Category: Lifestyle

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Safer Internet Day 2015 #SID2015

If we’ve been on the internet for any length of time, we’ve all done it.  Either we’ve said something we did not really mean, or someone has been mean to us, or called us names, or been downright nasty.  We could have seen things we wished we’d never known existed and it can seriously put a damper on a day if something upsetting catches our eye.  And that’s for us as adults.  How much worse is it for children to be exposed to the same things, with their immature emotional state?

Today is safer internet day for 2015.

I know, I know, you’re all probably sighing and reaching for the big back button at the top of the screen, but being safer online is a responsibility of us all.

The Safer Internet Centre in the UK is co-ordinating help to promote the safe, responsible and positive use of technology for our children and young people.

The theme is: Let’s Create a Better Internet Together.

It’s celebrated by over a hundred countries, and supported by the European Commission, but what is it?

Raising Awareness

The day is mean to highlight positive uses of technology, to create a safer online community.  The responsibility falls on us as parents, carers, teachers, social workers, and everyone else, to make the internet a safer place for our children.

Youth Leading The Way

According to Safer Internet, around 30% of 11-16 year olds have experienced some forms of unpleasant behaviour online in the last year, and also explains what they love about going on the internet.

A new film #Up2Us, created by schoolchildren tells us about their own experiences online and inspires young people to do something kind today.

Social Internet Day TV Today

Visit the online channel today at 11am to see Molly and Harvey from CBBC’s Friday Download Show.  I’m hoping to get my kids to watch it on catchup after school.

Social Media

At 8am today, there was a mass tweet, using the hashtag #SID2015, with over 800 organisations agreeing to take part.  That’s an awesome target.  As a parent, I’ve watched my children talking to friends online who acted very unfriendly, even making fake accounts and using those to be nasty to classmates, anonymously of course.  The upset it causes to the people they target is unnecessary and distressing for the children involved.  It’s easy for us to say, ignore the haters and delete those accounts, but for children, that’s a very difficult thing to do.

I have to admit to being a little disappointed that none of my local schools seemed to take this on board.  I think these are great ways to interact with our kids and share important learning, but as parents, we can bridge that gap where we can.

The internet is a wonderful and scary place to be.  Let’s try and make it safer for our kids, by teaching them to be kind to each other online.

AT 8pm, Bars & Melody are taking over the Safer Internet Day Twitter Account for a question and answer session about why the safer internet day is important to them and what their views are on being kind and safe online.  Join in the chat by using the hashtag #SIDTV.

Here’s the Safer Internet Day Programme for today.

Safer Internet DAy

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Wear It, Beat It. British Heart Foundation – Heart Month

Did you know our hearts beat around 100,000 times a day?  That’s a lot of work for one muscle to do.  It pumps around 23,000 litres of blood around our bodies in a day and just keeps on working away in the background.  We’re rarely even aware that it’s doing anything at all.

Red Heart

Today’s the day to raise awareness.  Wear as much red as you can and support the British Heart Foundation.  If anyone asks why you’re wearing red, tell them it’s to raise awareness of looking after your heart.

February is heart month.  It’s not surprising with Valentine’s Day in the wings, but how many of us take our hearts for granted?  I know I do.

This month, show your heart some love.   Sign up to the British Heat Foundation 10 Minute Challenge and celebrate by wearing something red, or discover how to keep your own heart happy and healthy.

There will be one simple challenge sent to your inbox each day for ten days.  Each challenge takes a maximum of ten minutes to complete.

Take The British Heart Foundation Ten Minute Challenge

or

Take The British Heart Foundation Wordplace Ten Minute Challenge

On the website, are booklets and guides to help you improve the health of your heart, covering topics like moving, eating, quitting smoking, lowering stress, lowering cholesterol and blood pressure, as well as managing diabetes.

What are you waiting for?

If you’d like to donate to the British Heart Foundation, you can Text ‘RED’ to 70060 to donate £3 to help fund research.

 

 

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Car That Fits A Wheelchair in the Boot. How Hard Can It Be?

Well, we’ve been at it for nearly a year now, this manipulating an unsteady person anywhere she needs to go.  It’s been a full year since my mother had the first of two nasty infections, from which she’s never fully recovered.

What did change, was her brain.  Damaged, and with significant vascular changes.  Her physical strength and arthritis has deteriorated to such an extent, that she finds it difficult and painful to walk more than a very short distance.  Over the last year, her short term memory had diminished significantly and her confidence to go out is totally shot.

From someone who ‘had’ to go out at least once a day, I’m lucky if I can get her out of the house once a month.  It’s not good for her, and it’s not good for me being trapped in the house so much, only being able to leave her for spells that rivalled elderly dog ownership, as her insulin levels have to be checked regularly.  She’s not safe with medication or her insulin on her own, and if she takes a  hypo, there would be no-one to help her.  She cannot manage her testing kit for herself.

Where I thought I’d have an easy time, was finding a wheelchair friendly car, that would also double as our family car.  Both our cars are on the way out.  The Discovery has given up the ghost and she can’t get up and into it now. anyway, so it would have to go, even if it was still behaving itself.  It’s beside the point that it’s leaking water and the electrics are dodgy.

The man could fix it, but he’s never got the time and he won’t pay for someone else to do what he can do, so it’s at stalemate.  I do love the Discovery, but if it were garage maintained, we’d need a whole new mortgage to keep it up.

Wheelchair

We also have an old Vauxhall family car that has a fault somewhere that keeps draining the battery.  The fix would likely cost far more than the car is worth.  I do need a car that doesn’t need jumpstarted every second day, and I’d like to find the information I’m looking for online, but it’s harder than it looks.  I did consider a Vauxhall Insignia, but they’re too low for her to get in and out of.

All I want is a car that will take a bog standard manual wheelchair, one that’s not too low so that I don’t break my back getting her in and out, and not too high, so that I have to lift her in either.  Oh yes, I also need to fit 5 people in the car, and I don’t want to pay a fortune in road tax every year, nor pay a whack on customising a family car.

I also can’t face the Citreon Berlingo, nor the boxy cars.  It’s my car.  I know we all have different ideas of what is nice and what’s not, but I don’t want to saddle myself with what I see as a horrible looking car, just because I need one that fits a wheelchair in the boot.  Selfish, maybe, but it’s my money, and I should be able to spend it on something that suits our family, not something we’re stuck with because there’s nothing else.

Can I find the information I need online?  Perhaps I’m looking in the wrong places.

There’s a large proportion of the population who need wheelchairs, so I can’t believe how difficult it is to find out if a car boot can take one.  You’d think with the money spent on advertising and lovely glossy brochures, that there would be something in them.  A line somewhere that gave an indication of suitability for wheelchairs.  Yes, I can see boot dimensions, but given the angle of some boots, they can look big enough in theory, but if it narrows in the wrong place, a wheelchair won’t fit in, and I’d like to carry some shopping at times too.

Before I go to look at a car, I want to know it will fit the wheelchair, otherwise I’m stuck to lugging the thing around with me and taking it out at every car dealership, which is a pretty daft way of going shopping.  Why do they mention cup holders, bluetooth connection, seat warmers, and neglect to add a pretty basic feature?  Perhaps wheelchairs just aren’t sexy enough, or, as I said before, I’m looking in the wrong places, but if I am, then shouldn’t it be easier to find the right places?

I will say though, that I do like the look of the hybrids.  I’m tempted to look for a Toyota Prius, or the smaller ones along those lines.  I did consider the Nissan Leaf, but the driving range would drive me round the bend, though guess what…I don’t know if they’re worth looking at, as I don’t know if a wheelchair will fit in the boot……..and I can’t be bothered going to find out.

I may just pick up a banger from the car mart to tide me over,  because I can’t decide, and don’t have time to visit dozens of showrooms to find out.

Have a good day all, and hope you all stay safe in the windy weather.

If you like this article, check out the post on helping to empower senior drivers.

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Christmas Tree Napkin Fold Tutorial

Christmas Tree napkin Fold Tutorial 1

This is so simple to do, and looks great on a table, or place setting.  It’s something a little different and personalised for your Xmas day guests.  Napkin folding is not something new, but we all appreciate the little touches that made Christmas Day that little bit more special.

Christmas Tree Napkin Fold 2

Here’s how to do it for yourself.

Step 1

Take your regular napkin from a pack and lay it flat.  Most napkins will come out of the pack ready to go, but just in case yours isn’t, you’ll need to fold it into a square.

Turn the napkin towards you, so it looks like a diamond shape, with the loose ends under your fingertips, like the image above.

Step 2

All you have to do is take one layer at a time and fold it upwards, so that it rests around half an inch or so from the top, and fold the line.  Do this with all four layers until you have the same shape as below.

Step 3

Turn the napkin around.  It should resemble a boat shape.

Christmas Tree Napkin Fold 11

Step 4

The aim is to have the point shape at the centre of the bottom of the napkin.  Fold the right hand side over to mid way on the opposite side and fold over.  Do the same for the left hand side.

Step 5

The point shape at the bottom should be in the right place.  When the sides are folded over, turn the napkin around again, and set it this way up.

Christmas Tree Napkin Fold 15

Some people will stop here, but if you want to have the full effect, simply fold each layer back on itself, and tuck it into the one above.

 

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Hand Made Jewellery Christmas Presents

Here they are.  The personalised Christmas presents we made with the owners in mind.  We hope they enjoy wearing them as much as we enjoyed making them.  They’re all either rhodium plated brass as a base for the pendants, with only a couple that are sterling silver.  The colours are all made by cold enamelling, or resin casting.

We love what we’ve achieved and each and every one in this post has gone to a Christmas home, as well as a few others that didn’t get in the photographs as they were still curing.

As a hobby, this is great, as the kids could be involved.  Yes, it did mean taking some important steps to ensure they were safe with mixing the chemicals, and I wouldn’t do this with very young children, but for my older boys, it has been a great way to give christmas presents that actually mean something to them, and a handmade gift for the recipients, both at school and at home.

I’m actually really proud of what we achieved in such a short space of time.  I love the drop heart pendant, so plan on ordering more of those blanks.  We only had one, which was lovely when it was done.

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Charity Guest Post: Would You Like To Start 2015 Changing A Life? Volunteer For Guide Dogs

Did you know that 180,000 people who are blind or partially sighted rarely leave home alone? At Guide Dogs we are committed to change this and we need your help to do so.

Besides training guide dogs, we offer other services that contribute to change the life of blind and sighted people in Scotland.

We are currently looking for volunteers in Aberdeen and the surrounding areas to fulfil central roles: Puppy Walkers and My Guide.

Whether you have a couple of hours per week or are available full-time, your can make an enormous difference on people’s life.

Would you like to help us?

If you are free full-time, maybe you’d be interested in becoming a volunteer Puppy Walker?

Guide Dogs 1

A Puppy Walker is a challenging yet very rewarding role. You’ll be welcoming at home a puppy and helping them live different experiences that will give them the confidence to be a super guide dog in the near future.

Thanks to your help, this puppy will become a guide dog that will give to a blind or partially sighted the confidence to enjoy of the same freedom of movement as everyone else.

If you are working but have a couple of hours free, maybe you would to become a volunteer My Guide?

Guide Dogs 2

As My Guide you will be supporting a person who is blind or partially sighted for a couple of hours to go out. You’ll be receiving training and on-going support as you are carefully matched to a local person who is blind or partially sighted.

Your local staff are there to answer any questions or help as needed.

If you are interested in finding out more about the roles of Puppy Walker or My Guide, why not have a chat with Emma our Volunteer Consultant at the Edinburgh Mobility Team?

We look forward to hearing from you soon and see how you can help Guide Dogs make a real difference in Scotland.

Contact us:

emma.murton@guidedogs.org.uk

0845 372 7406
Visit our website http://www.guidedogs.org.uk/

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Home Made Ashes Rings

So, last night was mostly about making our Christmas presents.  I was talking to a Twitter friend who had bought some resin and made wee pendants, and it spurred me on to finish a project that was badly needing sorted.  The fact that it’s also led to another addictive hobby and ashes rings, is neither here nor there.

Among that, I also made myself an ashes ring with a tiny portion of the ashes from my dog, who passed away a wee while ago.  I tried that as a means of giving my boys and their siblings a keepsake of their birth mum.

I have a small vial of her ashes, and they all wanted a piece of jewellery.  Looking online, it was clear that the prices were extortionate, and not necessarily appropriate for the kids as they are now.  I really didn’t like the versions of ashes jewellery I saw that had flakes of the ashes very visible.  It seemed a bit morbid to me.

Honestly, this ring does look better in real-life than it does in a picture.

Ashes Ring 3

Using a mix of resin, glitter and colour, I’ve come up with an alternative, using sterling silver as a base, and the colour added to the settings, whether they’re rings or pendants.

After a few disasters, I’ve finally got it sorted.  This ring contains a tiny portion of my dog’s ashes, but I now know what I’m doing.

Yes, some of you might think it’s a little morbid to make jewellery out of pet ashes, or human ashes, but I think a piece of jewellery is a much nicer memory than an urn of ashes for children.

The girls are all getting ashes rings, and the boys will have cufflinks as a keepsake.  Ok, they don’t look like glass, but they do look very pretty and the sparkles are gorgeous.  I may add an extra layer of shine to the one above and see how that looks with a little dome on the ring, but it’s actually quite shiny as it is in daylight.

One of the girls wants red and one wants pink for their rings.  I’m waiting for more blank rings and cufflink blanks to arrive so that I can make theirs, so I’ll post how they all turned out too.

I’ve been experimenting with pendants, so they will also be used as Christmas presents.  When they’re all dried and had their chains added, I’ll post some pictures of those.  All in all, it means we can make different people lots of different presents year on year.  I’ll just have to keep tabs on what kind of design we give to each person.

Jewellery making could become far too addictive…….

 

 

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Guest Post: Parenting Across Scotland – Top Tips Resources

We all know that being a parent is extremely rewarding. But there are many decisions, concerns and worries that often come in to play along the way – starting at birth and continuing right through to the teenage years.

This is why Parenting Across Scotland, a partnership of charities working together to provide a focus for issues and concerns affecting parents and families, has created resources that offer a ‘one-stop-shop’ for parents.

Parenting Across Scotland

The charity has produced a range of six ‘top ten tips’ booklets for key stages in a child’s life – easy, digestible key pieces of information to help parents on their journey.

The resources aim to give parents key advice on topics such as sleep for babies, playing with your child, starting primary school, starting high school and teenagers.

Working in partnership with various organisations such as Sleep Scotland, Play Scotland and Healthy Respect, the charity’s tips provide a great starting point for any parent looking for a bit of friendly guidance.

Clare Simpson, Project Manager at Parenting Across Scotland, said: “We know that parents across the country all want to do what’s best for their children. Parenting doesn’t come with an instruction manual so parents are going to have concerns and questions at different stages of their child’s life – it’s only natural, and healthy.”

She added: “With so much information out there about what to do and what not to do it can be hugely overwhelming. With our ‘top tips’ resources we’ve drilled all this information down to focus on key pieces of bite size advice to make everything much simpler. We’ve chosen topics that we know from experience raise a lot of questions from parents.”

As well as offering advice the tips also offer reassurance.

One parent from Edinburgh who has used the resource for teenagers said: “Every time I hear my teenager’s bedroom door slam I think of the tips and remember ‘conflict is normal’ – it just gives me a minute to calm down.”

The full list of top tip topics include:

  • Sleep: babies and toddlers – covering routines, helping your child to settle themselves.
  • Starting primary school (also available in an ‘easy read’ version) – visiting the school, encouragement.
  • Starting high school – talking and listening, physical changes.
  • Child’s play – messy play, outdoor play.
  • Parenting teenagers – conflict, respecting their views.
  • Sex, relationships and teenagers – being truthful and honest, sharing stories.

The resources are completely free and can be downloaded from the Parenting Across Scotland website:

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Awareness: Children’s Food Crisis In South Sudan

This month, UNICEF are campaigning to raise awareness of the current food crisis in South Sudan.

Meet Nyakhat

She is three years old.  Yes, that is a tiny three years old.  She’s not much more than a baby, yet she led her blind father for four hours to find a UNICEF relief centre to find food.

She’s my heroine of the year.

southsudan

In the South Sudan, there are around 50,000 children at risk.  Think about that.  I know how I would feel if I were facing the prospect of not being able to put a hot meal on the table for my boys.  Or actually, any meal at all.  It must be devastating for the parents, the children and the whole extended families.

Around three million children in the South Sudan have faced need of humanitarian assistance.  That’s over half of all the people who live in Scotland alone.  They struggle with basic needs as a result of decades of civil war.

550,000 children have been displaced.  That means they are living in the open, just as the rainy season begins.  Cholera has begun to break out and parents must be at their wits end.  It really brings home how lucky we are in the Western world, with our basic need for food and shelter met.

Displaced Women

The civil war has meant that South Sudan’s agriculture has not able to flourish.   Crops are not being planted and food is becoming more and more scarce.

I found it frightening that UNICEF reported on the possibility of 4 million people starving by the end of the year, and 50,000 children likely to die.

What is UNICEF Doing?

UNICEF is in South Sudan, working to help the children with care and resources to survive.  Along with their partners, they have screened more than 60,000 children against malnutrition and immunised more than 260,000 against measles.

UNICEF would like to give hygiene kits and safe water for cooking and drinking, for 450,000 people.  It’s an ambitious target and one that needs help to succeed.  How much value do we place on our own ability to have freedom to play and find the families they have often been separated from?  I don’t know how anyone can put a value on that.

Feel free to give whatever you can.

  • Australia
  • UK

£8 could give an emergency water kit for a family.

Just £5 could help give life-saving food for a child for a week.

I am grateful for just how lucky we are as a family.

 

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Scottish Independence Is Dead – For Now!

1.30am

As I start to write this, I have no clue what the result of the Scottish Independence vote will be.  To be honest, I don’t think it really matters, even though it will be history in about seven hours or so.

As an exercise in dividing the nations, it’s done a sterling job.  Many Scots have divided from the English, and the yes and the no from each country is divided against each other.

It wasn’t about Salmond, and it wasn’t about Cameron.  It ‘s a vote for Westminster or the Scottish Parliament, but that message didn’t get through.  I found the TV coverage pitiful and biased, but hey ho, I can’t influence that.

I have to admit, I had a wee bit of a wobble at the polling station, but the cross went in the yes box.  It’s the hope you see.  I’m a glass half full sort.  Our NHS seems to be reducing, we have food banks, elderly people without care support, disabled forced out of their homes, unfair bedroom tax and lots more.  I can’t blame people for wanting to give it a go themselves.

Although my parents generation are more in tune with the union, it was because they had historical industries where they felt proud to be British.  With little of those industries or trade unions left, the younger people in our country are not seeing that meshing of populations, or meshing of ideals, goals or thinking, but there are enough of the elders around to make the final decision.

Actually, the young have been raised on a diet of banking scandals and unfair distribution of wealth, which always seems to favour the already wealthy.  The elders should win this vote, but in another thirty years time, it could be very different.

5am

  • The vote is in and we bottled it as a nation.
  • Fear won over hope.  That’s pretty understandable, given that people tend to be resistant to change.  They almost always resist change in the workplace, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that they resisted it for life.
  • The onus is now on Better Together and the no voters to PROVE their positioning.  But then again, it makes no difference to us, because we can’t do anything about it, even if they give all our money to the man on the moon.

The one thing I have to hope for, is that whether we are independent or not, the damage between the populations can be fixed, and we can carry on living and working together as close neighbours and friends.

The decision is made, though I think it will only fuel further divisions among the populations of the UK.

I really hope not.

We all need to kiss and make up  now, while we watch Government either fulfil or renege on their promise of more devolution for all of us, not just Scotland.

 

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Taking Care of our FEET

Did you know there are 26 bones and more than a hundred muscles, tendons and ligaments in our feet?   Don’t forget the 33 joints that hold them all together.

This picture isn’t my feet, but look at them, and consider just how much work they do each and every day of our lives.

Feet

Each one of those bones, tendons and joints can cause us problems if we ignore our feet totally.

Our feet have to support our bodies, so problems with our feet can very quickly make life very difficult for us in our daily walking.  It can also affect how our knees, hips and back feel.

Looking after our feet is something that we should all pay more attention to.  It’s far too easy to ignore them as they spend most of the year hidden away from view in socks, tights or enclosed shoes, especially up here in Scotland, as we don’t often have foot revealing weather to enjoy.

What can we do to look after our feet?

Washing

It’s not enough just to wash them when you have a bath or shower, unless you have one every morning and night.

Wash them daily.  Washing our feet at night can remove any build up of grime that can cause them to be infected.

Wash them with soap and water.  Soap and tepid water will help remove the grime that can irritate our feet.

After Washing – Comes Drying

Do you skim over the areas between your toes?  Make sure you dry your feet properly, as the skin can easily become irritated.

Athlete’s Foot is a common condition that can very easily take hold if feet are not properly dried.

Cut Toenails Regularly

Cutting your nails straight across at the top can help reduce the risk of ingrown toenails, which often start when toenails cut at an angle push into the skin.

Socks and Tights

Change your socks or tights daily, to ensure you have clean clothes next to your clean feet and keep foot odour to a minimum.

Swimming Pools and Changing Areas

The potential for athlete’s foot and verrucas increases when you are using public showers and changing rooms.  Keep a spare pair of jelly sandals or fitflops for walking around in areas where there are public shared areas.

Remove Hard Skin

The hard skin that tends to look white when it’s dry on our heels or big toes can be removed with a pumice stone or foot file.

High Heels

Wear them as infrequently as possible.  If you are going out for a special occasion, think about wearing sensible shoes to get there and get home again, which keeps the wearing of high heels at a minimum.  Sadly, after plantar fascitis that persisted for over 2 years, I can no longer wear high heels unless they are spongy crepe soles, but I wish I had not worn heels so much when I was younger.

Common Foot Conditions

Foot pain isn’t something that anyone should ignore.  It is a common problem and as there are so many potential causes of pain, even from something as simple as an ingrown toenail, it’s important that you see your GP for pain or discomfort.

There are some things we can do to help ourselves for the most obvious possible problems.

Shoes

Take a long and hard look at your shoes.  Do they fit properly?  Is there enough space for your toes?  Is there enough support where you need it?  I spend most of my life wearing FitFlop shoes nowadays as I can walk for miles in them, but spare a thought for me when I had plantar fascitis and the only shoe option I had for day to day wear was a pair of Crocs.

Sprains

It’s possible that muscles or ligaments have been strained.  We often speak about going “over our ankle,” if we stretch or slip.  It can be by accident, or by doing more exercise than our bodies are used to, and the muscles or ligaments are stretched or twisted.

Gout

The condition that is often giggled about, but is no laughing matter for those who suffer from it.  We associate it with living life to excess with rich food and drink, but how true is that?

Gout is essentially a form of arthritis.   Waste Uric Acid builds up in the form of crystals and usually forms in the toes.  The toes become inflamed to the point of causing pain, which can be severe.

Verrucas

One of my kids and I suffer from these regularly.  They are usually small wart like growths on the soles of our feet and they can be painful if they are on pressure points where our feet take the weight of our bodies.

I’ve found verrucas most painful in my heels and the ball of either foot, simply due to the pressure put on those spots.  I’ve tried shop bought and prescribed verucca creams, patches and ointments, as well as the chemist bought freeze sprays, but nothing gets rid of mine until I visit the GP and she uses her stronger freeze spray a couple of times.

Bunions

These are swellings at the bottom of our big toes that can be very painful to walk on.   The big toe begins to point towards the other toes and makes the big toe joint protrude into a bony lump.  One famous fashion designer who wears very high and pointy shoes seems to have a very painful looking bunion on her small feet.

Being careful about wearing inappropriate shoes might help with the pain.  I am ever grateful I don’t suffer from bunions as they look so very painful.

Plantar Fascitis

This is a foot condition I have had the misfortune to suffer from.  It is damage to the tissue that runs along the sole of the foot.  It causes pain in the heel and can be as a result of wearing down the foot tissues by exercise or strenuous activities involving the feet.

It took two years for my plantar fascitis to be relieved.  Mornings were incredible painful when I placed my foot onto the floor for the first time that day and standing up from any rest period was excruciating.