Heel pain is one of those complaints commonly diagnosed by a podiatrist, a foot doctor. To no surprise, the most common diagnosis for heel pain is plantar fasciitis. Heel Spur Syndrome is another name that is used to identify the condition. 

Plantar means the bottom of the foot. The fascia is a long ligament that runs along the foot. Itis means inflammation (tonsillitis). The name plantar fasciitis means tearing and inflammation of that long ligament at the bottom of your foot. This is a result of small micro-tears in the fascia due to overstress. 

A heel spur can develop as a result of the pull and stress of the fascia on the bone. However, the spur is usually not the cause of pain. In fact, many people with bone spurs do not have any pain at all. The pain comes from abnormal motion in your feet, usually pronation. When the feet turn in and collapse, the fascia takes on an extra stress at the heel. It only takes a small change in your activity or a change in shoes to cause a small tear if you are prone to this condition.

 If you have low arches you are probably prone to heel spurs but you can also get them if you have high arches. The tearing that occurs at the fascia, near the heel, is microscopic. It is not a full rupture but it is enough to weaken the fascia. Once the fascia is weakened it tears more just from the constant weight of the body putting a large force load on your feet. When your foot is injured it is worse.

When you have plantar fasciitis you feel a sharp pain at the heel usually when you first get up, evens out, and then gets worse throughout the day. Some only feel the pain when they’re jogging or walking. The problem is often diagnosed by palpation or pressing on the inside of the heel or inside of the arch. These are the portions of the fascia that are under the greatest stress and have more inflammation. Xrays are used to rule out other conditions such as stress fractures or a tumor.

This description should give you fairly accurate picture of what happens when your heel pain is caused by inflammation and tears of your fascia and is called plantar fasciitis. If you have more questions, give your podiatrist a call.

To your success at healthy aging.

Ruthan Brodsky

Everything you eat is going to influence the way your brain functions; I am convinced of that. It just makes sense if you think about it. Food gives your body the raw materials it needs to build, replace and repair everything and to operate efficiently.

Eating foods that are good for your heart are also good for your brain. That makes perfect sense to me and seems like a logical sequence.

In my last post I wrote about what kind of food contamination you can expect when you buy your foods at the grocery store. In this post I’m going to write about what you should do and should not do to make  sure you don’t create contamination at home.

I just finished reading the lead article in this month’s Nutrition Action Healthletter. The sub title is Playing Russian roulette with your food. I happen to like this newsletter, published by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, because it is objective, provides resources, both sides of an issue, and gives the reader possible solutions. I don’t have any connection with the newsletter or the Center, which I believe is non profit, but it is worth exploring.

The article was compelling enough for me to reconsider my habits of how I store foods at home and how I prepare meals. I want to share what I learned with you because it won’t do either of us any good to do everything we can to stay healthy as we get older and then succumb to an E.coli illness because the spinach wasn’t washed well or we didn’t refrigerate the food  within an acceptable time frame.

What to do.
Wash all your produce even though you may purchase a bog that says the contents have been washed three times.  Wash them again and know there is no absolute guarantee that it will end up bug free. You, however, can’t do better than that but the food industry can regulate itself better.

Sometimes you may purchase a frozen food package that’s been contaminated such as the 2007 Banquet Pot Pies manufactured by ConAgra. These were the kind that you toss in the microwave. Here it was the directions that were confusing. The directions read as if you just had to reheat the pot pie when actually you had to cook it thoroughly and more thoroughly than the instructions on the box.

What to Do.
Follow the cooking instructions but know that may not guarantee safety. Some foods that you think are already cooked may not be so use a thermometer to test if the temperature is where it should be which is probably 165 0F.

For example, with ground beef just expect the E.coli to be there is it’s important to thoroughly cook the product and avoid any contamination with another product.  Again, use a meat thermometer.

More in my next post about safer ways to handle foods.

I welcome your suggestions about how you  protect yourself from food contamination. We are very open to helpful hints. Just type them in the comment section.

To your healthy aging success.

Ruthan Brodsky
Source: Center for Science in the Public Interest

Brain fitness games are not the only option for improving your mental functioning. Do you think that learning a new software program at age 74 or learning how to use a smart phone at age at age 68 might fit the category of pushing your brain to its limit?

In case you are not aware there is a relatively new movement, an industry if you will, in brain fitness.

Brain fitness is your brain’s ability to strengthen connections between neurons and even to promote new neurons in certain parts of the brain so you can maintain important brain functions. What is not new is the neuropsychological and neuroscientific research that demonstrates regular and vigorous mental activity can improve your brain fitness, which means you’ll have a better memory, be able to focus, and process information quickly. It is the old use it or lose it theory.

The debate is not that regular brain exercise improves cognitive function, but rather on whether exercising the brain can delay or prevent the beginning of dementia. That brings on the questions about what types of brain exercise are most effective.

I for one am not going to worry about the onset of dementia, at least not too much. I will engage in whatever brain exercise I need to if it improves how I function today and tomorrow. Not getting dementia would be a bonus. Even insurance companies are promoting computerized cognitive training these days for better safety among older adults.

What have grown is the number and the range of brain fitness products during the last few years. For instance, brain fitness activities are becoming very common place in facilities and centers catering to the elderly. The market experts tell us that the industry will grow from grossing $265 million in 2008 to $5 in 2015. That is substantial!

Today they have products that you can do at home most of which come with online support. Even Nintendo and other gaming companies now offer games designed specifically of However, the industry is unregulated and few of the programs showed improved performance for the users. For instance, one program may train you to memorize a list of words but that’s not going to be much help when you cannot remember where you left your car keys. Right now we read anecdotal reports and testimonials from satisfied customers, which is not all bad.

Are you playing any computer games specifically to improve your brain?I’m told that playing bridge on line may be counted as a brain fitness program. Tell us what you are doing and what you know about brain fitness.

To your healthy aging success.

Ruthan Brodsky

I remember my mother telling me not to eat candy because it was bad for my teeth. She was right!

The official word is out by the American Heart Association that we need to cut down on how much sugar we eat.