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Comment by postalcoder | Hacker News Reader

if i had to tell younger fathers one piece of unsolicited advice: buy arch support for your shoes. Plantar fasciitis seems to creep up on a lot of dudes after they have kids. It's also the worst.

I love to carry my kid but sprinting around while carrying the extra load did a number on the feet. You can largely prevent it just by spending $50 on a proper insole.

My kid is my favorite thing in my life. So tiring, so rewarding. And after a year of wincing walking barefoot, I can finally run again. Don't lose running time with your kid, buy insoles.

Happy fathers day.

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As a father who is suffering from plantar fascitis (brought on by running), I would rather fix the problem by strengthening my arches than mask it by buying inner soles.

Agree. I was able to fix mine by wearing thin sole shoes and walking regularly on rocky terrain. See Born To Run.

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Born_to_Run/4gS_0UwVI34...

Thanks for the book suggestion, I’ll give it a read

Strengthening the arch is definitely the way to go. Hiking is probably the ultimate way to do it, but walking is good too.

I've had plantar fascitis a couple of times before (decade apart) and I've found that it can be resolved within 3 weeks.

The trick that worked for me is to regularly stretch the foot / arch after a few minutes into a walk when the foot is warmed up. If I do that consistently near the beginning of every walk, the pain quickly fades away and the problem resolves itself.

I think hiking over technical-ish terrain, like stumbling over tree roots and rocks that hit the arch would provide the same action of stretching of the bottom of the feet.

You are correct. The only way to get out of PF valley is by building foot strength. I learned the hard way that mega-squishy hoka bondis are counter-productive to that because of how much cushion they have.

That said, proper insoles are the lowest-effort, cheapest means of mitigation.

New flex: i use arch support btw

I find compression helps at least as much as support for my plantar fasciitis.

I'd recommend something like the links below for going barefoot:

https://copperfitusa.com/collections/feet/products/arch-reli...

https://www.drscholls.com/products/plantar-fasciitis-achy-fe...

I think both companies make a compression band without a cushion, so it won't interference with your insole. (I use 3" elastic sewn in a loop, costs about $1 for a pair.)

Good anti-fatigue mats for anywhere you stand a lot are great as well.

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