Rebekah has had trouble with her feet for years. Most of the time she's fine. But sometimes when she's skiing (downhill or cross-country) or hiking, her feet will hurt her terribly.
I took her to a podiatrist a couple years ago. He suggested we get her wider boots (ski and hiking) and that she wear cushions on her little toes.
Rebekah was unconvinced. She insisted her boots were all fine, and she said the cushions didn't help her.
We went cross-country skiing during Christmas break at Teton Lakes (a golf course in Rexburg). Poor Rebekah was in pain almost the entire time.
Rebekah bent over in pain at Teton Lakes while Seth gets snacks out of his bag for the girls.
We decided we needed to get a second opinion regarding her feet.
Around the same time, Miriam began to timidly complain about her feet hurting. But they weren't just hurting when she skied — they were hurting when she was walking around school. We had noticed that she looked like she had bunions, and they finally started affecting her.
I scheduled an appointment for the two of them to see a different podiatrist than before. This is what we learned:
1) Rebekah probably has plantar fasciitis. The doctor says it's a "probably" because we can't know until we test his theory. He suggested that we tape Rebekah's feet in a very specific way whenever she is about to ski or hike. If her feet don't hurt her, then she has plantar fasciitis, and the taping is the way to treat it.
2) Miriam has metatarsus adductus and bunions. The former is a congenital deformity; her toes bend inward rather than going straight out from her foot. The latter is a complication of the former. Bunions can be corrected with surgery, but where Miriam isn't finished growing yet, we are choosing to treat the pain with custom orthotics.
Miriam's feet versus what a foot should look like.
Rebekah has taped her feet for downhill skiing and cross-country skiing thus far. And (I believe) it has helped. At least, she hasn't been doubled over in pain like she was during Christmas break.
Miriam received her orthotics, and after the two-week period of growing accustomed to them by wearing them just a little longer every day, she says that her feet no longer hurt when she walks.
