Foot Doctor

I was born with my feet turned in. Apparently I was formed that way because of my position in the womb. So if you're like that in 1975 they slap shoes on you that point out and are connected to a bar and after a while you're feet are straight like normal.

That happened to me. Don't remember it 'cause I was all done wearing them by the time I could walk.

I've never had a problem. Ran track in grade school and middle school. Walk straight, wear normal shoes. My legs are straight. If I didn't tell you I was born twisted, you'd never know.

When I was about 12 I remember my folks saying something to me about my feet leaning in, but just at the ankle. My knees don't bow in, just my ankles. They said "Maybe you should try and pull your ankles up straight and walk that way." I remembered to do it for about 5 minutes and then it flew out of my head.

In about 2000 I went on a hiking trip. Me and the guy I was with headed out to hook up with the other campers but got there real late. After hours and at about midnight. We decided to hike out and try to find their camp using the map we had. I think we finally gave up at about 2am. It was mostly uphill and to say the least, I wasn't a big hiker, plus I weighed almost 200lbs. My ankles burned so bad I'd never felt pain like that in my life. The next day I could hardly walk, but as the weekend went on it got better so I went out on a walk with some other folks and it didn't take long for them to start hurting again.

Ever since then if I walk long distances, consistently and am in bad shoes my ankles start hurting the same. I figured it was just weight and being out of shape but now I'm starting to wonder if there is more to it.

I recently got a good look at myself in a full length mirror from behind and man my left ankle REALLY leans in. The right one does too, but not as badly. I can't help but think these things are all related.

I'm overweight, I was born twisted, my ankles hurt when I walk too long and they visibly lean in. I also find myself standing on the outsides of my feet when I'm barefoot, probably to subconsciously relieve pressure, even tho they aren't hurting.

I also dance and sometimes in class if we've done lots of moving around with little scooting steps my ankles just burn up and I find relief in standing on the outsides of them.

Needless to say in the last month or so I've really become aware and concerned, even though 99% of the time they don't cause any problems. But I can only imagine it getting worse with age, especially if I always weight as much as I do or heaven forbid, put on more weight.

So I opened the yellow pages (www.yahoo.com) and found the nearest orthopedic doctor to my home. I have an appointment Wednesday morning. After he tells me to loose weight I hope he has some more insightful information about my situation.