A few weeks ago, I wrote about the problems I've been having with plantar fasciitis. I hadn't been to see a doctor yet, but based my the symptoms, I was quite certain plantar fasciitis is what I'm dealing with. My pain was typically worse in the mornings after I worked out -- to the point that walking was difficult until things loosened up for me.

Since I wrote my original post, I've tried out some tips. All in all, I think they're helping. I've been able to wake up the morning after working out and (aaah, aaah the angels sing), I can actually walk. There's still some pain, but it's not nearly as bad. Check out the gallery for details.

Do you have plantar fasciitis? If so, what's worked best for you?

I overpronate, so my workout shoes wear out rather quickly. Recently, I made the cardinal sin of fitness buffs and tried to wear my shoes long after they needed to be replaced. Six months later, I'm paying the price. While I'm not 100 percent positive that I have plantar fasciitis, the symptoms certainly point to it. For example, the morning after a long workout, I feel like someone is jabbing knives up my feet. A new pair of shoes and a trip to the doctor are in my near future.

Plantar fasciitis is caused by straining the ligament that supports the arch of your foot. While it's painful, plantar fasciitis doesn't need to put you on the sidelines. Some tips:

• Buy good shoes. Shoes are not something to skimp on. Look for shoes with good arch support or consider motion control shoes if you overpronate.
• Stretch. Do calf stretches and towel stretches several times a day.
  
• Avoid hard surfaces. If you're a runner or a walker, try moving your workout to an indoor track. Cement and other hard surfaces may aggravate your pain.
• Try new exercises. Swimming won't aggravate plantar fasciitis and other activities -- such as biking -- may be easier for you.

Source

Tattoos aren't exactly easy to get rid of so the decision to get one is a pretty big deal. You have to not only decide what you want, but also (and perhaps more importantly) where you want it. If you're a seasoned body artist then pain probably has little to no bearing on the location, but if you're getting your first tattoo or are not particularly hardcore then you may be swayed by this list of the 5 most painful places to get a tattoo. The single most painful of all? On the eye. And no, not around your eye, but actually on the cornea. It hurts so much most of the time anesthesia has to be involved.

The 5 most-painful places to get a tattoo are:
Click for details!

Source

I've always found goodbyes very sad and really difficult, and parting with a boyfriend has always been the most difficult kind of goodbye. Whether you're the breaker or the breakee -- or even if the break up is totally mutual, ending a relationship is painful. Recently Brian White wrote a post regarding a study with results that showed breaking up isn't actually that hard to do. It makes me wonder who was participating in the study -- robots perhaps that weren't programed to have feelings?

I know everyone has different experiences and I suppose that for some people, breaking up isn't that big of a deal but for everyone I know it pretty much just sucks. I agree with the author of this piece who discusses how the worst part of breaking up is all of the analysis that goes on in your head in the weeks and even months after you've ended things with your partner. Questions like "Did I do the right thing?", "What if I'd done a, b or c differently?" and "If things were so great at first, what happened to change everything?" can be torturous to someone suffering from post-break up blues.

I think the only saving grace is keeping in mind that pretty much everyone you know has been where you are and made it through, and likely you've been there before too. It may be difficult in the here and now, but try to remember that in time you'll look back and wonder why you were so upset in the first place.

Source

Tweezing, extracting, waxing -- all of these procedures hurt, a lot. Yet a fairly large majority of women are willing to pay a stranger to wax their bikini lines (and more), pull out hair from their faces and squeeze blackheads out of their skin.

As this article from an Australian newspaper discusses, we ladies are willing to suffer to look good. The author mentions that a number of women have even been sent to hospital in beauty-related disasters including waxing incidents gone terribly wrong. I've accidentally ripped on bits of skin after missing a tiny hair while trying to tweeze my eyebrows and it hurt so much it brought tears to my eyes -- and yet I kept on plucking.

I suppose you can't put a price on beauty but who exactly do we do all of this for? I've gotten facials and body scrubs and waxings before dates with boyfriends and they've never noticed. I bet most men don't. I think the real reason we do all of this stuff is because it makes us feel prettier and prompts us act sexier and more confident and that is what the guys notice.

Do you go through painful beauty treatments and if so, who do you think you do it for?

Source

As far as minor inflictions of the body go, I find few things more annoying that canker sores (itchy mosquito bites are probably the only thing that I find as irritating). The painful sores make eating less enjoyable -- it's hard to get excited about a tasty meal when every mouthful brushes against the spot and sends a minor jolt through your face, and make brushing teeth a chore.

According to this, the good news is that cankers are not caused by a virus or bacterial infection but result from an injury to a part of the mouth (in my case, too much sour candies or a bite to the tongue tend to be the culprits). While painful, most cankers go away on their own within a few days. Cold sores are a slightly different story.

I've been lucky enough so far to not catch the herpes simplex virus 1 that causes the nasty lesions (according to the piece cold sores can also be contracted via oral sex from the herpes simples virus 2. Yikes!) but I've heard others complain about what a pain they are. Like cankers, these sores, which consist of a group of small blisters that eventually burst, will go away on their own after approximately 2 weeks.

They certainly don't sound like fun, so to learn more about prevention and treatment read more about cold sores here. And keep in mind, that any unidentifiable sore in your mouth could be the sign of something more serious so if you've got something in there that seems funny and doesn't go away on its own, make sure to see your doctor about it.

Source

I love the idea of fitness boot camp, although I'll admit that the premise scares the you-know-what out of me. It's not just the idea of getting up at 5am for an hour of grueling exercise (the bad), it's also the thought of doing it for five days a week for a full month. Can you imagine how sore you'd be every single day (the painful!)?

Of course, both are likely a small price to pay when you start to see results (the good). I also think that the good outweighs the bad (and the painful) in that you've got a professional helping you get into shape every step of the way for an entire month. Plus they make sure to mix up the exercises each day so you end up doing cardio, a full range of muscle exercises, stretching and more. Finally, fitness boot camp causes you to commit for four weeks. It's easy when you're on your own to give up after a few days if you're really not feeling motivated, but when you've got a class of 10 or 15 people, plus your very own work-out drill sergeant, you've got some serious incentive to get your butt in gear.

The writer of this article tried it out and really only has positive things to say. One of the aspects I liked the best was that people of all ages, weights and fitness levels could join. And if you're really not a morning person, most companies also offer classes after work. What do you think, would you be willing to give it a try?

Source

Quite often patients schedule visits with their doctor due to knee pain only to find out that the problem actually lies in their hips. Called "referred pain," it's a fairly common phenomenon based in very complex causes related to the nervous system and how the body is internally "wired."

Only a doctor can help you find out if pain is truly coming from the source or is referred from some other body part. Keeping track of the symptoms of your pain and talking openly with your doctor about them, as well as asking about different treatment options, is really the best thing you can do.

Source

For many unfortunate souls out there pain is a major factor in their life on a regular basis. Whether it's an achy joint from an old injury or arthritis, migraine headaches, back pain, or even something like neuralgia, pain has the ability to sideline you from your physical activities and affect in your life in major ways.

Managing pain becomes an even greater issue than being just about your personal comfort when it starts interfering with the already difficult task of living a healthy active lifestyle. There are enough bumps in the road and challenges along the way to fitness without adding chronic pain in as a major player -- especially if you're just trying to get started!

Source

Although pleurisy is most commonly caused by viral infections, other underlying diseases can cause it such as pneumonia and tuberculosis, and other diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus (lupus), rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, liver and kidney disease, heart failure and pulmonary embolism. Other causes include chest injuries and drug reactions.

Pleurisy, also called pleuritis, is an inflammation of the pleura, which is the moist, double layered membrane that surrounds the lungs and lines the rib cage. The condition can make breathing extremely painful, and sometimes it is associated with another condition called pleural effusion where excess fluid fills the area between the membrane's layers.

The pain of pleurisy is usually treated with analgesic and anti-inflammatory drugs, such as acetaminophen, ibuprofen, and indomethacin. Pleurisy from a bacterial infection can be successfully treated with antibiotics, while no treatment is given for viral infections that must run their course. Alternative treatments can be used to help heal pleurisy. Acupuncture and botanical medicines are alternative approaches for relieving pain and breathing problems. An herbal remedy commonly recommended is Asclepias tuberosa otherwise known as pleurisy root. It got that name by early American settlers who learned of this medicinal plant from Native Americans. Pleurisy root helps to ease pain, inflammation, and breathing difficulties brought on by pleurisy.

Source