By Faith Chadwick
Sharp, jagged nails digging into your heel. A feeling like marbles pressing hard on your tendons. Arches swollen like balloons, creating constant throbbing from heel to toe. This pain is Yvette Peña’s life. “It’s a vicious cycle,” Peña said. “You don’t want to move around because your feet hurt so much, but if you don’t stay active, the pain will only get worse.” Peña, 50, and a mother of two, has always had flat feet, a condition where most or the entire sole of the foot touches the floor while standing, as opposed to having a natural arch. Although flat feet can be benign, in many cases fallen arches can cause intense back, hip and knee pain later in life, especially for those who engage in daily exercise. Arched feet, however, don’t necessarily spare a person from foot-related afflictions. An irregular gait, improper footwear and muscle imbalances can have a detrimental impact on parts of the body that absorb the footfall, such as the back. | Faith Chadwick |
At some point in their lives, 75 percent of people in the United States will have foot pain, according to an article on the website for Powerstep, an orthotic shoe company started by a podiatrist who was also a foot surgeon and a runner. About 25 percent have flat feet, the major culprit in latent health issues, according to the article.
Not paying attention to early signs could be detrimental to a person’s later foot health.
Not paying attention to early signs could be detrimental to a person’s later foot health.
For Peña, plantar fasciitis, one of the most common foot problems in the outpatient setting, causes her intense inflammation, heel pain and is a daily handicap that hinders her ability to walk long distances.
Peña recalls waking up with the feeling of her nerves “grinding,” as if something was always piercing the connective tendon that runs throughout her foot. Simple activities such as grocery shopping would tire her to the point where she would have to prop up her feet because they were throbbing so much.
Treatment has been an arduous journey for Peña. After trying $300 surgical boots, whose makers claim to cater to her complaints, she turned to cortisone shots.
“That was easily the most painful experience of my life,” Peña said. “I had to be on bed rest for awhile until the pain subsided...I was lucky my insurance covered most of it.”
For those with limited or no insurance, costs quickly add up. Cortisone, a highly coveted hormone for its numbing abilities, costs $100-$300 per shot. Additional physical therapy that is often needed can cost up to $3,000 for repeated sessions. And the price of customfit orthotics? That ranges from $200 to $800.
Cortisone can pose other risks. Shots contain much higher concentrations of cortisone than normally found in the body, so injections are seen as a last resort because of the risk of tendon rupture, joint damage and cartilage impairment.
Growing up with flat feet, Peña recounts having to wear hard plastic insoles and steer clear of traditional soles that lacked support.
“It was very hard, because kids always made fun of me for my shoes,” Peña said.
This sentiment highlights a notion that has continued to dictate clothing culture for decades: the choice of fashion over function. In an era when social media is omnipresent and everything a person does is seen and even criticized, people often feel pressured to fit in with current styles, such as wearing Vans and Converse, despite a lack of foot support.
In a 2016 article published by HuffPost, Dr. Leslie Campbell, a spokesperson for the American Podiatric Medical Association, calls shoes like Vans and Converse “glorified sock[s] without adequate support or stability and minimal to no shock absorption.”
In the same article, Dr. Megan Leahy from the Illinois Bone and Joint Institute explained, “[these types of shoes] can be improved by wearing a custom...or an offthe-shelf insert or insole.
“Without an additional insole, these shoes are not well suited to all day use for most people,” said Leahy, who specializes in podiatric medicine.
Campbell and Leahy highlight the common myth that arch supports are only necessary for alleviating pain that is already present. Regardless of whether your feet are flat or arched, prevention efforts as simple as wellstructured shoes are vital to eradicating tension that can accumulate into misaligned biomechanics and latent conditions such as tendonitis and plantar fasciitis.
At Tucson’s Hanger Clinic, which specializes in prosthetics and orthotics, certified pedorthist Justin Hill warns against novel companies promising quick solutions.
“A lot of places that say they can correct a bunion or a hammertoe are very gimmicky and don’t really do a lot,” Hill said. “An orthotic is something that definitely can cause real change.”
Maxwell Breakey, a sales associate from Alan’s Shoes, a local company offering a variety of supportive shoes for a variety of ailments since 1982, emphasizes the importance of wearing arch supports from an early age.
“Even if it’s just a small amount of cushioning from Dr. Scholl’s,” said Breakey, “it’s the small things that really make a huge difference later on. Wearing a nice quality shoe is vital to proper foot function.”
Peña recalls waking up with the feeling of her nerves “grinding,” as if something was always piercing the connective tendon that runs throughout her foot. Simple activities such as grocery shopping would tire her to the point where she would have to prop up her feet because they were throbbing so much.
Treatment has been an arduous journey for Peña. After trying $300 surgical boots, whose makers claim to cater to her complaints, she turned to cortisone shots.
“That was easily the most painful experience of my life,” Peña said. “I had to be on bed rest for awhile until the pain subsided...I was lucky my insurance covered most of it.”
For those with limited or no insurance, costs quickly add up. Cortisone, a highly coveted hormone for its numbing abilities, costs $100-$300 per shot. Additional physical therapy that is often needed can cost up to $3,000 for repeated sessions. And the price of customfit orthotics? That ranges from $200 to $800.
Cortisone can pose other risks. Shots contain much higher concentrations of cortisone than normally found in the body, so injections are seen as a last resort because of the risk of tendon rupture, joint damage and cartilage impairment.
Growing up with flat feet, Peña recounts having to wear hard plastic insoles and steer clear of traditional soles that lacked support.
“It was very hard, because kids always made fun of me for my shoes,” Peña said.
This sentiment highlights a notion that has continued to dictate clothing culture for decades: the choice of fashion over function. In an era when social media is omnipresent and everything a person does is seen and even criticized, people often feel pressured to fit in with current styles, such as wearing Vans and Converse, despite a lack of foot support.
In a 2016 article published by HuffPost, Dr. Leslie Campbell, a spokesperson for the American Podiatric Medical Association, calls shoes like Vans and Converse “glorified sock[s] without adequate support or stability and minimal to no shock absorption.”
In the same article, Dr. Megan Leahy from the Illinois Bone and Joint Institute explained, “[these types of shoes] can be improved by wearing a custom...or an offthe-shelf insert or insole.
“Without an additional insole, these shoes are not well suited to all day use for most people,” said Leahy, who specializes in podiatric medicine.
Campbell and Leahy highlight the common myth that arch supports are only necessary for alleviating pain that is already present. Regardless of whether your feet are flat or arched, prevention efforts as simple as wellstructured shoes are vital to eradicating tension that can accumulate into misaligned biomechanics and latent conditions such as tendonitis and plantar fasciitis.
At Tucson’s Hanger Clinic, which specializes in prosthetics and orthotics, certified pedorthist Justin Hill warns against novel companies promising quick solutions.
“A lot of places that say they can correct a bunion or a hammertoe are very gimmicky and don’t really do a lot,” Hill said. “An orthotic is something that definitely can cause real change.”
Maxwell Breakey, a sales associate from Alan’s Shoes, a local company offering a variety of supportive shoes for a variety of ailments since 1982, emphasizes the importance of wearing arch supports from an early age.
“Even if it’s just a small amount of cushioning from Dr. Scholl’s,” said Breakey, “it’s the small things that really make a huge difference later on. Wearing a nice quality shoe is vital to proper foot function.”