Advice from Mike
Walking for exercise no matter the season is a great way to get your heart rate up and put some colour in your cheeks. Walking is highly under-rated as exercise but in fact is much easier on your joints than running. It is estimated that the ground reaction forces can equal 1 ½ times your body weight; it is more than three times that when running.
If you wear foot orthotics, it is very important that you take them with you when you are buying new shoes because they will not fit everything. This will ensure that the orthotics fit well in the shoes and are comfortable. Try the shoes on right out of the box and if they feel good then remove the sock liner, put your orthotics in, try them again to make sure they still feel good.
As a Canadian Pedorthist I see many young athletes in clinic who complain of heel pain. Most of the time it turns out to be Sever’s Disease which is eponymous with a Dr. Sever who identified the condition just over a hundred years ago.
I grew up with a father who always said to buy good shoes and a good bed because when you’re not in one you’re in the other. In fact when I was in high school and working part time at the Save-Easy grocery store my dad accompanied me to the local haberdashery to buy footwear. I remember he split the cost of $150.00 for a pair of Clark’s Polyveldt sole shoes. A lot of money for shoes in 1970!
It has been my experience as a clinical pedorthist that most people who are active in a running or racquet sport will twist their ankle; this is called an ankle inversion sprain. It is a rolling out of the ankle while the foot twists inward. How many ligaments are strained depends on the grade of the sprain with 3 classifications to the degree of damage.