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All of this will be my personal opinion, as I have no medical qualifications at all!I have a question concerning medical help. Where does one turn to?
I went to the medical centre in Sarria to ask if they could check my heels (since a month they become painful everyday; the next morning it usually is okay but it starts again after about 10 km of walking). Seems reasonable to me to have them checked but the medicals didn't think so. They send me away telling me to take a few days rest without having a look or even listen to the problem. What is the right place to turn to to have my feet checked?
Yes, I threw away my boots and bought Keens sandals (no heels) on which I have been walking almost the whole trail (boots only first 2 weeks until the problem started). They gave me a few more km's a day at the beginning but I seem to be back at 10-12 a day. I am averaging 15, thought that is not a lot for a healthy 46 year old... apparantly my feet think otherwise@RuijgRock I'm not medically qualified at all - but have walked a lot. I used to think I had 14km feet until I changed my shoes (from boots to lightweight joggers). If your feet are good for 10 km, then it might be a shoe problem. Have you tried different shoes or gel inserts?
Pain is an indication that something is wrong, but that might only be that your body needs rest, time to recuperate, and shorter distances.
All of this will be my personal opinion, as I have no medical qualifications at all!
I think you have done the right thing, in going to a medical centre for a consultation. You are walking a long distance and have sore feet after 10 km, so the obvious first treatment is to stop walking so far. The clinic in Sarria probably sees so many people with sore feet that they only treat the cases that are acute. Some medical problems are very difficult to diagnose, and it is necessary for the patient and doctor to work together to try to understand the cause and the appropriate treatment. This can't happen very well when you walk into a clinic or hospital for a single visit. They can check for obvious injuries and treat them, or do an x-ray to determine if bones are broken. However, when you have an overuse injury, there is not much they can do in the short term except tell you to stop the overuse.
Maybe they didn't ask a lot of questions about your feet because they know that an acute problem would not allow you to walk for 10 km each day, they know that the treatment for other problems always starts with rest, and they know that you are just passing through town for a short period. Are you thinking that they should do an x-ray or other scan to investigate the problem? Are you prepared to spend the time and money to investigate the problem thoroughly? Perhaps this will be necessary, but it makes more sense to do it at home with your own doctor. These procedures can be very expensive and may still not yield clear information. For example, stress fractures are often not clear even with modern imaging. It you have a stress fracture you may need 6 weeks of no walking at all, to let it heal.
Maybe the advice to rest for a few days is the best advice available. The outcome after a few days rest will be important information to help with a future diagnosis, but that is better done at home.
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