Left untreated, heel spurs, bunions and plantar fasciitis can turn chronic.  Take a “stroll for the sole” through several approaches and heal those heels. . .

If the first steps out of bed in the morning are torturous -- with stabbing pains in the feet as you limp to the bathroom -- you may be feeling the effects of damaging the band of tissue that runs along the bottom of the foot from the heel bone to the toe.  The pain is easy to ignore at first, as it eases after you "walk about" a bit.  But it's unwise to leave it unchecked.  Plantar fasciitis, a common source of heel pain, is the top persistent foot ailment and among the most debilitating, according to the American Podiatric Medical Association.

Astonishingly, it’s one of the few conditions for which high heels are not necessarily the scourge.  Open-heeled shoes such as flip-flops, slides or ill-positioned sandals are common culprits, as are new shoes (your feet aren't shaped to), old shoes with worn-down heels or just plain being in shoes too much.

What to do?

1. Relax about Germs and Walk More in Minimalist Shoes or Barefeet
At the close of 2010, Dr. Dieter Breithecker, head of Germany’s Federal Institute for Posture and Mobilization, announced that his German Health office endorsed walking barefoot in the great outdoors as a simple, natural way to increase foot health.  He noted that barefoot walking also benefits the rest of the body.

“Putting the soles of your feet in contact with all the normal sensations helps to relieve internal tension and reduce stress,” noted Breithecker. “Shoes, on the other hand, prevent direct contact with the ground and so adversely affect the health of our feet, balance and posture. Wet stones and damp meadows caused by the autumnal morning dew are especially beneficial,” Breithecker said. “The coldness stimulates the circulation, strengthens the immune system and encourages organ function.”

It’s comments like these that have encouraged the growth of  Europe’s “Barfuss Parks” – well-kept pathways in nature with surfaces of various textures designed for barefoot walking – in Europe.  These parks duplicate surfaces designed for minimalist shoes or barefoot running -- as well as cobblestone pathways for barefoot walking -- long employed in Asia for delivering self-directed acupressure to the soles of the feet.

This is something people all over the world have known intuitively for thousands of years, but modern civilization puts a strong emphasis on footwear – even in situations where shoes do plenty of harm.  While it is true shoes can and do serve a valuable purpose in some situations, one of the results of the nonstop onslaught of shoe marketing via advertisements, fashion shows and even misguided health professionals is the unfortunate idea that going barefoot in nature is something to be avoided.  Breithecker’s comments add support to what untold numbers of barefoot hikers, runners and progressive physical therapists are discovering and re-enforcing with each step.

A helpful way to understand this natural biological and ecological encounter (and counter a prevailing notion that dirt = infection) is to consider new research about a bacterium in plain  soil/dirt that’s been found to reduce stress and improve mood and cognitive function by stimulating the release of seratonin.  Science Daily reported  that "exposure to specific bacteria in the environment, already believed to have antidepressant qualities, could increase learning behavior."

The specific research -- presented at the 110th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in San Diego by Dorothy Matthews of The Sage Colleges in Troy, New York, highlighted Mycobacterium vaccae -- a natural soil bacterium which people likely ingest or breathe in when they spend time in nature.”

How could absorbing this type of bacterium help?

Well, here's another way to understand the intricate eco-biological interplay of “gettin’ down and dirty”; the skin in our feet works best to protect our bodies and absorb information and nutrient from the soil when the foot is bare.

A fear often cultivated from childhood by doctors, parents, teachers and counselors is the notion of getting infections by going barefoot.  It helps to consider that the reverse situation is the case:  lack of proper ventilation in closed shoes keeps the skin moist and makes it prone to invasion by microbes and infection.  All the while weakening skin tissue; shoes actually thin plantar skin, making you more vulnerable to infection.  Frequent barefoot adventures toughens and thickens the skin, and keeps it naturally healthy and well-ventilated.

This last point is important as our feet, our hands (and head) have the greatest number of sweat glands on our body.  Sweat glands that produce micro-droplets of moisture that quickly evaporate and remove heat from the body.  Through this "breathing" interaction of the pores, the body is afforded a vital exchange with our environment.  Hands and feet in natural soil invite our body to achieve another level of homeostasis and balance.  Conversely, with feet ensconced in both shoes and socks -- sweat and heat create a dark, moist, warm breeding ground for less than humanly healthy bacteria and fungi.

Real world for instance:  we know shoes are the basic cause of athlete’s foot and the best way to avoid or even cure athlete’s foot is to go barefoot as much as possible.

More Quantifiable Evidence of Bare Foot First Ecology
Dr. Irene Davis, a professor of physical therapy at the University of Delaware, conducted controlled experiments measuring impact shock in barefoot and shod runners.  She found that, because barefoot runners naturally adopt a fore-foot strike as opposed to the rear-foot strike pattern favored by shod runners, shock to the lower extremities is significantly less in barefoot runners.  The shock also decreased in shod runners who adopted a forefoot landing style.

Free from the constraints of shoes, Davis found, that musculature in the arches is strengthened. "When you're barefoot and you don't have any support under the arch, especially when you are hiking on uneven terrain, your feet have to work really hard to stabilize you.  If you don't have something underneath supporting it, the foot muscles are going to have to work harder.  So I really think that hiking and even just walking barefoot helps to strengthen the muscles of the arch."  In some ways, she says, "We've just taught our feet to be lazy."

Barefoot in the Park
There are other exercises and activities that can serve a similar purpose.  In some parts of Asia, cobblestone pathways are used by unshod walkers to develop and maintain strong feet, improve balance and lower blood pressure. They reap the benefits associated with reflexology, defined by Taber's Medical Dictionary as "a system of massage in which the feet, and sometimes the hands, are massaged for the purpose of attempting to favorably influence the other body functions." In Europe, some "barefoot parks" - pathways with a variety of natural surfaces such as sand, grass, and mulch - have lockers for storing shoes and fountains for washing post-hike feet.
In a 1991 book, “Foot Reflexology: A Visual Guide for Self-Treatment” (St. Martin’s Press), reflexologist Jurgen Jora wrote that reflexology is “…simply an artificial way of going barefoot”  "Shoes have their place, but for optimal foot health, that place shouldn't always be on the feet," advises Randy Eady, a rehab specialist who works with the “feet and seat” to improve movement and balance.

Corrective Footware on Decline
Barefoot populations have stronger, healthier, more mobile feet than those who wear shoes. “That's been well-established," said Dr. Lynn Staheli, referring to various studies comparing feet in shod and unshod cultures. Staheli is a professor emeritus at the University of Washington and served as director of orthopedics at Children's Hospital in Seattle for 15 years. His research on children's lower extremities revealed that many conditions, such as flexible flat feet and bowlegs, are normal and often resolve without treatment - findings that led to a marked decline in recommendations for corrective shoes.

2. Use Emollients and Foot Baths
Skin creams can help maintain the pliability of the foot’s upper skin and replenish moisture and suppleness to the bottom of the foot. (See note on Argan Oil). Taking a warm footbath for 10-15 minutes, two or three times a week will keep your feet relaxed and help prevent mild foot pain caused by fatigue.  Adding ½ cup of Epsom salts increases circulation and adds other benefits. Taking footbaths only when your feet are painful is not as helpful.  An exfoliate scrub, pumice stone or loofah sponge can help get rid of dead skin.

3. Have Massage Therapy

Here’s an exercise you can use on your own feet: Using your thumb, index, and middle finger, rotate each toe in a circular motion. Then, make a fist and rotate it slowly around the bottom of your foot.  Lastly, gently twist each foot, as if wringing wet clothes, moving the top and bottom in opposite directions.   Both of these practices -- soak and massage -- have been blended in a Japanese technique called Ashiyu. Gesundheit!  Today, Ashiyu (pronounced ah~she-u ) is commonly done in resorts, spas (Onsen) and many public locations in Japan.  Foot bathing principally works by soaking your feet in a shallow hot spring (102-105 F) and creating a stimulation in the sensitive extremities of the body that helps you feel relaxed and rejuvenated.

4. Employ Bio-Resonance and Targeted VibroAcoustics

Sound has a long history in medicine, from stethoscopes to internal probes of the human body most familiar to expectant parents.  Though with the remarkable progress in blending acoustics with robustly informed principles of quantum physics, disciplines such as neuroscience and bio-acoustic medicine are finding many more advanced applications of sound-energy.

Acoustic Wave Therapy dates back to the 1940s.  During World War II, depth charges destroyed submarines with acoustic waves:  generated deep in the ocean, transmitted through the water and deflecting on submarine’s skin surface without direct contact. This phenomenon, known as a shock-wave has been subsequently employed for effective treatment of kidney stones.  In extracorporeal shockwave therapy, a patient is placed in an aquatic medium and a targeted force is applied to break up kidney stones.  In the 1990s, these technologies were adapted to treat soft tissue injuries such as tennis elbow and plantar fasciitis.  While expensive, painful, and noisy, it was a more favorable option than the previous open surgical procedures. This process of breaking up adhesion and activating the body’s own natural healing system has been gradually refined to a targeted approach that complements the body’s cellular frequency.  

A procedure -- also derived from a military application of short pulse laser radar technology informs VibroAcoustic Enhanced Reflexology Therapy (VERT).  It’s a process that delivers vibration to specific meridians in the body through an aquatic environment and requires no anesthetic, causes little or no discomfort, and allows clients to walk immediately.  It generally takes three to five (20-30 minute) sessions (usually conducted in an Ashiyu) before the high-frequency oscillations restructure scar tissue in the affected area and enhance reintegration of muscle and connective tissue.  

Increasingly, vibrational bio-acoustics is also being used to assess potentially dangerous atherosclerotic plaques, monitor chronic liver disease, and help deliver drugs to particular locations within the body.

Foot & Ankle Specialists and Podiatrists are also adopting interventional applications to treat pain associated with foot and ankle disorders, including plantar fasciitis and Neuroma with a technique akin to laser radar.

Radiofrequency Nerve Ablation (RFNA), is used by specialty physicians trained in Pain Medicine to treat chronic neck and back pain as well as headaches, trigeminal neuralgia, reflex sympathetic dystrophy, sciatica, facet syndrome and sacroiliac joint pain.  To instigate blood flow to the area to kick-start healing, probes are inserted into the skin to send high-energy sound waves into the tissue.  The controlled trauma is then thought to generate a healing response in which new bone formation occurs. This potentially eases inflammation in the heel and relieves chronic pain.

You can see that treatment for foot pain varies from simple to quite complex --depending on the cause.  Remember that mild foot pain can often be relieved by flexing the feet properly, basic massage, plenty of fluids and a little tender loving care.  Your feet carry a tremendous load; so thank them every once in a while with some preventive medicine and keep chronic pain away.

Randy Eady (aka) foot whisperer keeps his feet safe on the beaches of S. Florida.

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