“Athletes will play through a level of pain in their feet that, if they felt it in their knees or their shoulders, they’d be hammering at a surgeon’s door,” says Glenn Pfeffer, the director of the Foot and Ankle Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Aching feet are the “forgotten stepchild” of sports injuries, he adds.
He's absolutely right! When I read that, it took me way back to high school. I remember first hand how much I paid for ignoring my own foot pain.
I played an entire game in high school with an aching pain in my right foot, but I didn't even let it phase me. I was completely focused on the win. This was one of the biggest games of our season against our rival team. All I could think about as we were getting ready to take the field was my dad's favorite "motivational" (I use that description loosely) saying. "Walk if off girl, walk it off. Be a champion." So that's just what I did. Only instead of walking, I was running, pivoting, kicking, and juggling all at full speed, for about 2 hours. Probably not the best choice I had ever made, then again I was a teenager.
By the end of the game, my adrenaline was through the roof because we had one by one goal when we were not the favored team. I couldn't even feel the pain anymore. It was the best feeling in the world...until I took off my cleats and socks. My foot was swollen to twice it's normal size and there was extensive noticeable bruising. Oops!
To make a long story short, I had just played that game with a navicular fracture. A bone in the middle of my foot was broken and I had no idea. Apparently, it was due to forcing too much stress on my foot without enough recovery time. I was also told that it appeared that the fracture was severely worsened by playing in that game. Had I been responsible and listened to what my body was trying to tell me and sat that game out, I may have gotten to finish out the season only missing a few games for recovery. Since I played, I was forced to sit on the bench the rest of the season and I missed indoor tryouts for the winter season.
We really don't think too much about what are bodies are trying to tell us. Especially our feet since most of the time we attribute our discomfort to walking too much, wearing the wrong shoes, or just being plain old tired. Of course, sometimes those things are true, but if you truly enjoy being active or playing sports, do you really want to be taking that risk?
I came across an article today from the NY Times that might be of some use. It explains just how serious this lack of "listening" to our feet really is. They use Kobe Bryant as a prime example. In 2004, he had a serious struggle with plantar fasciitis, which is an extremely painful heel condition. Can you imagine being a basketball player, worth millions, and having to play the game of your career with crippling pain in your feet? I sure can't (partly because I'm a terrible basketball player and no ever paid me to play soccer - but that's beside the point.)
If you're an athlete, a parent or friend of an athlete, or even a person that just likes to got out and start pick up games I strongly encourage you to check out this article from the NY Times. And next time your feet are trying to tell you something from way down there...LISTEN UP!
