If you are overweight and suffer from pain in your feet that radiates from your heel, you are not alone. Almost one quarter of overweight people suffer from plantar fasciitis, a debilitating condition that causes heel pain and can limit a person’s ability to walk or exercise. It is estimated that one out of every ten people will suffer from heel pain at some point in his or her life.
Being overweight and suffering from heel pain can create a vicious cycle. We all know that exercise is a key component to losing weight. The problem is that heel pain often strikes when you put more stress on your feet by increasing your physical activity. If heel pain then forces you to limit exercise, it becomes challenging to lose weight and can actually cause an increase in weight. Increasing weight and a sedentary lifestyle can cause more heel pain and other common health problems, such as depression and heart disease.
The good news is that when properly treated, most heel pain improves in 6 to 8 weeks. The bad news is that most people do not have the information to properly treat it. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons estimates that 2 million people seek treatment for plantar fasciitis every year in the United States, and several million more go untreated. Those who don’t seek treatment often hope that plantar fasciitis will just go away on its own ? which it usually doesn’t.
Daniel Marein-Efr
Loading...