[OK-944]

What a royal pain this has been! Started about six months ago - I think during a canoe camping trip my wife and I undertook in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA)…where I’d been a naturalist/guide back in 1976. Fast forward to last summer, and at 67yrs. I’m once again hauling gear (albeit lighter loads than in years past) over some pretty rough portages - and shortly after returning home I started to feel the pain on the bottom of my left heel.

Since then its been up and down…with some days being more or less pain-free, and others not so much. I’ve tried massaging and icing my heel, and have recently incorporated a pair of Dr. Scholl’s “Plantar Fasciitis” inserts into my walking shoes - which have certainly helped, but I’m still not sure that I’m on the mend, and as someone who “lives to walk, and walks to live” this is getting depressing…plus the typical bit of extra “holiday weight” is now proving especially difficult to lose as my daily walks have been curtailed.

At any rate…while I do realize that its high time for me to consult with my doctor, I’m also wanting to know if anyone here has had experience with Plantar Fasciitis, and what may (or may not) have worked to help affect a cure. I’m not ready to give up on hiking, backpacking, canoe-camping, and hauling my large format film photography gear around, just yet…so truly want to get over this!