For weeks, she felt nauseous every time she tried to walk.
As an athlete, Jessica Savona was used to injuries. She’d had shin splints, torn her ACL multiple times and suffered from plantar fasciitis for years. So when she first tore a ligament in her ankle last December, she thought she could tough it out.
But every day, the swelling got worse.
And then: “I would wake up, and I wouldn’t be able to put pressure on my foot,” she remembers. “There was no movement that wouldn’t put pain on my body.”
For Savona—a senior on LSU’s record-breaking 2016 women’s gymnastics team—not being able to walk was kind of a problem. The injury kept the 21-year-old out of her floor routines for four weeks.
She finally made a triumphant return against Auburn, stunning judges and earning a career high 9.950 score on the floor routine. Today, the recent college grad is doing much better.
She had a little help. Throughout her recovery, Savona wore the The Healing Sole flip-flop, a shoe designed here in Baton Rouge to ease foot pain. Savona wore the flip-flop after workouts and competitions, and she says it always made her feel better.
The footwear was released last year by local orthopedic surgeon Dr. Meredith Warner.
“Generally speaking, flip-flops are super flimsy, and your toes are always gripping them to hold onto your feet,” Warner says. “I had patient after patient come in and say, ‘My doctor told me I can’t wear flip flops, and that’s really just what I want to wear.’ So I thought, what if I turn it around and make the problem the treatment? Somehow, I really kind of knew it was going to work.”
And work it does. Warner’s brilliant design takes every negative component of a flip-flop and, well, flips it, offering comfort and support instead.
Stretchy, neoprene straps keep the flip-flop on securely. A raised arch support reduces the stress that shoes can sometimes place on the feet.
The flip-flop is designed to be firm on the outer portion of the heel and more flexible on the inner portion, reducing pressure in the spot where many of Warner’s patients feel their worst pain. A thick, “rocker bottom” sole relieves stress on the joints, and a raised toe lift strengthens the foot’s arch.
To get the best results, Warner suggests patients wear the shoe for a few hours each day, usually when they first get up in the morning, are doing chores around the home or following a workout. Eventually, she wants to translate The Healing Sole’s science to make a work boot for teachers, nurses and people who are on their feet all day.
Savona admits that between her torn ligament and plantar fasciitis, she was skeptical that any shoe could help her pain. She figured she had nothing to lose, though, so she tried it. She noticed an immediate improvement in her ankle and arch pain, and her calves weren’t as tight.
One in 10 people will suffer from heel pain in their lifetime, Warner says. Plantar fasciitis is one of the most common causes of heel pain, with more than 3 million U.S. cases per year, and it’s also one of the most painful. The condition causes inflammation in the plantar fascia tissue on the bottom of the foot.
“It literally feels like you’re standing on a rock or stone that’s jamming up into your foot,” Warner says.
The degenerative condition can affect any gender, race, age or weight. Athletes, non-athletes, people who run a lot and people who don’t—they’re all susceptible.
Pain can last anywhere from
18-24 months, and though there are treatments, patients still often find themselves waiting for the condition to get better on its own.
“The human body is remarkable. If you give it a chance, it will heal itself,” Warner says. “But I just never felt like treatments were that great. You’ve got to get expensive injections, surgery that cuts one of the most important parts of the foot, physical therapy. You’re asking people to come up with $90 to $400 a week for PT.”
In the grand scheme of things, the flip-flop’s $124 price tag seems fair.
Foot pain is typically worst in the mornings, making it literally hard to get out of bed.
For Warner’s patient Kyleen Kiger-Smith, it was so bad that she couldn’t even get out of bed to go the bathroom without doing a series of stretches and massages to her foot first.
“It’s like having a little man with a little knife digging into one spot on your feet, and it never stops,” the 46-year-old says of the pain.
Kiger-Smith is the owner of Fairy Dust Cakes in Denham Springs, and during wedding season she works long hours on her feet all day.
She suffers from pinched nerves, plantar fasciitis and small fiber neuropathy in both feet. Most people with small fiber neuropathy live on painkillers, she says.
But she doesn’t have to, and she credits that largely to Warner. She’s been wearing The Healing Sole flip-flop since November.
“I would not be walking if I had not met her,” she says. “It’s just amazing that just a little bit of foam can just change how you feel throughout the day.”
Savona also remembers how the flip-flop helped her feel better on her worst days.
“It was a relief to put it on,” she says. “It kind of felt like walking on a cloud.”
Find The Healing Sole
The flip-flop is sold at several stores around Baton Rouge, including Fleet Feet Sports and Flip Flop Shops. Find more info and a full list of locations at thehealingsole.com.
