(If I don't simply order it online, that is.)
Been researching these things because of a foot issue I've been experiencing for over a month now. My left foot, which has been sensitive to shoe types ever since I forced myself to wear a particular pair of boots in hopes they'd "break in," began getting annoyed with me when we were in the process of moving early last month. I chalked it up to the additional moving around at the time but then wondered if perhaps it was my new pair of shoes. I went back to my old shoes and continued feeling this crushing sensation on the left top side of the foot, accompanied by pain on the right anklebone. It came and went, but I recall a few days in a row where it was particularly bad. Those days, I could scarely stand on it for the burning sensation that radiated all over the bottom.
That hasn't happened since, but the pain continues off and on. Yesterday it annoyed me to the point where I got ticked off and walked /con gusto/ in an attempt to will it into submission. It seemed to help for a time, as did loosening my shoelaces to avoid feeling the ever-so-soft ankle support ram gently but annoyingly into my anklebone, thus exerting undesired pressure on the bone again. But it soon returned full-force.
This prompted me to research further potential causes. I still don't know what it could be exactly, but I did learn a few things. First, it's likely related to the extra load it was under while we were in the process of moving. Simply carrying heavier-than-usual loads has been known to irritate the tendons, ligaments, and/or bones of a foot because of the extra sudden weight. I /certainly/ carried a lot of extra weight around for a while there. Forsooth, I recall my back was unhappy with me several times for this reason. I never fancied my feet as being similarly irritable, but that particular foot is.
Second, foot injuries can take a particularly long time to heal because it's hard to stay the heck off them.
Third, heat can help speed up healing because it improves blood flow (and thus healing nutrients) to the area. It seemed to me that my foot was more irritable when cold, whether hurt or not. Any time I hike in the winter, my feet are sooooo prone to hurting afterwards as though injured. Wouldn't it stand to reason that cold would irritate an injury, then?
So, I sat here reading, occasionally flexing my foot, and listening to it snap and crack. Each time, the tension in it lessened a bit. It didn't hurt today, but it felt as thought something in it was "caught." You know the feeling, right? You're walking along, and suddenly feel that overwhelming urge to stretch your legs or feet, and when you do, you feel something crack and snap, seemingly back into place. That tension can cause pain, too, if it doesn't snap right off. But my foot still felt sensitive, and very cold. So I dragged out my heating pad and turned it on under my feet. OMG the difference... warmth is so nice!! It didn't seem to eradicate the tension still there, but I figured perhaps it would help heal it faster.
Then it dawned on me that the stiffness in my fingers when they're cold probably isn't good for them, either. I don't really want arthritis when I'm older. So, I tried moving the pad under my arm as I moused. That was nice, too. Now I want a few of these suckers, preferably withOUT the auto-shutoff, to see if my feet and hands will benefit from the warmth on colder days.
Anywho, 'nuff 'bout my minor stupid health concerns. I'm going to go find out how to cook asparagus. Last time I brought home groceries, two bundles of the stuff somehow ended up coming with me. I wasn't about to go 20 minutes back to return them, and figured the one who bought them would probably return and get more, so the store that packed them in the wrong bag would simply have to eat the cost this time around. I've not been in the mood to fix someone else's mistakes lately...
In other news, it's raining today. No garden time for me!
~nv
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