Day 10 Walking Barefoot

I've been thinking a lot about conditioning and the nocebo effect, and how to try to start to break out of it. One of the things I was told by two of my doctors last summer was that I should never go barefoot--I should always wear slippers when I'm walking around my apartment. At first I didn't listen but then the pain got worse and slippers with insoles and metatarsal pads really seemed to help.

So now of course I'm terrified of going barefoot. Also I have this pain/swelling on the ball of my foot which comes and goes and which I have now become convinced is fake pain. So in an effort to prove to myself that it is fake I've been trying to walk around barefoot every night for a few minutes. Sometimes it works and I "forget" to feel the pain; other times it's a bit uncomfortable. But anyway it's my re-conditioning therapy. I will keep doing it, and maybe increase it, as I go forward.

 

Good luck! I think humans were actually meant to be barefoot. Not only for physiological reasons but also because it "grounds" us. We soak up the energy from the earth <3 Maybe walk barefoot in grass and soak it all up!

I think that if you can forget the pain sometimes then you are well on your way to forgetting all the time.

 

One of my many TMS symptoms was plantar fasciitis. I also had been told to never go barefoot but now I'm able to all the time and with no pain.

 

It's very, very hard for me to combat the doctors' voices in my head.

 

Gail, understood, as doctors are considered to be an authority. I just think of all the times they are plain and simple WRONG! Or sometimes they don't know what to say either and it's a "try anything" thinking. How about countering the voice in your head with MY FEET ARE FINE or something like that and continue to say it until you believe it.

I absolutely LOVE to be barefoot (except when it's freezing cold).

 

My new podiatrist (the one who diagnosed me with an irritated nerve) did say to me, "there is nothing structurally wrong with your foot." I do repeat that to myself during hard days.

 

Gail, I would have been very happy to hear that!