What if everything I’ve been told about Plantar Fascitis is wrong?

First of all, I am NOT a doctor nor am I a medical professional. I am a woman in her mid-forties who is struggling. It’s as if something flipped as I reached my forties. Arthritis in my knees, carpal tunnel in both wrists, and for the past year, I’ve been struggling with plantar fasciitis in my feet.

The feet are the WORST! I can wear wrist braces and knee braces as necessary to stabilize those joints, but no matter what I did, I couldn’t seem to find anything to help my feet. I’ve tried changing shoes, wearing Vibrams, taping the arches of my feet with athletic tape, wearing special socks, using special insoles, wearing special “boots” at night. I’ve tried exercises that are supposed to strengthen the feet. I’ve tried NOT exercising. Ice, rest, soaking my feet in an Epsom salt bath. Nothing seems to help long-term. In the meantime, I’ve been popping ibuprofen like they’re candy, trying to manage my pain. NOT good!!!

When I first stand up in the morning, my pain is easily at an 8 out of 10. (Ten being the worst.) There’s a sharp pain in both of my heels. I can hardly walk. I have to hold onto furniture on my morning trip to the bathroom. The pain decreases as I move around, so it goes down to maybe a 4 or 5, and then it gets worse again at night—fairly typical plantar fasciitis symptoms.

So about a month ago, I was looking through some online forums, searching for something, ANYTHING that might help, and that sent me down a rabbit hole. A person on Reddit mentioned that their plantar fasciitis symptoms went away after they changed their diet. They weren’t trying “fix” their plantar fasciitis. They were trying to lose weight, hoping that less weight would put less pressure on their heels. Anyway, I started doing my own research, reading medical journals and whatnot, looking into diet, excess sugar, insulin, and inflammation.

Long story short, I made some changes in my diet over the past two weeks and I’ve seen some SIGNIFICANT improvements. This afternoon, my pain is at a zero  or a one. I was at a 3 when I first woke up. I’ve stopped taking vitamins and supplements. I haven’t taken ANY ibuprofen today. I haven’t felt this good in over a year.

I’ve been journaling my progress over the last couple of weeks, but I’d like to give it two more weeks before I share my results, a full 30 days.

*SPOILERS* I think ALL of my aches and pains are related.

It’s like this TED Talk with Peter Attia:

I think I’ve been chasing symptoms rather than addressing the underlying issue(s). I think ALL of my pain is related to inflammation. (Even my recent weight gain might be a symptom.) But rather than treating this inflammation with ibuprofen (or whatever), I’ve changed the food I’ve been eating, which keep my insulin levels steady, and that in turn seems to be decreasing my inflammation and pain.

I wouldn’t have imagined that I could improve my plantar fasciitis with food. (I’m still a bit skeptical of my own results.) If this is a fluke, I’ll know soon enough, and if it’s an answer that might help someone else, I’ll be happy to share my unscientific results in two weeks.

xo Juli 

(Image courtesy of Wikimedia, CC)