Category: Podiatry

My first walk in a week was awesome. Getting my endorphins pumping, feeling the fresh air flow over my body and warming my skin with the sun was a fantastic feeling. I know it has only been a week since I went on my last walk, but it’s crazy how much of an impact it has on my mental health. I didn’t realise at the time how lethargic I was feeling until I started doing exercise. I almost instantly felt like I was reinvigorated. I felt ready to face the day. I felt like my life was restarting again. Is that dramatic? Maybe. Is it true? Yes.

The only issue is that I’ve definitely still got the foot problems I had a week ago. I thought that by having a forced week-off exercise then my feet would feel a lot better during my first walk, but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. Whilst I felt great, my feet certainly didn’t. I think I’m going to have to go to my local podiatrist near Cheltenham and get someone to check out my feet.

I love walking and I don’t want to be in pain every time I do it, so my best bet is to get my feet looked at as soon as possible. My podiatrist is really nearby, in fact, it’s walking distance so whenever I get my appointment I’ll probably just walk there. Does that defeat the purpose seeing as I have foot pains? I’m not sure. 

I wonder if the podiatrist will give me custom orthotics or something like that. I don’t really know anything about podiatry so I don’t know what sort of foot treatments they provide people experiencing foot pain. But that’s why I’m going to the expert. If I knew these things then I wouldn’t need help in the first place.

All in all, I am very happy to be out and about again. Walking is the best thing ever.

I’m about to go on my first walk in over a week! I haven’t been able to leave the house because of that unfortunate situation that has swept the world, but I’m finally cleared to leave and it means I’ll be able to take my dog for a walk. How fantastic is that? 

I was really sad when I was first told that I had to stay home for a week without leaving. I have this step goal that means walking 100km per month every month, and as soon as I was told that I wouldn’t be allowed to leave the house, I knew there was going to be an issue. How can I walk 100km per month when a quarter of the month has been taken away from me? You can only imagine my disappointment. However, this year I’m trying not to be the type of person that dwells on things I can’t control. So what did I do? I pulled off my socks and committed myself to spending the entire week doing my foot care treatments. Cheltenham footpaths are hard on the feet and seeing as I wasn’t able to walk on them for a week, I decided to take the opportunity to actually properly look after my feet for a change. I usually neglect my feet because I never give myself time to relax them. I have to walk a minimum of 3km per day to reach my 100km per month goal. I’m going to have to double that for the next two weeks now that I’m free to be able to hit my kilometre goal. Oh well. 

At least this time off from working has given my plantar fasciitis a rest. My feet are never going to get this much time to relax ever again so I hope they enjoyed it. Anyway, it’s time to leave for my first walk! Here’s hoping it goes well.

‘So anyway,’ my brother sighed, dropping his trunk onto my sandbank. ‘She’s kicked me out.’

         ‘Suzanne?’ I asked, shocked. ‘I thought you guys were going well!’

         ‘We were, but you know how things are,’ he said, dropping his toes into the water. ‘Just incompatible, I suppose.’

         ‘It’s a shame I didn’t get to meet her.’

         ‘You might see her this weekend actually.’

         ‘Oh?’

         ‘Yeah,’ he said, pointing up. ‘There’s a marathon coming over your bridge. She was training for it all month.’

         ‘Ugh,’ I groaned, rubbing at my foot. ‘I hate marathons. Too many people packed in close together.’

         ‘Is your foot still bothering you?’ my brother asked, frowning. ‘I thought you were going to get it looked at?’

         ‘I did, I did,’ I grimaced. ‘The infection is gone at least.’           

         ‘Thank god for our local Cheltenham podiatrist,’ he chuckled. ‘That thing was gross.’

‘Anyway,’ I narrowed my eyes at him, still rubbing my foot, ‘now it’s just my foot playing up.’

‘Flat feet?’ he asked. ‘Achilles tendonitis? Sever’s disease?’

‘Seriously, how long were you following that woman?’

‘You don’t want my help?’ he stood up, frowning. I rolled my eyes and gestured for him to sit down.

‘Your diagnosis, doctor?’ I asked dryly.

He looked me up and down, then leaned forward to take a cursory glance at my foot. ‘Semi-custom orthotics,’ he declared.

         ‘Semi-custom?’ I frowned. ‘What, I’m not good enough for fully custom?’

         ‘You don’t need fully custom,’ he rolled his eyes. ‘Don’t be so dramatic.’

         ‘You really think that’ll help though?’ I asked, tentatively trying to put my foot back on the ground. The cooling mud helped a little bit, but I still had to lift the pressure off it slightly.

         ‘Sure it will,’ he shrugged. ‘I mean, I think so. Do I look like a podiatrist to you?’

         ‘Dru? Dru are you down there?’ came a woman’s voice from the bridge above us. My brother went pale at the sound of his name.

         ‘I was never here!’

         ‘You gave her my address?!’ I hissed at him, but he’d already turned to face the river.

And with a splash, he was gone.

 

I yawned and turned off the light next to my bed. Just as I started to drift off, my phone began to buzz on the bedside table. I snuck a quick glance at the time – almost midnight ­– and wondered if I could get away with ignoring it.

         I quickly checked who it was, and sighed into my pillow. After a moment, I answered the call.

         ‘Katy?’ I grumbled. ‘It’s late.’

         ‘I know, and I’m sorry.’

         ‘It’s a worknight.’

         ‘It is?’

         ‘Katy!’

         ‘Right, sorry,’ she caught her breath. ‘I just… remember that time I helped you get out of those compression stockings?’

         I looked around my empty apartment to double check that nobody was listening.

         ‘We said we’d never talk about that again,’ I hissed into the receiver.

         ‘I know, I know, but… I need your help now.’

         I frowned. She sounded scared. ‘Is everything alright?’

         ‘Yeah, yeah,’ she reassured, clearly trying to sound calm. ‘I just… look, I tried it, okay.’

         ‘What?’

         ‘The compression stockings. You were right, they made your legs look amazing.’

         ‘They were children’s compression stockings,’ I said, squeezing the phone.

         ‘I know, I know, so I thought I wouldn’t make the same mistake, I’d try these circulation socks I saw online instead, and–’

         ‘You can’t get them off, can you?’

         ‘I’m definitely stuck, but if you could just–’

         ‘Dammit, Katy!’ I said, flicking the light on and getting out of bed. I tapped the call onto the loudspeaker and threw it onto the bed so I could still talk while I got dressed. ‘Where are you?’

         ‘Cheltenham.’

         ‘Cheltenham?’ I paused, half in a shirt. ‘Why are you there?’

         ‘There’s a local foot specialist near Cheltenham that I thought I’d be able to convince to give me some that were too small, but they were… unreceptive.’

         ‘Wait,’ I said, pausing half in my jeans this time. ‘So you don’t have the socks?’

         ‘Not exactly.’

         ‘Where are you stuck then?’

         ‘Uh… the window. Of the foot specialist.’

         ‘The window.’

         ‘Yes.’

         ‘You were breaking in?’

         ‘It was open!’