Oct 24, 2006 10:36
I know one of my biggest problems with my overall leg and back pain is that I refuse to wear flat shoes. However, my feet naturally refuse to walk heel to toe. The tendons are stretched too tightly. I walk on my toes; always have. Mom always nudged my hip and said, "Weight shift," because I put all my weight on my favored right leg. Mom always nudged my foot and said, "Put your heels down," because I walked on my toes like a constant ballet dancer. When I was young, I was too scared to wear any heel higher than an inch: my balance was so awful I was worried I'd fall over. Yet as I got older and more aware of fashion (and my own tiny stature) I fell in love with two-inch heeled boots, because boots wrapped around my ankles and gave me support, and my feet loved being lifted by the heel. Unfortunately I only ever wear heeled boots now, and my knees and hips have muttered in protest while my feet have argued back in favor. The sad thing is that even walking flat hurts; I have learned to deal with the fact that no matter what, my legs, back and hips will hurt because of the cerebral palsy.
I have considered saving up the money to buy a pair of those special shoes that are supposed to naturally align the spine; those Earth Shoes with negative heels. I see ads for them in the back of my natural health and yoga magazines. There is a pair of their boots that look good (Inspire) yet I don't know if I want to pay $130.
I think much of this boils down to the fact that I don't want to seem so gods damned short. I'm 4'11" and I've never quite accepted it. If it had not been for the three months premature birth, the horribly low birth weight, the cerebral palsy, and the failure to thrive, I might have grown to be eye level with my 5'3" mother. My father, at 5'7", is not tall either, but I could have been taller than this.
Yes, currently I am in extreme pain. However, I did also just bang my right knee against the desk here at work. And scraped some skin off of it too. Hurrah.
cerebral palsy,
pain,
legs