[pct-l] Plantar Fasciitis and KT Tape

[Tom Holz]

> I honestly think that nobody actually knows what causes or  
> cures it since people have opposite causes and solutions.


I encourage hikers to think about overuse injuries as solvable problems as opposed to fate or bad luck.  It's like a murder mystery.  They can be hard to solve, but all murder mysteries start with a dead body, and each case has a unique plot and a different culprit.   Similarly, three different hikers may start with the same diagnosis of plantar fasciitis, but one person has a weak arch because they are flat-footed, another person has overactive psoas and weak glutes that drive a dysfunctional gait, and the third person just pushed too hard one day to meet friends in town.   There's no single cause or cure because each case is different, but each case has a natural logic.

Conventional wisdom that says there is no problem when there is no pain (e.g. plantar fasciitis).  Imagine your dentist waiting until your tooth is infected to clean your teeth, or your doctor waiting until after a heart attack to check your blood pressure.  Waiting until after it hurts to hike is too late.  The crime has been committed, and the trail may be going cold.

I apologize if this comes across strong. I nearly quit hiking because I was "doomed" to shin splints.  It was a heart-breaking prospect, but someone changed my mind in 2010 and I my thru-hike was successful because my thinking was changed.

Bigfoot