OT (mostly): Ow.

[Jeff Klopmeyer]

I have a flare-up of something called plantar fasciitis. It's an inflammation of a thick ligament on the bottom of your foot. It feels like someone is shoving a switchblade through your foot when you first stand up sometimes. Anyway, I'm going to try playing a gig tonight while sitting on a stool. Never too old to rock and roll? Let's see how rockin' I am sitting on my ass. :rolleyes: - Jeff

[LiveMusic]

Go for it. I know a guy who was scheduled for surgery for something really bad like that and tried acupuncture and it worked.

[Franknputer]

Just get on the good foot! OW! ;)

[Jeff Klopmeyer]

[quote]Originally posted by ChristopherKemp: [b]Just get on the good foot! OW! ;) [/b][/quote]Yeah, I'll do my flamingo imitation and stand on my left leg all night. ;) - Jeff

[michael saulnier]

On New Year's Eve, I think it was '78 I saw Johnny Winter in a small club. He had to be helped to a stool on the stage... his foot was in a cast... He motioned to the foot, then told the crowd in that raspy Texas accent he has, "I broke my foot, and I've got to play sitting down... They gave me these painkillers, so I'm gonna be alright.. Since I can't jump around, I'm just gonna play my ass off for you folks"... He did of course, and they ended up taping the show that night for a King Biscuit Flower Hour concert. Great stuff... Anyway... just be like Johnny, Jeff... give 'em hell and play like mad! Good luck. :thu: guitplayer

[Philip OKeefe]

[quote]Originally posted by Jeff, TASCAM Guy: [b] [quote]Originally posted by ChristopherKemp: [b]Just get on the good foot! OW! ;) [/b][/quote]Yeah, I'll do my flamingo imitation and stand on my left leg all night. ;) - Jeff[/b][/quote](In Mr Miaggi (sp?) voice): Concentrate Tascam-san - focus power! ;) Hope your foot gets better soon. Good luck (break a leg?) with the gig tonight!

[Mats Olsson.]

Still got no name? How about [i]Boredom Stools[/i]? /Mats

[Brakka]

Ow indeed. :( That's a common basketball injury, especially among centers. Maybe you should switch to shooting guard. Seriously though, stretch every day. Did I hear something about band names? Sit, Don't Stand Fasciitis Fascists The Arch-ies Arch Enemy 30 Odd Foot Grunts :o Take care

[Jeff Klopmeyer]

[quote]Originally posted by Brakka.: [b]Seriously though, stretch every day.[/b][/quote]Yeah, there are stretching excercises for it (pull toe back toward shin). You have no idea what the fasciitis feels like...a rusty knitting needle being trust into your foot must be similar. [quote][b]Fasciitis Fascists[/b][/quote]:eek: - Jeff

[Botch.]

Jeff, I got that too in both feet three years ago, it [i]does[/i] subside eventually but you have to work with it. Take a Motrin before any gigs or exertion if you can, it acts as a muscle relaxant and helps a bit. I had to play sitting down for about six months, but fortunately I'm a keyboard player so it wasn't too out of the ordinary.

[Jeff Klopmeyer]

[quote]Originally posted by Botch.: [b]Jeff, I got that too in both feet three years ago, it [i]does[/i] subside eventually but you have to work with it. Take a Motrin before any gigs or exertion if you can, it acts as a muscle relaxant and helps a bit.[/b][/quote]Yes, I did a pre-emptive strike with Ibuprofen before the gig this weekend...lots of Ibuprofen...like 800mg. It helped a lot. As of today, it's much better, but it will flare up every so often for the rest of my life. Just gotta deal with it. - Jeff

[The Bear Jew]

Jeff... I feel your pain. A few years ago I overstretched (read nearly snapped) a tendon in my foot while playing. I had no health insurance at the time, so I wound up playing about two month's worth of shows (about 10 or so) with my foot wrapped up in an ace bandage and walking with a cane. I needed the other guys to carry my stuff onstage, and I needed help getting myself on and offstage. When I played, I stood on one foot and lightly balanced on the other. I still did most of the stuff I usually do onstage, but I didn't jump around.. I wound up hanging near the mic in front of the stage (so I didn't have to go back and forth for my backing vocals.) People actually told me it made us look good because all three of us (bassist, singer and me) were in the front of the stage for the whole show -- looked like we were all focused on performing for the audience. They were right. I never leave the front of the stage these days, and we always get the same reaction... It makes us look even more pro. So... It turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Maybe you can get something good out of your bum foot? Either way... good luck and heal up, Jeffy.

[Jode]

Jeff! Buddy! Pal! I have the answer for you! As a matter of fact, I make my living by solving problems like yours every day. No, I'm not a doctor - don't even play one on TV - but I'm at work right now, where I have about fifty solutions to your problem. You see, by day, I sell shoes. The good kind. The kind that prevent and/or treat foot problems. For your benefit, here's the spiel that I give every day about shoes and foot disorders. Bear with me here, because this may get a little longish, but I'm trying to help. Plantar fascitis, as you probably already know, is inflammation of a bit of soft tissue (the plantar fascia) that runs under your heel and hooks into the back of your arch. This little rubber band wants to draw up, but is stretches every time you put your weight on it, and it lights you up like a Christmas tree. I am guessing it's worst in the morning, when your foot has relaxed all night, and then you step down on it - yeouch. This problem is aggravated, even caused entirely, by shoes without any support in the arch - your heels and balls of your feet get beaten up on with every step, and your arch flexes, and eventually it catches up with you in the form of heelspurs or the dreaded P.F. The American Podiatric Medical Association tells us that seven in ten foot surgeries in America are caused ENTIRELY by ill-fitting or unsupportive shoes. And even though we rarely walk, we have more surgery than anyone: 60% of the world's foot surgery is performed on Americans, more than every other country on earth COMBINED. On the other hand, in Europe, where they walk everywhere they go, they have hardly any foot disorders. Why? We'll get to that. Many doctors will want to sell you very expensive inserts for your shoes called orthotics. They are made by taking a mold of your foot, casting the shapes out of some sort of material, and sticking them in your shoes. They are intended to distribute your body weight evenly throughtout your foot. If you haven't been sold orthotics yet, DON'T BUY THEM YET. Why? I don't have a scientific explanation, but an anecdotal one. These are the answers my customers give me: - You are limited to what you can wear, because you're married to your orthotics, and you can only wear shoes they'll fit in. Sandals are out (with exceptions, like the ones I sell, but I'll get to that). - Orthotics are expensive as hell. The least I've ever heard for a pair was $150, the most - TWELVE HUNDRED DOLLARS. - And that's BEFORE you buy a pair of shoes to stick them in, and before you burn a lot of gas going all over town to find shoes that the damn things will fit in anyway. - For many people, they are like eyeglasses - the doctor will tell you you need a new set for the next stage in your healing, which may or may not be true. Maybe he just wants to sell you another pair. - Sometimes - often - they just don't work. They make your feet hurt worse than they did before. If your foot changes, heals, gets better, gets worse, off you go to the doc for more orthotics. So what's the answer? Find out in the next post.

[Jeff Klopmeyer]

[quote]Originally posted by Jode: [b]Jeff! Buddy! Pal![/b][/quote]Oh my GAWD...a shoe spam. :) Jode, buddy, pal...yes, I've had this fun little disorder for about five years (coming and going), and am aware of the causes and solutions. The surgery doesn't work, the orthotics are ridiculously expensive, and cortisone shots make it better for like a minute. So, yes, better shoes would be a good long-term solution. Also, stretching the plantar facsia is a good idea first thing in the morning or after extended periods of rest, like when you jockey a desk all day like me. - Jeff

[Mats Olsson.]

Al Bundy is in the house! /Mats

[Jode]

You need a pair of [i]moldable orthotic shoes.[/i] There are four brands that I am aware of, one you've heard of for sure: Birkenstock, Naot, Mephisto, and Finn Comfort. These shoes form their own orthotic as you wear them. The footbeds in these shoes are made of a solid yet malleable material; latex in some Mephistos, cork in the rest. When they're new, they are shaped like the general shape of a healthy foot. When you put them on, your foot assumes that shape, and then the footbed molds to your individual curves as you break them in. This usually takes about one to three weeks. By the end of your first month, they're like another pair of feet - they are shaped precisely like your foot. Here's the good part: they get [i]better and better[/i] and [i]more comfortable[/i] as you wear them, because they never really stop molding. Ask anyone who has more than one pair of Birks, for example: they'll tell you their oldest pair is most comfortable, followed by their next oldest, and so forth. Compare that to sneakers, which many people with foot problems end up wearing. They are made of foam rubber which compresses and packs down until it never springs back again. If you ask your podiatrist what sort of shoe to wear and he rattles off three or four sneaker brands, FIND A NEW DOCTOR! He has NO CLUE what a healthy shoe is all about. So why is a shoe like this better than a regular shoe with an orthotic, aside from the reasons listed above? With these brands, you get a shoe that is built from square one to properly support the human foot. They start with a foot, and build a shoe around it, until they end up with [i]a shoe shaped like a foot[/i] - what a concept, eh? Unlike, say, Reebok, who builds to a price point: "We need a $70 shoe in our line, so let's build all the shoe we can, and pull the plug on the good stuff at the point where we'll have to charge more than seventy bucks." A bit of warning, though: you will pay more for this type of shoe than you may be used to paying for your shoes. Birkenstock sandals start at around 70 bucks, up to $350 for a pair of Mephisto hiking boots or dress shoes. The money comes back to you, though, and not just in better feeling feet. These brands are extremely well-made - entirely hand-made, in the case of Mephisto and Finn - and they will outlast more than their dollar value in whatever you're wearing now. Mephisto even has a recrafting program, which means that for a fee, they'll totally rebuild your shoe to factory specs. There's a guy in our area who's still wearing the pair he bought in Paris in [i]1976.[/i] Yeah, he probably paid a lot for them back then, but after 27 years, they get pretty cheap to own. By the way, lots of people think Birkenstock only makes sandals and clogs, but they make hundreds of shoes and boots of every sort. So do these other companies. You can find a healthy shoe in nearly any style you could ever want. Understand, Jeff, this is not a sales pitch. This is what I do, and I do it extremely well, and I am sharing my knowledge with you as a fellow musician. None of us are as cool as Skunk Baxter, that we can sit down all night. It's hell when something as simple as walking becomes sheer torture. My manager even has plantar fascitis, and he'll tell you straight up that Birkenstocks and especially Mephistos saved his life. I'm not asking you to buy them from me, but I AM telling you that you should buy them from SOMEONE. If there's anything else you want to know, you can just reply to this post, or you can call m-e -at work: Sand Dollar Shoes 888-444-3791, PIN#2976 Ask for Joe, not Jode'. I hope this helps. Good luck with your dogs.

[Botch.]

Jode, that's one piece of Spam I'll gulp down without even heating it first, thanks for that information. I'd heard from several sources that Ecco shoes (made in Denmark) were supposed to be very good; I bought a pair and was impressed by their build quality and fit, but they seem to have less arch support than a cheap K-mart slipon. I'm wearing them now with the "universal" orthotics you can pick up for around $20, that works but I'm intrigued to try the Birkenstocks or Mephistos. Again, thanks for the info! :wave:

[not coaster MODERATOR]

[quote]Originally posted by Jeff, TASCAM Guy: [b] [quote]Originally posted by ChristopherKemp: [b]Just get on the good foot! OW! ;) [/b][/quote]Yeah, I'll do my flamingo imitation and stand on my left leg all night. ;) - Jeff[/b][/quote]Like Ian Anderson? He could stand on one foot for 20 minutes back in the good old days.

[BP3]

[quote]Originally posted by Jeff, TASCAM Guy: [b] [quote]Originally posted by Jode: [b]Jeff! Buddy! Pal![/b][/quote]Oh my GAWD...a shoe spam. :) [/b][/quote]More shoe spam - Jeff I've been dealing with PF for a good while and the problem went away when I bought good shoes. The shoes I got are [url=http://www.ecco.com]Eccos[/url] . In about three weeks almost all my pain was gone. They are certainly worth a try, and at $150 or so a pair, they're much less that 'prescribed' shoes.

[Jode]

[quote]Originally posted by Botch.: [b]Jode, that's one piece of Spam I'll gulp down without even heating it first, thanks for that information. I'd heard from several sources that Ecco shoes (made in Denmark) were supposed to be very good; I bought a pair and was impressed by their build quality and fit, but they seem to have less arch support than a cheap K-mart slipon. I'm wearing them now with the "universal" orthotics you can pick up for around $20, that works but I'm intrigued to try the Birkenstocks or Mephistos. Again, thanks for the info! :wave: [/b][/quote]We carry Ecco. It's a great shoe, but not quite as universal as the moldable type. It does have a fixed, or finished, orthotic midsole, and they carry a seal of approval from the American Podiatric Medical Association. Lots of people have success with them, but it's a hit-or-miss deal: if they're not shaped like what you need right out of the box, you should buy something else. You may even try a different model - different models will be shaped differently. Let me put you in the right pair of shoes for a month, and I'll change the way you walk for the rest of your life. That's a fact and a promise. :thu:

[Jeff Klopmeyer]

Jode, nice info, and thanks. I was really just kidding about the spam thing, as I hope you know. I used to LOVE my Birkenstocks, way before I had specific feet problems. All I knew is that they felt so damn good when I wore them. I'm definitely going to be looking into the shoe option...seems the best long-term solution as well as the least painful and expensive (compared to the medical solutions). Thanks again! - Jeff

[Jode]

That's because they are the healthiest shoe you have ever owned. By the way, I highly, HIGHLY recommend the Mephisto. Prepare to get raked over the coals, but after you've worn them a month or so, you'll wonder how they do it so cheap. They are the finest shoe made in the world today, period, finis, end of discussion. Just, ah, ahem, er, uh - don't hold it against them that they're a French company. Their Frenchness is far and away superceded by their quality. All I'll say is, the French certainly don't build cars like they build shoes.

[Jode]

While I'm at it: [url=http://www.mephisto.com]www.mephisto.com[/url] Mephistos are the best, period. Aside from the comfort and construction, they also have more 'mainstream' styles than the other companies. http://www.finncomfort.de/de/index_exp.html Some of Finn's styles can be very European (boxy, duck-footed) and a little on the Grandpa side, but what they have going for them is the most awesomely high arch in the business. Recipe for comfort: buy some Birkenstock shoes and order Finn inserts for them. But only if you're not flat-footed, or they will KILL you. [url=http://www.naot.com]www.naot.com[/url] Out of the eighteen pairs I have from my store, my two favorites are a Mephisto sandal, the Sam, and the Naot Eiger, a simply awesome slip on shoe. Naots are a little more rugged styled. [url=http://www.birkenstock.com]www.birkenstock.com[/url] If you're like most people, you may be surprised at the number of types of shoes they make. Think of shoes as a piece of gear like any other. Yeah, if you want a guitar, you [i]could[/i]buy a fifty-dollar Harmony, but why? Wouldn't a Fender be better? And wouldn't a Martin be even better? Yeah, you could run your band through a Realistic mixer from Radio Shack, but shouldn't you just save a little while for a Mackie or something? You only get two feet, people - take care of them, or they'll take care of you.

[Chip McDonald]

Ok Jode, you have my attention: how much for moldable inserts to go in sneakers? I have relatively high arches, and outside of the Brooks Vapor model - circa 1999 - I've found nothing that fits "right". I'm now having to resort to newer models of the Vapor, but it's flatter. I have a neutral gait, slight underpronation, have to have cushioning - bad knees. Basically everything I try feels flat to me; and the Dr. Scholl's inserts just feel squishy instead of "supporting", but what I hate the most is that *they move around*. I hate inserts because of that. So I'd have to have an insert that really does fit the shoe properly, which will be basically impossible. I tend to more or less run from point A to B, and I don't want my shoes squirming around.... BUT - I'd like more arch support. "?"

[Mats Olsson.]

I'm impressed! You have just proved that one can be a gear slut in all aspects of life. Great stuff indeed. Anybody knows what kind of shoes Rupert prefers? /Mats

[Wrave]

Jeff, I've had this problem myself although it hasn't bothered me for years. Take it easy with it. It will get better. Years ago I worked a club with another band and their bass player sat in a rocking chair all night. It was too cool and he played his ass off. They didn't even use a lead guitar, this guy covered it all on the bass. So get yersef' a rockin' chair and have at it!!! Ol' Rockin Chair's Got Me!

[Magpel]

What a great threat! Jode, you never explained why the Euros walk more yet perform fewer foot surgeries! Bring it on! I was saving for a new acoustic. Make that a pair of Mephistos...

[Jode]

[quote]Originally posted by Chip McDonald: [b]Ok Jode, you have my attention: how much for moldable inserts to go in sneakers? "?"[/b][/quote]Forget it. Just forget it. No one makes one to my knowledge, and athletic shoes are a completely different animal than true comfort shoes. Besides, with the problems you listed, NO SNEAKER IN THE WORLD will help. And other than the "squishiness" of the Dr. Scholl's-type stuff, there's a reason you don't like them - THEY DON'T WORK. [i]Cushioning is not support.[/i] Orthotic shoes work in two ways: a)they distribute your weight evenly throughout your foot, and b)they straighten your posture from the bottom up. Walking on flat surfaces throws your body weight to three pea-sized spots on the sole of your foot: the heel, the ball, and the metatarsal area, circa the knuckles of your two smallest toes. All the shock of walking is concentrated on these areas, and that shock is jolted up through your ankles, knees, hips, all the way up your frame. Having your entire foot hit the floor together avoids this shock. Also, these shoes start from the beginning by coaxing your foot into a healthy posture relative to the ground. Once your feet are straightened out, your ankles relax and straighten out, followed by the rest of your frame. Not only is your body weight now carried through your whole foot, but the shock of walking is traveling straight up and down your frame and not disproportionally tweaking your bum knee, or bad back, or replaced hip, or whatever. See, an athletic shoe, made for high-impact sports like basketball or tennis, is made for a snug fit (to prevent blisters with all that running and jumping) and lots of cushion and padding (to put some bounce under your feet for all that running and jumping). A comfort shoe, in this case an orthotic shoe, is totally different: a loose, roomy fit, so the foot can relax and do what comes naturally, and FIRM support for walking. I'd never tell anyone to buy a garden-variety sneaker as a walking shoe, same as I'd never tell anyone to do aerobics in a Birkenstock. If you are active in exercise or sports, you need a dedicated sports shoe for that purpose. At all other times, you should wear a properly fitted comfort or orthotic shoe. A sneaker is made to break down ON PURPOSE - it is analogous to race cars that are designed to fly apart on impact, to divert shock and stress away from the driver. Atheletes like Shaquille O'Neal or Serena Williams get about one or two games out of a pair of shoes and throw them away. Of course, they get free ones courtesy of endorsements, but they change them out to keep the maximum support under their feet. Here's the comparison: You buy a new pair of New Balance running shoes. Right out of the box, they are cushy and comfortable. The open-celled foam rubber in the midsole, though, has a limited lifespan. The first time you put them on is the best they will ever feel, and every time you wear them afterwards they lose a little more support. This is true of cushioned casual shoes same as it is for sneakers. Ever have a pair of running shoes that looked new on the outside and felt worn-out on the inside? On the other hand, you buy your first pair of Birk sandals. You wear them around the store, and they're stiff as a board, and they have all these weird lumps pressing up into some strange places on your foot, and you say to yourself, "Jeez, what makes people love these things? They feel like they'd kill ya." But then you break them in over days, weeks, months - and they continue to get more and more comfortable. Unlike a sneaker, the first time you put on a moldable orthotic shoe is the most uncomfortable it will ever be - and many of them feel like heaven from the first day and only get better. Okay, there's the spiel. Now, if you have a favorite pair of other shoes that you really don't want to give up just yet (or ever), Birkenstock makes a great insert called the Blue Footbed. Pull out the insert in your sports shoe and slip this one UNDERNEATH. There's also the Birko-Sport insert which is made specifically for athletic shoes. These are not moldable, but they will really help hot-rod a non-orthotic shoe into giving you some great support. All in all, though, if you want all the help that proper support can give you, your body AND your pocketbook are better off if you just buy a whole shoe. Like I said earlier, an insert is really just a Band-Aid to slap on a shoe that was never really made for proper support in the first place. You're ultimately better off buying a shoe that is built around a foot. Plus, the companies I mentioned make top-quality, near-indestructable products. Birkenstocks are, of course, built in Germany. Ever seen a German build anything that tears up? Birkenstock builds shoes the way BMW builds cars - "the ultimate walking machine," so to speak.

[Jode]

[quote]Originally posted by Magpel: [b]What a great threat! Jode, you never explained why the Euros walk more yet perform fewer foot surgeries! Bring it on! I was saving for a new acoustic. Make that a pair of Mephistos...[/b][/quote]Oh yeah. I forgot. It's because - duh - Europeans wear shoes that are shaped like feet! Of course, the pointy cruel-shoe thing is popping up again, but in general, that's why they have less foot surgery, even with free socialized medicine in many of those countries. See, the Euro standard of living is much lower. They simply don't have the disposable cash that we do. They buy shoes like we buy cars - it better last 2-5 years, especially since they walk and take the train everywhere they go. They buy cars like we buy houses! A German will go ahead and spend the DMs to get a Mercedes, because he knows it's the only new car he'll be able to afford for twenty years, and he better buy one that will go the distance. Kind of like how I bought my Jazz Bass. We Americans, on the other hand, build and wear the crappiest shoes on the planet. Even though we don't walk nearly the miles that the average European does, we ruin our feet at a disproportionate rate because of the trash we put on our feet - or, more to the point, the shoes that we [i]desperately cram our feet into.[/i] It's a totally different experience than putting on a shoe that is made for the human foot and not for the human [i]eye[/i] - or pocketbook. And many of us WANT our stuff to tear up, whether it's shoes or whatever - because if it tears up, that's an excuse to GO BUY MORE STUFF! Europeans simply don't have the throwaway mentality that we have these days. I've actually botched a Mephisto sale to a woman before by explaining the recraft plan; she'll say, "God, why would I want to keep a shoe that long? I need something new every season!" Um, okay. Come see me in twenty years when your toes point in directions that God never had in mind, and we'll talk again. Buying shoes is like buying anything else: spend more, get more, keep it longer. My philosophy on buying anything is: if you're going to buy one anyway, and you plan on using it for a long time, just spend the extra dough and get the good one, whenever possible. You always know it'll be better in the end.

[Wewus432]

Wow Jode, this is a cool thread. This Is the Expert Forums and you're the resident shoe expert. That's good. I'm glad Jeff's foot is so screwed up, or we never would have had this thread.