Let’s talk about my foot pain and the causes of foot pain. For months now I have been waking up in the morning with a dull ache at the top of my right heel where the Achilles tendon is attached. My first few steps every day are fairly uncomfortable and then the ache subsides and I can go about my day. If I sit for too long in one position it might return at other times of the day but for the most part it stays away until the following morning.
I really don’t know what it is. If the pain was on the bottom of the foot I’d think it was plantar fasciitis as the type of pain is mirrored in that affliction; pain in the morning that tends to go away after a bit of walking. It could be fascially related, something to do with the retinaculum, a band of fascia that wraps the ankle, strapping a series of tendons down. I’m not sure. I also think it might be connected to the way I am sleeping ( stay tuned for a post and video on sleep positions)  or even that my bed or floor is not level (hey, why not?).
The point of all this is to say that I don’t always know what causes my foot pain but I will figure it out eventually. Yesterday someone asked me why I didn’t go to a doctor. I think if I went to a doctor they would have no better idea than me and probably tell me that I have Achilles tendonitis. Now I can’t guarantee that is what would happen but it is a good bet.
I am wary of diagnoses that end in itis. It often strikes me as a practitioner grasping on to an explanation when all else fails. Any condition ending in itis is something that involves swelling. It isn’t that bursa’s don’t swell or arthritis isn’t real, it is just that these are mainly unhelpful diagnoses. They don’t tell me what causes foot pain and that is key.
All pain requires an examination/exploration of an underlying cause. From my perspective what causes foot pain stems from poor function. The foot has a specific design and it is meant to work in a particular way. After years of not working correctly it is likely that it will start to break down. And when we don’t have the skeletal alignment and muscle tone necessary to support the foot and its function it is that much more likely to break down.
But I’d like to think that I have good skeletal alignment and decent muscle tone so why the pain? That is why I am going with my sleep position as what causes this foot pain. At the beginning of the summer we moved our bed to the opposite side of our bedroom to accommodate the window that houses our air conditioner. I am pretty sure that this is when the pain started. So now that it is winter we are going to switch the bedroom back and hopefully the foot pain will subside. I’ll keep you posted.
***