Heel Spurs

Heel spurs are pretty common and pretty painful. I was actually crippled up with pain from them about 10 or 12 years ago. For 2 years I couldn't walk on grass or sand and had to practically live in running shoes so my foot wouldn't wobble. Walking even short distances was slow and painful. OHIP paid for 3 sessions of therapy, totaling 9 months, and it did nothing at all to alleviate the pain. I even had 2 very painful shots of cortisone to no avail. It was then I thought to try reflexology.

Foot reflexology is a deep kneading of the foot and not a particularly pleasant foot massage. It's considered alternative medicine so our government OHIP coverage won't pay for it. Heaven knows how much 9 months of traditional therapy cost the tax payers.

I was very lucky to find a good reflexologist on my first try and, lo and behold, the heel pain disappeared after 5 $20 sessions. The relief lasted a year and I had 2 more sessions which gave me 3 more painless years. I returned to the reflexologist for 1 session only and have been pain free until 2 days ago when I woke up unable to put any weight on my right heel.

Experience had taught me that this pain wouldn't go away on it's own so I visited a local reflexologist (now $50 per session) and spent an hour having my poor heel poked and prodded. Today it feels much better but I think I'll go back to my original reflexologist because he's only going to charge $40. It's a shame that OHIP doesn't cover the cost of a cheaper medical service that works so well.

But then, we can't be foolish enough to expect our government to act in a rational way, can we?