Question:
I was having foot problems long before I (or my doctors) discovered I had diabetes. I went to a podiatrist, who's diagnosis was that I had plantar facia problems due to unusually high arches. He said that my plantar fascia was tearing, and that was causing the pain. Well, I do have high arches, as do most of my brothers and sisters. When noticed by others, the arch usually ilicits comments along the lines of, "Wow. That's one high arch you got there, big fella." (or something like that ;)) So I have some orthodic inserts that help immeasurably. But, now that I've been reading the group for a short while, I notice lots of folks have feet problems; and I know that feet problems can be one of the wonderful gifts that the disease carries with it. So, I'd like to share a description of the problems that I have with my feet, and ask opinions of the group to see if they sound like classic symptoms. My feet will ache after standing (especially on hard surfaces) in place for too long: Too long can be anywhere from 15 minutes or more, depending on how much upright activity I've had during the day. I have found that walking, or using the stairmaster at the gym *does not* seem to result in as much pain as standing stationary. The podiatrist told me that this would be the case with the torn fascia, standing in place would be a constant pull at it, whereas walking would pull and release, pull and release. It seems to make sense.

Answer: -The varicose is a new twist, are they really varicose i.e. enlarging because of faulty valve(s) or just large veins? To the best of my salt mine, I doubt if varicose and/or large veins would play a significant roll. I think all any one does is just shrink them or rip them out and let the blood find another pathway back home to the heart. The "low circulation" in my opinion is actually a clogging and closing of the very tiny capillaries feeding the fine nerve endings, the pain part comes when these nerves start letting you know about it. You got to stop the clogging which might be done by getting the lipids out of your blood, i.e. an appropriate diet, expanding them with medications, herbs, vitamins and minerals and exercising the adjoining muscle areas . . . BUT the clogging/closing MUST stop or it least be slowed down significantly. Unfortunately, the pain generated from the dysfunctional nerves could become so great that the plantar facia tearing issue will become mute. -I have extremely flat feet and suffered from plantar facia problems, bunion problems, and even a neuroma long before I was diagnosed as a Type II diabetic. I was lucky enough to inherit some very bad bone structure in my feet. My podiatrist used cortisone therapy and physical therapy before eventually resorting to surgery to release the plantar facia. I think losing weight will definitely help with your foot problems, but it may not solve the problem.