Is Pain Stopping You From Losing Weight

Heel Pain and Weight Gain Have Become a Vicious Cycle:Relieving heel pain is key to losing weight. If you are overweight and suffer from pain in your feet thatradiates from your heel, you are not alone. Almost one quarterof overweight people suffer from plantar fasciitis, adebilitating condition that causes heel pain and can limit aperson's ability to walk or exercise. It is estimated that oneout of every ten people will suffer from heel pain at some pointin his or her life.Being overweight and suffering from heel pain can create avicious cycle. We all know that exercise is a key component tolosing weight.

The problem is that heel pain often strikes whenyou put more stress on your feet by increasing your physicalactivity. If heel pain then forces you to limit exercise, itbecomes challenging to lose weight and can actually cause anincrease in weight. Increasing weight and a sedentary lifestylecan cause more heel pain and other common health problems, suchas depression and heart disease. The good news is that when properly treated, most heel painimproves in 6 to 8 weeks. The bad news is that most people donot have the information to properly treat it.

The AmericanAcademy of Orthopaedic Surgeons estimates that 2 million peopleseek treatment for plantar fasciitis every year in the UnitedStates, and several million more go untreated. Those who don'tseek treatment often hope that plantar fasciitis will just goaway on its own - which it usually doesn't. Daniel Marein-Efrón, founder of a new company called HeelingSolutions, suffered from heel pain and weight gain for over ayear. He became frustrated with his lack of improvement afterinvesting thousands of dollars in special foot devices andvisits to the podiatrist.

He sought out the nation's experts onthe subject of heel pain and found that the solution did notinvolve surgery or a magic pill, but several months of specialstretches, icing, extra support for his feet and modificationsto his lifestyle. After several months of sticking to thisregimen, he was free of plantar fasciitis and training for amarathon."The first steps to relieving heel pain can be as simple asstretching your foot before getting out of bed in the morning,icing your foot regularly and wearing proper footwear," saysJeffrey S. Peterson, M.A., M.D Northern California Institute ofSports Medicine. "Many people also require additional steps suchas using orthotics in their shoes or wearing a supportive footdevice at night called a night splint." How do you know if you have plantar fasciitis? Only a licensedmedical professional can confirm your diagnosis. Seek out apractitioner who specializes in conditions of the foot andankle, such as a podiatrist or orthopedist.

The most commonsymptom of plantar fasciitis is intense pain with the first fewsteps in the morning. It can strike people of any age and ismost common in people who are runners, overweight or spend a lotof time on their feet. For more information, go towww.heelingsolutions.com, or http://orthoinfo.aaos.org.

About the author:

Daniel Marein-Efron is a former plantar fasciitis sufferer andPresident of Heeling Solutions LLC. Mr. Marein-Efron has beeninvolved with a variety of entrepreneurial business through hisconsulting company DMEX Consulting LLC.