Plantar fasciitis

I had terrible heel pain that caused me to take medical leave from school last year since I had difficulty walking due to acute pain on the heel.

The most common reason is due to plantar fasciitis.

Image Source

I am quite sure many teachers suffer the same condition as me since we are standing to teach most of the time.

We often carry heavy books to bring back to teacher room for marking.

The inflammation of our thick band of tissue leading to stabbing pain often comes back when we stand too long.

It can also be due to our overweight or shoes that cannot support our feet well.

This short article is to share some ideas of possible relief for our feet.

Ice pack

It is very common for swelling as one of the first aid treatments for injuries in school.

Image Source

We can apply ice pack covered with a cloth over the area of pain for about 15 to 20 minutes for three to four times daily when we are at home.

This can help to reduce our pain and inflammation. Nevertheless, we may need to consult the doctor for medication if it is still too painful.

Reduce standing or walking

The most logical thing to do when you are in pain is to rest your feet as much as you can.

Avoid walking too much and let your feet rest.

Image Source

We can let our school leaders know about our condition so that we can sit to teach and only stand when we need to write things on the whiteboard.

Our shoes

It may be a good indication that you need to get a good pair of shoes that can support your feet better.

Image Source

Find a shoe that can help to absorb shock and impact to support the tension.

We can also add arch to our present shoes if cost is a concern.

Avoid being barefooted especially on hard surfaces. Some people will wear slippers while they are at home to avoid being barefooted to support their feet better.

Reduce our weight

Perhaps it is time to watch our diet.

Image Source

Try to reduce our weight and we can find ourselves having less pain since there is less strain on our feet due to less pressure due to our reduced weight.

With our busy job, the easiest way to reduce our weight is to watch our diet more closely. If time permits, we should do some exercises regularly.

Physical therapy

I went to see a doctor and he actually taught me how to pull my foot backward to stretch it.

I recently had the pain again over the weekend. I did the pulling and it took about two days for my pain to subside.

The below is a short videoclip that I found that you can give it a try.

Doing self therapy is definitely better than taking medication.

I tried acupuncture in the past and it was extremely painful and it did not help much for me.

At this moment, physical therapy has helped me to recover from my heel pain.

Bandage feet

Many years ago, one of the senior teachers taught me how to bandage my feet to reduce and recover from heel pain.

She recovered from her heel pain after using the bandage method that she learnt from physiotherapy.

I found a videoclip that has very similar method below for your reference.

Other possible reasons for heel pain

The above ideas are mainly for plantar fasciitis but there can be many other reasons for your heel pain.

• Soft tissue mass

• Ulcerative colitis

• Reactive arthritis

• Sjogren’s syndrome

• Rheumatoid arthritis

• Radiculopathy

• Calcaneal Cyst

• Tarsal Tunnel syndrome

• Baxter’s Nerve Entrapment

• Calcaneal Stress Fracture

• Gout

• Soft Tissue mass

The above is just couple of possible reasons and plantar fasciitis is not the only possible reason for heel pain.

Getting the right diagnosis from a doctor is therefore important.

Image Source

In conclusion

Our job as teacher requires us to stand and move around in school very often.

It is important to take good care of our feet so that we can continue to teach effectively.

It is really hard to teach while sitting especially when we are teaching younger kids.

Our health can affect our ability to teach effectively regardless of how passionate we are for our job.

Disclaimer: This is my personal reflection and I am not in any position to instruct anyone what they should do. I am not responsible for any action taken as a result of this post. My post can only be a reference for your further research and growth. By reading this post, you acknowledge and accept that. All images and pictures were taken from google images that are free from copyright under labelled for reuse.

---

Posted from my blog with SteemPress : http://fun2learn.vornix.blog/2018/10/03/plantar-fasciitis/

---