Too Damn Expensive: What Just Treating the Symptoms Costs You

Here I go again. I hate to start sounding like a broken record, but sometimes a topic just needs revisiting.

There are multiple products and so-called treatments that just address the aches and pains of plantar fasciitis but never treat the underlying cause of it. Take a look at the current Hammacher Schlemmer catalogue. It’s appalling to see four different shoes and a brace specifically aimed at alleviating plantar fasciitis pain. If you bought them all you’d spend a total of $344.75. This doesn’t even include several other products aimed at vague ailments like “foot fatigue.”

Plantar fasciitis is now the most common foot condition doctors treat, but that doesn’t make me any less tired of hearing how often my colleagues have a status-quo mentality in their patient recommendations. An entire industry is now devoted to treating the pain resulting from plantar fasciitis and hundreds of millions of dollars are being made in the process!

Check out this breakdown of a few of these standard treatments for heel pain and what it could cost you:

Wow! Could you believe this much money gets spent on something like planter fasciitis related pain? We spend a lot of money every year on this part of the body. Not only are those estimates conservative, they don’t even bring the cost of pharmaceuticals into the mix. It disappoints me to know that patients are led to think they should spend their money on these short-term, “fix-it” options. I can tell you, thanks to twenty-five plus years of experience, that these are the facts: you can spend your money on those things, or on surgery. (I’m happy to take it.) If you want the pain to go away, you gotta stretch! You want the pain to stay away? Keep stretching! What you do today will impact you later on. Go back and read my older posts. You may not believe me now, but it’s why I’m the Angry Orthopod!

Archived Comments

A collection of comments from previous versions of the blog, preserved for historical context and the richness they add to our discussions.

Current Conversation

Add your questions, thoughts, and commentary to our current conversation below