I was so happy yesterday when I tried a mini-hike ( probably less than a quarter mile) and it seemed that my right heel and medial instep wasn't hurting. I used two ski poles and only took careful steps.
This morning in White Rock, I walked from the White Rock branch of Mesa Public Library, crossed Rover and started down a gravelled path that runs beside Cañada del Buey. I hardly went very far at all, less than a couple of blocks, and realized that there was the same "twisting" feeling in my right hindfoot and that it was causing pain under my medial arch and in my ankle. I used my ski poles for support but that didn't seem to make any difference.
This is very disheartening. It's been 6 weeks since I've exercise walked or hiked. I'm wondering about the suitability of the Dean Karnazes SOLE heat moldable insoles for faster paced walking. They are very comfortable and very supportive to wear around the house but, once before when I tried walking to the end of our block, they seemed less comfortable when using a normal, brisk walking gait. The green Superfeet seemed more comfortable.
I was in White Rock to go to the Jemez House Thrift Shop to look for more ski poles but didn't realize they close at noon on Saturday. I missed that deadline by 1/2 hour. Then I went to the White Rock Mesa Public Library to check the non- return box.
I drove to the Española Walmart Supercenter instead of driving to Santa Fe. I bought some foot related items, including an Mueller adjustable ankle support, a PediFix arch bandage and a MediTemp ice pack. Both the ankle support and the arch bandage are too tight, even though they are one size fits all. I'm evaluating the ice pack (one treatment for tendon damage is to ice it and this was suggested by Dr. Sauer to help the posterior tibial tendon heal).
This evening, I also tried out the Hapad posting heel wedges and the longitudinal metatarsal arch pads. I'm trying to recycle all the Hapad Comf-Orthotic Sports Replacement insoles that I have by modifying them with the Hapad pads to make them more supportive. The posting heel wedges seem to work well but I couldn't get the arch pads to be comfortable so I may need a smaller size.
Tomorrow I'll try a mini-hike using the green Superfeet. I really am not overdoing it but need to have some normal, brisk walking to evaluate how the foot is doing so I can report that to Dr. Miller on November 4.