Plantar Fascia Ligament – The Naked Truth

Today I’m the very interesting and hip teacher and you are the eager student. Please sit down in your chair and stop texting. No, you can not jump over to GooglePlus and become my friend yet, but you can do it when we are all finished here today.

Also, I don’t mind if you chew gum, but do not stick it on the underside of the desk. You can, however, stick it to the corner of the monitor if you have already chewed all the sugar out and don’t want to go to the trashcan yet.

See? I do believe in compromise especially since we are talking about your monitor and not mine.

Plantar Fascia Ligament

Today we are going to talk about the Plantar Fascia Ligament. Say it with me now:

“PLAN-tar Fash-ee-a LIG-uh-ment”

Now let me break down the Plantar Fascia Ligament for you or maybe I can throw it off a very high bridge. Uh huh. We will get to that in a moment.

The plantar fascia is a very strong, dense, fibrous membrane otherwise known as a ligament. It runs along the bottom of the foot starting at the heel and connecting to the toes like a rubber band or bowstring. This ligament helps the bones of the foot maintain the tension in the arch of the foot.

Fascinating isn’t it?

In the photo below, the blue line roughly represents the plantar fascia ligament.

The Naked Truth

Whenever I get hurt and my daughter is around, her “thing” to say to me is, “Just suck it up” because I am a bit wimpy. However, having a low tolerance to pain is a redhead trait and is a scientifically proven fact, so I’m not even going to apologize for my wimpiness.

This is what happened…

I was walking beside Alyssa (not exercising) and it was just regular walking. Actually, I stroll more than walk, so we were walking at a very slow pace. When I took one step it was fine and so was the next and the next and the next until ZI-I-I-I-I-ING in the bottom of my right foot.

A SHARP pain shot into my heel and dropped me almost all the way to my knees.

Alyssa was oblivious to my dilemma until I said, “Wait! I’ve hurt myself. I can’t walk!”

That’s when she said, “Mom, just suck it up. Come on.”

Not wanting to be overly wimpy because I was JUST walking normally, I started walking/hobbling along. By the time I finally got back to the car, I thought my foot was going to explode off my ankle.

After I got home, nothing made my foot feel better, so there was only one thing to do…go to the doctor to get some expert advice. Well, the doctor’s office is where I spent a huge portion of my day today and why I have this beautiful picture of my foot.

One thing I was really thankful for was that I keep my heels soft and pumiced. I would have been so embarrassed and mortified if I had yanked my sock off to reveal a rough looking heel! Go ahead and say that I’m vain, but I want my feet soft like a baby’s buns.

Anyway, the low down is that I have injured my plantar fascia ligament. It is strained and has tiny tears in the ligament. This injury happens to people old and young alike and without warning during times when the person is making normal foot movements. I wasn’t acting like a goofball! The good doctor told me that the reason I now have an injured plantar fascia ligament is because I am “just lucky.”

Oh boy! I feel so lucky! (rolling eyes)

This is what I have to look forward to:

• Ice on the bottom of the foot
• Physical therapy
• Anti-inflammatory medication
• Pain medication
• A foot brace
• Elevating my leg at all times
• Walking as little as possible
• A cane
• Keeping my foot warm and massaged before walking on it
• Hot showers
• 6 week minimum recovery, but it could also be as long as 1 year for it to completely heal

After I asked the doctor if there was anything else he could do to make this foot get well faster, he said, “I can give you a shot in the buttocks to help speed along the healing.”

I opted out on that one and begged for a pill instead. Honestly, I chose the pill entirely for the doctor’s benefit….I didn’t want the moon to blind him and that’s the naked truth. (wink)