Plantar fasciitis= surgery

[Tri Girl]

No, Knot, I appreciate your concern!!! I'm not real gung ho on the surgery, so it's why I appreciate any advice from anyone here. It's why I posted in the first place, because I know a lot of you are in the medical field and can share experiences/wisdom, etc. You ladies are indeed my second opinion, and I will certainly explore more. I like your overreaction... kinda motherly instinct and all.

[KnottedYet]

Oh, yeah, motherly instinct just went into total overdrive there!

To push an analogy to its utter limits: if your back were sore when you slouched I'd want to check if the chair you usually sat in gave you inadequate support (better chair = better footwear) or if your core muscles were too weak to support your back in good posture (core strength = lower extremity strength, especially hip external rotators and ironically enough core strength) or if you had overdeveloped your spinal flexors from a bunch of sit-ups and they were overwhelming your extensors and core (extensor/flexor imbalance = hip or ankle imbalance) or if you had a disc out of whack that forced you into a slouch (disc derangement = foot joint derangement) or if you just had bad posture habits (posture education = posture education, same stuff, really!) and so forth.

Edit to add: +1 on everything Wahine just said.

I'm a bit militant about PT before surgery. I freely admit my bias, and accept all consequences there of.

[Wahine]

It's good to call around to different clinics and ask if they do video analysis of running. If you can find a clinic that does that, you'll likely find a PT that is into the whole running thing. It's also good to ask a sports med doc or podiatrist. There is also a sports specialty certification here in the States but I can't remember what the designation is (the letters behind the name). Do you know Knott? I could google it but I'm a bit lazy tonight.

[KnottedYet]

I think it's "SCS". (Sports clinical specialist, or something like that)

An OCS (orthopedic clinical specialist) would be peachy-keen, too.

If they've invested the moola to have a video system, it's likely they have someone who knows what to do with it and what it means. (but not a guarantee. We've got a spiffy video system, but I can never remember which button to push to get the camera to record... Jiminy Cricket...)

[Trek420]

(but not a guarantee. We've got a spiffy video system, but I can never remember which button to push to get the camera to record... Jiminy Cricket...)

For watching movies at lunch?

[Tuckervill]

If I recall correctly, you're seeing an orthopaedist for this? I'd definitely try to find a podiatrist who is into running, too, for another opinion. Podiatrists deal with PF issues way more than an ortho who deals with "everything". I worked for a podiatrist, but I have no expertise--I just know PF was one of the most common complaints. An ortho is going to have a way lower incidence of that complaint, therefore, theoretically, less experience with it.

I go to a PT clinic just for exercise, so I would look for a "performance" type PT clinic. They're popping up everywhere.

Karen

[Tri Girl]

Thanks everyone!!! I'm on the hunt...