Heel-spurs

[cucinamaria]

I think I have a heel-spur on my left heel. Does anyone know the macrobiotic explanation and remedy for these? I appreciate any information I can get on this uncomfortable development.

Mary Granger

Try Egoscue exercises for foot and ankle pain from the book Pain Free by Pete Egoscue. Also do not walk on hard surfaces, such as cement, as in shopping malls, without well-padded athletic shoes.
I had a heel spur so painful I could hardly walk. Eventually I had an injection, but it was starting to wear off. Then I heard about these exercises. This was in 1996. The first time I did the exercises, I had some dramatic relief. In a few weeks, I was free from heel-spur pain and have been ever since. For a while I felt the path of the injection site, but then that went away.
I still do the basic exercises from the book every day but also add in the special one for heel spurs (I forget what it's called, but it involves lying on your back and looping a stretch of fabric -- bathrobe belt works well -- around your foot; see full instructions in the book). These are do-it-yourself exercises, but can be time-consuming. Rarely do I ever feel the slightest bit of ache from the spur, which I'm sure is still there -- reportedly they are due to injury and are unlikely to ever go away.
Egoscue exercises are also great exercises for other areas of body pain. I have recommended them to many people and have not heard any negative feedback. Many people are thrilled with the results of these exercises. They do take daily dedication. They're not a guaranty of cure or of future non-injury, but they're the best I've found.
I started a macrobiotic diet in 2004 and it is great for relieving general joint stiffness, but I doubt it would have completely alleviated my heel spur pain. Especially avoid all nightshade vegetables. I didn't think I'd be able to give up tomatoes, for example, but decided to give it a three-month try and found the results are noticeable. Also avoid sugar.

[cucinamaria]

Thank you very much for this advice. I'll go find that book right away. I've been doing some stretching exercises, icing my foot, and bought some (very ugly) shoes with arch support appropriate for my feet. Can't stay off my feet very much, but I'm having a bit of relief. I really really look forward to following the stretch regimen in this book, though, and thank you very much for your response.

Gratefully,
Mary Granger

[Klara]

Hi Mary,

How I wish I had a mb answer - and I apologize for this sounding like an ad, but since you mentioned the shoes - I also went the route of podiatrists and shots and different kinds of insoles. I came across Nikken magnets - they didn't help me with issues like head aches - and I did end up working for them (no longer do) and did find it helped some people but didn't help others - but the shoe inserts did help me -which truly amazed me. Their products are expensive but relative to all the other things they sell, the shoe inserts were on the lower end of prices.

To be totaly honest I also have been eating more mb'ly since I first started with the shoe inserts so this isn't a very scientific find - have no idea how much having hardly any nightshades over the years has also effected - also as unregistered mentioned, about walking on hard surfaces, I would never ever walk barefooted - where I live are stone floors and the first thing I would always put on would be my closed shoes - usually good supportive tennis shoes (New Balance was one one of the podiatrists had recommended - that was years ago, may be other brands that also give good support these days). Somewhere along the line I recall a doctor saying the cause was wearing my Birkenstocks for so many years. Now I wear them again, but when if my feet start to hurt, I stop wearing them.

Klara

[cucinamaria]

Klara,

I can attribute a large part of my problem to walking long distances all summer in flip-flops. I felt some soreness early in the summer, but thought it was just something that would go away and ignored it until I couldn't stand the pain any more. Pretty silly, but that's where I am now. It took a long time to figure out what the problem was since I don't like to go to doctors.

Anyway, I've been doing stretches recommended for plantar fasciitis (I've got a spur and plantar fasciitis) and bought some shoes yesterday that are right for my arches. I ate a lot of tomatoes over the summer and will now swear off all nightshades happily. And I'll be looking for the book recommended by the other responder. I've also promised my husband to get back to my Tai-Chi routine. I hope to be fully recovered pretty soon. We'll see.

Thank you for your response. It's always helpful to hear from people who have "been there!"

Mary

[garymill]

I would also look into these wonderful shoes by MBT. They can do wonders for posture, leg and muscle problems. A great source for them is Walker's Warehouse where you can get discontinued styles at great savings.

Hope this helps,

Gary