Week 7 - Things are getting real

We in the last phase guys : )

Hello all and thanks for coming back to my blog this week…

This week was very special in the sense that I finished all my interviews and was even able to also interview a specialist. Lot of things to dive into so lets get right into it!

Lets start with the interviews. Last week, I said that I finished 8 out of 11 interviews. With one interviewer not able to make it, I am ten for 10. With the two last interviews with the total at ten, I can now start the analysis process and finding trends in my interviewers. Some trends that I noticed so far was that people with flat foot feel Plantar Fasciitis pain more in the heel. While Plantar Fasciitis is primarily heel pain, the fascia runs across the entirety of the foot meaning pain can be felt all throughout! Once I start analyzing my interviews for the purpose of data analysis, I will update you guys with more information.

Later in the week, I had my interview with a foot specialist which proved to be extremely helpful. If you check my blog last week, I had no idea when this interview would come but somehow me and my advisor made it work!

Two main points came from my interview with the podiatrist (foot specialist): knowing your foot type, and understanding that Plantar Fasciitis and other foot conditions share many symptoms.

Plantar refers to the sole of the foot and itis refers to inflammation. Activities (like running, walking, or standing for long periods) that place a lot of stress on the heel and attached tissue (fascia) can lead to overstretching of the plantar fascia. Repeated strain can cause micro tears in the tissue which can occur both from acute incidents or gradual chronic overload. Initially. the pain was thought to arise from inflammation due to overuse and stress; but now, ongoing research suggests that chronic plantar fasciitis may sometimes be more about the degeneration of the fascia rather than just inflammation.

While talking to the specialist, it was emphasized that knowing ones foot type is crucial to reliving the pain caused by Plantar Fasciitis (PF). This makes PF pain somewhat subjective. The three foot types that were mentioned are the high arched foot, normal pronating foot, flat foot. The high arched foot does not pronate, meaning it stays arched while walking. The fascia is more tight in high arched people and any sudden movements that put stress and stretch the fascia can prove to be very painful. PF is more hard to deal with in high arched people and arch support is somewhat ineffective because these devices are designed to support already flattened arches. The normal foot has a moderate arch and pronates while walking allowing for less strain on the fascia. Although this foot type develops PF the least, pronating results in the stretching of the fascia and overuse or sudden movements can result if PF. Risk factors like weight, increased activity level, and inadequate footwear can all play a role in the development of PF for this foot type. The last type is the flat foot that over pronates and the fascia is constantly strained. The continuous stretching and straining can lead to microtears and inflammation in the plantar fascia and one effective solution is the use of orthotics that help to correct over-pronation and support the arch in flat-footed individuals.

The second point is knowing that many foot conditions share symptoms and individuals are not limited to just one condition. For example, a person with flat foot feels PF pain more in the heel. PF has always categorized by heel pain, but there is also a nerve that runs through the heel. Another source of pain in these cases could always be that a nerve is being compressed leading to severe pain the heel. One trick that was mentioned is always noting the effects of anti-inflammatory medication. If anti-inflammatories lack effectiveness, then we know that inflammation is not the problem here and PF can possibly be rules out in terms of diagnosis. It was interesting to understand the thought process of doctors when it comes to understanding a patients symptoms to deducing the problem and coming up with a treatment plan.

My schedule for the next few weeks:
April 17th – 20th: compile all notes fully
April 21th- 27th: finish writing process for the literature review
April 22nd and April 26th: Workshop days!
28th- 5th: finish interview notes and complete analysis, finish the interview part of paper
APRIL 29th: practice presentation with internal advisor
May 6th – 10th: write discussion and conclusion and finalize the paper!
MAY 10th: submit end product (paper)
MAY 13th: practice presentation with internal advisor
MAY 18th: FINAL PRESENTATION!

I still have not been able to finalize the date for my presentation (2nd end product) for teachers and faculty but will update you guys on that soon.

Until next week, c u guys later : ))))