I’ve suffered with a LOT of foot pain over the years, and as a fitness professional my job requires me to spend a lot of time on my feet.

Have you ever heard of something called plantar fasciitis?

If you haven’t, think of it as every step you take (particularly first thing in the morning), as sheer, excruciating agony.

Foot pain is not pleasant, and it took me a good 18 months to get rid of plantar fasciitis myself.

I went down the usual route of foot pain recovery:

*saw a Physio

*did my exercises religiously even though they made limited difference

*got sports massage in my calves (in one appointment at one point, I had to tell the therapist to stop because I thought I was actually going to pass out)

*rubbed ibuprofen gel on the soles of my feet morning, noon and night to keep the pain at bay

*rolled a frozen water bottle underneath my foot (which gave me an ice cream headache!)

*wore shoes all the time (even indoors)

*got custom insoles made (and wore them for 4+ years)

*had all the callouses and corns removed from my feet by a Chiropodist

 

The turning point for my foot pain for me was when my partner and I went to Croatia on holiday one year

 

(If you weren’t aware, most of Croatia’s beaches are pebble.)

The pain I experienced walking on the beach’s natural surface was almost unbearable (see pic below)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It became immediately apparent in that moment, that my feet had become so sensitive and so atrophied…

…yet I felt as though I was doing ALL of the right things in my foot pain rehab, because I was following all of the advice from the so-called “experts”.

I was super frustrated.

I had to quit all of my high impact classes, and after walking around without shoes for two hours teaching Pilates on a Tuesday evening, by the third class, I had to slip my Crocs on to walk around on the hard wooden Hall floor, to give my poor, tired feet a break.

My health was really starting to suffer and foot pain was the culprit

However, 2014 I had a light bult moment, and I started searching for answers to my almost 5-year history of foot pain.

After stumbling across Katy Bowman’s foot book, I realised that my feet were not doing their job anymore which is essentially:

Supporting the weight of my body stacked up on top of it

Putting my delicately de-conditioned feet in cushioned shoes; never exposing them to anything other than “flat and level” surfaces; and keeping them from moving naturally through their full range of motion on uneven and natural ground was EXACTLY the worst thing I could’ve done.

But, I didn’t know this at the time, and that’s why I wanted to share this with you.

Through increasing my knowledge and busting the myths, my foot pain started to dissipate.

I got so focussed into developing strength in the weak areas of my feet; I became obsessed with gaining more mobility in the chronically stiff areas; and I was learning so much about the foot, that I then went onto do my biomechanics qualification with Nutritious Movement, because this newfound knowledge worked!

A lot of what I discovered has helped me learn so much more about not just the foot, but what else gets stacked up on top of it too, and it’s really the catalyst for me discovering the foot and pelvic floor connection and creating my own program about it, so there you go!

My foot pain story has a happy ending though…

I can now walk on Croatia’s beaches without shoes and without pain!

And, now you know why I’m so obsessed with foot mechanics too, huh?

If you’ve been affected by any of the issues raised in today’s blog, do get in touch!

And, if you’d like to understand the foot and pelvic floor connection on a deeper level, click the “play” button below on this educational podcast episode on the Pelvicpreneur Podcast here:

I hope you enjoyed reading my story.

Do you have a similar foot pain story to share?  Get in touch and let me know!