’d be walking around in flip-flops… this is about the time I started noticing the pain… so, I upgraded flip-flips, but that did not seem to do the trick either.

I then found out that I had developed Plantar Fasciitis, which is, from the link just referenced:

“Plantar fasciitis is inflammation of the thick tissue on the bottom of the foot. This tissue is called the plantar fascia. It connects the heel bone to the toes and creates the arch of the foot.”

The pain can be both dull, and sharp. And I experience it all of the time. This really puts a dent into my hiking and backpacking… on my last backpacking trip, I managed to somehow overpower the excruciating pain and walk the 6 miles back to the car from camp the last day of the trek, but the ride home, and the following days were brutal.

From what I have been able to find out, there is nothing much you can do about it, but pop some Naproxen Sodium, Ibuprofen, or Acetaminophen, and get some inserts.

I do not take any of those regularly, as I do favor a good drink here and there, and mixing the two is not good for the rest of your innards…

I have tried every insole that you can get from CVS, Rite-Aid, Walgreens, Target, etc., and have not found anything that works good yet.

I just received today some HTC Heel Seats, and am going to give these a shot.

Do you have Plantar Fasciitis? If so, what are you doing, that actually works? Leave a comment below!

UPDATE 6/11/13 – A follow up post to this article can be found here.