::feet::

I had good intentions of blogging every day or at least every other day but somehow that’s not working out so well. I even had tons of time while Bob was in California.

Yesterday I went to see Dr. Rosenbaum - a podiatrist. A few weeks back I remembered that about 9 or 10 years ago I got custom made orthotics. At the time I went to see the podiatrist (back in Austin, TX) because I had heel pain. He also noted that my left leg is shorter than my right leg. (Incidentally, both Dr. Ellis and Dr. Rowan said my left hip is lower than my right hip. Dr. Rowan doesn’t think it’s an actual limb length difference as those are rare, but that my body always compensates for some reason.) About 3 or so years ago my orthotics had to be resurfaced and it took several months to get them back. At the time I was dealing mostly with lower back aches and felt that they had improved while not wearing the orthotics - so I stopped wearing them all together. Luckily I kept them.

Dr. Rosenbaum measured my legs and agreed that my left leg is shorter. In addition, my feet are misaligned and I have hammer toes. The hammer toes alone will put tension on the tendons in the bottom of your feet causing calf pain - which I have. The difference in leg length and misaligned feet will cause problems with your spine and can cause the pain I have been describing. Although I don’t know that not wearing my orthotics IS the cause of my pain, it gives me hope. This week was really hard. I was getting so frustrated, mostly with not getting any answers, and was wondering if I just need to start taking pain killers.

The orthotics I currently have take the leg length difference and misaligned feet into consideration so I can continue wearing them. Since a new pair is $400 I was very grateful that mine still work. However, mine are half length only which means they tend to slide forward when I wear them depending on which shoes I wear them in. She is going to have them ‘corrected’ as she put it, by extending them to full length, adding cushioning to make them more comfortable, and also adding a metatarsal lift for the hammer toes.

I was actually excited about everything she found because if she had said my feet are perfectly ok then I would be back to searching for an answer. Like I said, I don’t know that all this is the cause of my pain but it certainly could be. It will take two weeks to get my orthotics back - I am praying I will get them next week so I can start wearing them. In the meantime I am trying to get by with my muscle relaxant, occasionally Aleve, and Sombra (pain relievieng gel with menthol and other ‘warming’ ingredients’).