I’ve been pretty concerned about my feet for the better half of this year. There’s been a few ongoing issues with my feet for a good two years, but it wasn’t until this year when I really started to notice that something was wrong. The first inkling of a slight problem with my foot first occurred two years ago when wearing my high heels. It would feel like the bone in the ball of my foot was moving every time I would stand or walk. I genuinely became worried that wearing heels had dislodged one of my bones. Perhaps this might sound like an overreaction, but it was such a bizarre feeling.

As time went on, I then noticed that after a night of wearing high heels, I’d have numb feet in the morning. This feeling then evolved into numb feet for a day, then to a few days, and now to my current problem of having a numb foot for a month. I eventually had to accept the reality that I did in fact have a problem with my foot and would need to see a foot specialist. Cheltenham has several in my area, but I wanted to visit a specialist that I could trust. Let’s just say, I am very happy that I picked the podiatrist that I did. The podiatrist was extremely sympathetic and spent a decent amount of time trying to figure out the cause of my foot problems. 

According to the podiatrist, I was displaying symptoms of plantar fasciitis. To get to the bottom of the cause, the podiatrist got me to walk up and down their office a few times so she could analyse my walk. I have since received some stretches for my calf and for my foot. Here’s hoping the pain will ease soon and I can enjoy my heels once again, in moderation. 

For as long as I can remember, my mum has told me I have ugly feet. She made it my defining feature and when it was her responsibility to dress me, she made sure to only ever buy me closed shoes. Even in summer, I wasn’t allowed to wear thongs or sandals, let alone go barefoot in the ocean. I think I was the only kid at the beach who was wearing water shoes, and it embarrassed me enough that I still remember it to this day.

At some point during my teenage years, I developed a nail fungus condition. Cheltenham is a really beachy southeast suburb and I decided to disobey my mum one night and swim in the ocean without shoes on. Something went wrong and I picked up some sort of fungus on my toenails. I couldn’t tell my mum because I had a feeling she’d either cut my feet off, kick me out or ridicule me forever, so I had to visit a podiatrist in secret by myself. 

I felt ashamed of my feet at that point more than ever, and it devastated me that my already ugly feet had just become even more repulsive.  

Being a teenager at the time, I didn’t have my license and had to get a two-hour bus to visit a bulk billing podiatrist. I also couldn’t afford to pay for it with the money I made at my after school job, so it was just an all-around very stressful experience. Fortunately for me, the podiatrist was really nice and helped me realise that I had one of the most common foot conditions. In the Cheltenham area, I don’t think anyone else would have been that nice, and I remember feeling grateful that I had made the effort to go and see the podiatrist even though she was so far away. 

I spent the next couple of months fixing my fungal infection in secret. It was tough without support. 

I’m sure you’ve all heard the term ‘most accidents happen at home’. Well, I think I’m the living proof that’s the case. At home alone, I’ve broken my arm, slipped a disc in my back, dislocated my collarbone, and sprained my ankle. Don’t ask how these accidents happen, I’m just clumsy. The ankle sprained happened twice! Melbourne’s best podiatry clinic had to treat my ankle. Unfortunately, the ankle is a part of the body that if you injure it badly once it will struggle to heal back to its full capacity. Now it is constantly fragile and the slightest slip can cause it to dislocate or re-sprain itself. It’s actually a huge hassle.

Does anyone else remember when Melbourne had all these water restrictions and it was recommended that you carry buckets of water from the bath or laundry to water your plants? I was one of the people who religiously followed this rule. I’m not exactly the strongest lady ever, so when I was carrying these buckets I had to really concentrate. One particular day I was rushing and the water spilled out of the bucket and onto the floor as I was walking down the steps in my backyard. The water caused me to slip and sprain my ankle really badly. It took months to heal and never healed properly. Then a year later I was jogging lightly and somehow misjudged a curb while crossing the road. I landed weirdly and re-sprained the same ankle. The podiatrist believed that there was a good possibility that had I not had the first injury, the second injury wouldn’t have happened. Now I constantly wear ankle support insoles to try prevent further injuries and to promote healing.

I doubt my ankle will ever be back to normal but if the insole stops me from constantly spraining it again and again over time then so be it. As someone who really enjoys running, I find that having a sprained ankle has impacted my ability to keep fit and stay active.