I’ve really done a number on myself this time. I’m at home in bed today because I can just barely walk. The damage is totally self-inflicted too. Just because I’ve made a lot of positive changes in my life doesn’t mean I’m necessarily any better at taking care of myself.

For about two years now I’ve had a bone spur in my right heel. It’s sort of like having a pebble inside your shoe, except instead of in your shoe, the pebble is inside your foot, and you can’t get it out. For a long time I felt pain with every step I took, but it had been better for the past several months, especially since I started losing a significant amount of weight. Around last July though, the pain became worse. I figured it was just because I was becoming more active and hoped the pain would eventually subside. Not so.

Last Monday I took a major step, as it were, and joined a gym here in my neighborhood. I meant to write more about that whole experience, but I’ll have to skip it. I’ve gone three times so far, and it’s been going ok. Yesterday though, I guess I pushed it too far. I ran kind of hard on the treadmill and must have just shredded the tissue in my foot. The whole time I was doing it, I knew it was going to cost me, but I did it anyway. Sound like a familiar pattern?

It’s a real problem because the most important long-term solution to this problem is exercising and losing weight, but the repetitive stress of walking or running puts me in a lot of pain, but to lose weight I have to exercise, but exercising is painful, and so on. It’s a perfect little catch 22. Of course, there are exercises one can do that don’t put as much stress on the feet. I don’t like doing any of those exercises, but I’m just going to have to put my best foot forward and give them a shot.

Seriously, I’m in a lot of pain today, so I’m hanging out at home, staying off my feet and taking it easy. I think I’m going to go back through some old entries and add some tags since that feature has now become available. If I get very bored, which at this point I’d say is highly likely, I may post again on some additional stuff I’ve been thinking about, including some thoughts about my possible 2006 Nanowrimo project.

Labels: bone spur, heel pain, injury, plantar fasciitis