You Guys and Gals are way to FUNNY!!!! HHHAAA HAA HEE HEEE............... LOL!!!! K, I was also thinking about What might be sprayed on my keyboard when i read Jen's post!!! Couldn't stop the shoulders from moving.. I was laughing out loud!! : ) Jen.. You would have been right with me when i had to Beg from a restaurant... Good thing TSA wasn't watching me "OPERATE!!!" That would have been the deciding factor if i was to be locked up or not... I was Quick!!! LOL.. You just wait and see.. I know you will be thinking of me when you visit CA!!! Can't wait to hear your story!!! : ) Dave, You had to bring up the nails... LOL. You are right. It is Plumeria Sap. It is the latest trend here in Southern Virginia!! I think im going to sharpen my teeth and go and see what i can trim... LMAO!!! Hey Andrew... LOL!!! You are really making me laugh.. I had to stop myself from laughing out loud as i read these post... Those cuttings were pretty Huge.. Im sure your cutting was similar to mine in size since it was the "PSYCHO" This tree has made a name for itself... They were the largest cuttings i have ever seen. The TSA were probably so stunned at what i was bringing thru security.. They had to write a new section on what size cuttings were allowed after they saw mine... : ) Bill, LOL... To kind... Thank you!!! Laura

Trailrunner - I was reading some of this to DH last night, he thought they sounded like great ideas btw, and when I was done reading the first thing he said to me was,"Wow, I can't believe people take the time to type that much out trying to help someone. " Ha. Gotcha on the wear them only for running. Oh I know not to wear the orthotics and insoles at the same time. I know now (didn't at first years ago!) to take out the pads shoes come with first. Powerstep is the brand of inserts I bought from the Podiatrist. Heard of or any thoughts on them? I forget what name my orthotics are they don't say anything on them but they came in a bag that did. The bottom is hard plastic but the top is blue firm foamy stuff. He said something about it being new stuff. Do you think the Podiatrist would give me a hard time about "put a good padded front made of the new high tech triple layer stuff they have or....you can get a good insert and cut it to fit flush with the front of the orthotic"? Guess I won't know until I try but I'm picturing them wanting to know what I'm diagnosing myself since they apparently didn't think I needed that. Oh, well. I wondered how the ball of my foot was getting any support if I'm use my new orthotics in shoes I took the insole out since there's nothing there. In the past (I'm sure from wearing heels) I've had pain in the balls of my feet. I tried to tell him this too while I was there but he wasn't interested in hearing it since I wasn't having pain. Thanks for the heads up about the glucosamine. I think it actually might be what DH takes! I need to check that out. He gets on me about how I really should take it. I can take all three of those types of pills. That does sound like a lot! I'm guessing it just kills the pain longer? Does that help with the healing process at all. Perhaps that's a dumb question. I checked out that roadrunner site and the chart and I'm not sure if I'm N or PN. I'm under 150lbs and I do under 25 miles a week for N but the PN says, you run races or enjoy fast running. I like fast running. When I said I never considered myself a runner it's because I normally don't do more than 3 miles at a time and normally it's intervals. The thought of a 50 or even 10 mile race makes me cringe. Figured I'd ask but thought N would probably be my best bet regardless? Also, the NB shoes look like they're for trail running and I'm normally on a treadmill, does this matter? I really like that site. It even tells you to order sizes up for some shoes. The current ones I have are on there and it does say to order 1/2 size bigger. Go figure. Onlines shoes didn't tell me that! How's this for the laces? It still feels kind of tight around the top. Probably just the poor fitted shoes. For now, I'll rest from running. I have other sneakers I can wear for biking or whatever. By the time I'm ready to hopefully run again I'll make sure to have good sneakers. Seww - Thanks for the link. It seems very common here that even running stores have people in them that don't really know what they're doing. They just find the size in the back room. I'm at least going to go and attempt to try some on in person. Deedee - Oh my, I laughed out loud when I read that. That wasn't real nice of him! For a long time I thought I must be the only person with wider feet! One time on ebay I bought a really nice and expensive pair of heels. I did not know B meant narrow (I think it's B - whichever one is narrow). There is no way I can wear them. Not possible. It was funny even trying to put them on. They're in my closet because I couldn't resell them. Nobody in the world has a size 5 narrow foot either. :)

I have had groin pain on my right side and numbness on the outside of my right leg (above the knee) since 1985. Needless to say, Doctors and Chiropractors have not been able to diagnose or treat me....and I have seen many. It is especially painful if I use my right leg as my lead leg instead of my left to go up steps or when I first get up from sitting for awhile. I usually don't feel anything slip out of place, I just notice that it starts to ache again. A couple of years ago, I discovered by accident that it was actually my hip joint. I had my grandson in my arms and was softly bouncing him againt me to calm him and put him to sleep. My body must have been completed relaxed. I squatted straight down to retrieve a pacifier and felt my hip joint adjust itself. I just thought it was my old body creaking. Since that time, I have found that I am able to make the pain go away myself. I am not normally a relaxed person at all. I carry my stress in my back and shoulders and often find myself with pain in both shoulders. This is from carrying my shoulders up around my ears!....In fact, I often find myself sleeping this way and have to make a conscience effort to relax...even in bed. By accident again, I found that if I lay on my right side in bed (painful with right groin pain) and am COMPLETELY relaxed (this sometimes requires a couple of doses of SKELAXIN as prescribed and taken for several days for me) I can maneuver it back in place. The movement sometimes requires me to lift my hip from the bed and place it down either forward or backward and slide the hip around on the bed, or even slight movement in a circular motion either on the bed or while lifted. I feel it go back in place and have IMMEDIATE RELIEF! I hope this helps someone else.

Catherinet, doesn't sound like tarsal tunnel syndrome to me based on my symptoms and esperience. Compounded orthopedic problems are a pain in the you no what. I have them too and I sware, you fix one and create another, on and on and on. Each one ends up being directly related to the other. From experience, there are many orthopedic foot surgeons who highly respect podiatrists and visa versa and then you have the ones, like you said that bad mouth each other. I started with golfers elbow in my right arm and went to an ortho pod for it. long story short with him. I was the fool to trust him, but realized it too late. Botched treatment, botched unnecessary surgery, and permenent weakness in my right upper arm, and tendon weakness in both that can limit my function at times. While going to this doc I developed plantar fasciitis. I went to a podiatrist that my daughter and hubby had used and was wonderful. Fixed it up in a couple of weeks, but had to check about the steroid shot with the ortho doc because it happened shortly after I had the surgery on my arm. This ortho literally screamed at me for being a fool and using a podiatrist. Funny thing is I was the fool to use the ortho doc. Anyway left the ortho doc and went to a sports medicine practice that had every kind of orthopedic specialty in it for a second opinion on my arms. 2 years and got that worked out as best I could and developed a spinal problem. Ended up needing surgery for spinal stenosis, emergency surgery for it last June. Was getting back on my feet, still going to PT in August when I started having trouble with both feet and ankles. I was afraid that it was something with my back so went back to see the spinal doc. He said it was from correcting the back problem and standing up straight and now my feet where having a problem because of it. He was more than willing to ok my going to a podiatrist and knew the one I used, or I could see their foot, ankle, knee doc there. I chose to do that as felt they could work together to be sure that what ever was done with my feet didn't cause problems with my back. The foot orthopedic doc diagnosed the tarsal tunnel syndrome and gave me a PT order and order for custom orthotics and see him in 6 weeks. He also had no problem with the podiatrist making the inserts for me, especially because his office was 15 minutes from my home and the ortho docs are about 40 minutes away. Went to the podiatrist and got a different diagnosis and he refused to make the inserts because I needed surgery and would have to be on crutches for 6 weeks. I can't use crutches because I can't bare weight on my arms without tearing the tendons in my arms. He told me that I was wasting money on inserts and PT and I would either have to have the surgery or suffer the rest of my life in pain. Chose the PT and had the inserts made at the place the ortho doc told me to go. The guy there heated up some kind of, what looked like craft foam and I stepped on it and it molded to my foot. After it hardened, about to minutes he did some cutting from the shape and he put them in my shoes. I had to walk around in them for about 5 minutes and then tell him how they felt. Well it took about an hour of moving shaving off in this spot, adding in another, etc. to get them to feel comfortable. The I was told to wear them only for 3 hours a day for the first 2 days and build up from that over the next 2 weeks. Unless they where really uncomfortable before the 2 weeks. I got used to them in a week and they have been fine ever since. Your inserts where made the "usual way" foam shape and then the work is done outside without your foot and no adjustments made. The people that make them in a custom place are specially trained to do this and can tell what is wrong with the foot from the mold and where the stuff is needed to add. They also can take care of making sure it is done so as not to cause further problems with your knees. Between the PT and the inserts my feet heeled quite well and I don't really have a problem with them now. I asked a friend, who is a physical therapist in a hospital, if they are trained to do molds for custom orthotics and she said no way. Occupational therapists are trained to do hand and wrist molded splints but we are not and we are not trained to do foot moldings for orthotics. she said that you need to go to a specialist that makes them while you wait and have them adjusted while you are there. I would talk to the doc that did you knee surgery about the pain you are suffering and what is going on. Ask him/her for the name of someone to use for your feet. they should be able to work together to help you. Do I find it funny that the doc you're using can take care of your foot? No way in h##l. I went to the head of the hand and arm orthopedic department of one of the most prestigious hospitals in Massachusetts and he is as about incompitent as a doc can get. If I could find a mal practice attorney to take my case I would sue the crap out him and get his liscence for good. But none want it because there isn't enough money in it. Like any other profession, there are good and bad docs. We both have found the bad ones first, but the first thing everyone should remember is that if you are not getting any help for a medical problem after some time then it's time to get another opinion. You have every right to do this and if the doc doesn't like it, well that's just too bad. Get all your xrays, CT, MRI and anything else and take them with you to a new doc and do it ASAP. forget about the fact that the physical therapist you like said to use him. He didn't work for you and there is someone out there that at the very least, will be able to diagnose the problem and the provide the proper treatment. Good luck and let us know what happens.