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. :)

Hello everyone, I too have been experiencing all of the above and have spent countless hours and days worrying and scouring the internet for answers. I was overjoyed to stumble upon you all here and learn that I am not alone or losing my mind. A little info about me.... I am a 45 year old woman who started peri & menopause early!! I started at age 38/39 and had no clue what on earth was going on with me. The usual menopausal symptoms were downright awful but like the rest of you, I suffered through the whole time thinking “ok new symptom, dying again of some mysterious illness or I seriously need my head checked.” Fast forward.... I had my last menstrual cycle right after my 44th birthday (so over a year now) and I have to say the menopausal symptoms have lessened overall thankfully. Then SUDDENLY, about 2 months ago, just when I thought the worst was behind me, my body introduces to me, a new scary “oh no I’m dying again” symptom. THE ARMPIT ACHE!! I had just finished my routine physical, pap, mammogram, breast ultrasound, had bloodwork and urine tests done as well.... all came back normal. I was so relieved!!! However, my armpit ache started right after that, within a few days, which threw me for a loop. I thought ok maybe I strained a muscle working out?? Maybe I’m feeling after effects from the Mammogram “trauma”??? No clue and of course, panic starts to set in!! Over the course of 2 weeks, the ache in my armpit (right side for me) became an ache in the right shoulder, ache in my right breast and some days the ache even extended all the way down my right arm. It really is terrifying and consuming when you don’t know what’s going on or why and the Doctors can’t find anything either. So I started experimenting with different things to hopefully find a remedy or at least some peace of mind. Fast forward again..... long story short.... I accidentally stumbled upon a video on YouTube regarding Magnesium deficiency and it’s symptoms and I thought hmmmm, could it be my issue?? So I started taking Magnesium supplements and within 24 hours, my armpit ache started to disappear!! I have been taking the Magnesium faithfully every day for a few weeks now and I can say the ache is 95% gone and most days I don’t even remember having it at all. I don’t know if it’s merely a coincidence or if the magnesium really helped but I felt compelled to share my findings with you all in the hopes that it may help you as well. Side note, I had just started taking other supplements approx 2 weeks before the aching started so I thought perhaps they too may have been the culprit so I stopped taking them completely. (Calcium, Vitamin D, Vitamin C). 1 week later, I started Magnesium which I had never taken before!! Just to clarify. Together, we will get through this. Anita

I've been to the doctor for plantar fasciitis and he did the taping thing which didn't help me at all. I've also been to a few foot doctors and physical therapy. My issue is exactly where your is - in the arch of the foot. I have very high arches. I did get a pair of orthotics from a running store which help too. Here's some exercises to do that really work well from my PT office: 1) Roll your arch over a golf ball. It massages the area and gets into the nooks of the arch. It feels great. AND / OR Freeze a water bottle, then roll your arch over the bottle to massage it for up to 15 minutes. The ice will help the inflammation. 2) Use one of those elastic exercise ribbons and stretch your foot by holding each end of the elastic with your foot in the middle pressing your heel upward so you get that stretch in the arch area. The ribbon should be on your foot pad, not at your arch area when you do this exercise. You can do this laying down or sitting. 3) To strengthens the foot muscles, put a pile of marbles on the floor. Using your toes, pick them up one, two, or three at a time, placing them in a container. Do this twice. 4) Using a slant board or anything sturdy you can put on a slant, like a stepper for instance, stand on it with your toes facing the top of the slant. This will stretch the tendons. DON'T OVER STRETCH OR YOU'LL HURT YOURSELF. All of these should help stretch the area as long as you do them for a few weeks or until it feels better. You can always research the subject on the Internet for more exercises. PT is a very common injury.

I discovered the benefits of Vicks some years ago when I started using it on my feet at night. For most of my adult life, I have had a type of neuropathy in my feet that presents itself as a burning sensation. There's no known medical explanation that doctors have found so far. My grandfather suffered from the same thing. The discomfort is enough to keep me awake unless I "cool " the burning in some way. I started out by applying lotions and socks every single night. I progressed to hot rubs (including Tiger Balm), which were better but not great. For some reason, I tried Vicks one night about five years ago. BINGO! But there have been some surprising additional benefits. After several weeks, I noticed that a plantar wart on the bottom of my foot was gone! I'd had it since a teenager. I also had a small wart on my index finger for twenty years....gone. So, I started applying it to the little things that have grown on my scalp or anyplace else.....gone. It's the same for Robert. Oh, did I mention the toenail fungus on my big toe? Gone.