Our feet are essential for our balance, coordination and, of course, for walking. We take them for granted until they hurt. So we are really aware of how important they are to our comfort. Thousands of people suffer from various foot conditions. One of the most painful is called plantar fasciitis. This is where there is a sharp or stabbing pain in the heel and under part of the foot, particularly the arch.
Plantar fasciitis is one of the most common and frequently observed conditions by doctors and foot specialists. More people are limping to their doctors for relief. The tissues on the bottom of the foot become irritated and inflamed to the point that it is almost too painful to walk. The inflammation affects the band of fascia or tissue that supports the arch and runs the length of the foot from the heel to the toes. When it becomes this painful, it is called a “stage 4 acid wasting injury.”
Steven Ross, MD, a clinical professor in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at the University of California, Irvine, and president of the American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS), says that plantar fasciitis is a very common problem in adults, particularly overweight, medium weight. older women. It affects all areas of life. It doesn’t seem to matter if you are very active or sedentary, you can still have plantar fasciitis.
The medical model explains that plantar fasciitis is a repetitive stress injury, but people who sit at a desk all day want to know how they can sustain a repetitive stress injury when they are on their feet too little. The answer lies in your diet and lifestyle, which accumulate metabolic acids in your body tissues. When the rate of inflammation increases sufficiently, certain vulnerable tissues begin to scream in pain. Metabolic acids can cause burning pain much like the pain you would feel if acid were spilled on yourself, or significant bone and joint pain.
Metabolic acids are the waste products that leave cells after the cell has consumed its fuel and spit out the waste. Basic high school chemistry tells us that if something is acidic and you want to neutralize it, you should add something to it that is alkaline or base. That’s the simplest, non-invasive, non-pharmaceutical (read, no side effects) way to fix an acidic condition. You can be sure that if you have swelling in your feet, you have it everywhere, you just can’t feel it yet. If you wait long enough without getting rid of the acids in your body, you will feel it sooner or later. The fastest way to get rid of an acidic body condition, called acidosis by scientists, is to alkalize the body. A strict alkaline diet takes 6 to 8 months to start to see results, but who wants to eat five salads for dinner every day or 2 pounds of kale for dinner? Wouldn’t you rather drink alkaline and ionized water and start becoming more alkaline in two or three days? As it becomes alkaline, the pain is reduced until it disappears, the amount of time varies according to its degree of acidity.
Other forms of treatment that alkalize only the foot area, come in the form of sodium bicarbonate injections, in the area of the painful tissue to neutralize the acids in the arch of the foot. Clay compresses on the feet can also draw out acids. They are similar to clay face packs. Hot mineral salt baths for the feet, using bicarbonate salts such as calcium bicarbonate, magnesium bicarbonate, etc. They are comforting and help draw alkaline water through the skin and increase circulation so it can be eliminated.
Some forms of treatment involve soaking your feet in heated ionized acidic water for 30 minutes twice a day. Positively charged acidic water is believed to penetrate the skin, causing negatively charged blood to flow to the feet, thereby increasing circulation to remove acidic waste.
There are also ionized foot pads that are available from Ionways called Acupeds. See the article titled “Acute and Plantar Fasciitis” to see how they work. These pads are worn on the soles of the feet at night. In fact, they draw toxins and metabolic acids from the muscles and tissues of your feet while you sleep. As the toxic load decreases, the pain is relieved.
Other treatments that do not involve alkalization include different types of exercises, stretches, and foot massages. These forms of therapy can improve circulation and increase the cellular pumping action that moves those nasty acids into the bloodstream to eventually go down the duct.
There are surgical procedures that relieve stress on the plantar fascia, but actually transfer the problem to other areas of the foot. There is another surgical procedure that is performed to relieve tension in the calf muscles, believing that it will reduce the pressure on the heel and fascia under the foot. I myself am not sure why one would do surgery on an acidic condition that can be simply and easily reversed without it.
Some foot specialists recommend orthodontic or orthodontic-like inserts in the heel and arch part of the shoe. Some are custom-made and others can be purchased without a prescription. Some of the inserts you buy over the counter may work by stimulating acupressure points on the sole of your foot. It doesn’t seem to matter how long you’ve had foot pain and severe pain, some people get relief in minutes.
Believe it or not, your waist size can have an effect on whether you have plantar fasciitis or not. Toxins are stored in body fat, which is why the body produces fat. If you didn’t have a lot of toxins, you wouldn’t be overweight or underweight. By modifying your diet to include more alkaline foods and more alkaline, ionized water, your body would discharge toxins into its waste dumps and your weight would naturally find its ideal. We have other articles to reference this, so check them out.
Dr. Ross explains that without surgical intervention, plantar fasciitis usually resolves with patience, time, and exercise. Nothing is a quick fix, and surgical treatments often don’t work the way they should. Dr. Robert. O. Young says that about 99 percent of people with plantar fasciitis, who are made alkaline with diet and alkaline and ionized water, will see relief much sooner without surgery.