By Karen Denice
CNN Senior Medical Producer

Another day, another training walk and my feet are feeling the pain. I’m training for a half-marathon walk and even though I know walking is good for my health, I also figured it would be pretty easy on my body. However, I did not check in with my feet before making this assumption. Granted I like to call my feet “special”: I overpronate, have flat arches and bunions – special.

Still, walking with good shoes and, for me, shoe inserts should normally do the trick. But the foot is a complicated specimen with 26 bones, 33 joints and over 100 ligaments, tendons and muscles. The list is long as to what can cause foot pain - from plantar fasciitis and tendinitis to toenail injuries - and experts warn not to put up with foot pain – see a health professional.

But first you may want to try these tips to see if they cure the hurt. Wear socks that wick away moisture to reduce blisters. Always stretch legs and feet before activity and try to make stretching at the end of your day a habit as well. Also, consider the terrain you’re walking on – choose trails rather than pavement. This should cut down on stress to your joints which can lead to arch and heel pain. Avoid walking barefoot. Experts say this can leave your feet more susceptible to injury and infection.

I’ve tried nearly all of the above tips, and will probably be heading to a foot specialist myself if this discomfort continues.
Do you have foot pain when you walk? What do you do to cure the ache? We want to hear from you.

Editor's Note: Medical news is a popular but sensitive subject rooted in science. We receive many comments on this blog each day; not all are posted. Our hope is that much will be learned from the sharing of useful information and personal experiences based on the medical and health topics of the blog. We encourage you to focus your comments on those medical and health topics and we appreciate your input. Thank you for your participation.

By Dr. Sanjay Gupta
CNN Chief Medical Correspondent

Every year in the United States, there are around 200,000 ACL injuries a year. As you might guess, they are most common in soccer, football and basketball. So, when you heard about Tiger Woods golf injury, you may have been a little surprised. In fact, he has had four knee operations since 1994, with the most serious one being on June 24th of this year. As you watch this video, pay close attention to the left knee and the amount of torque that is placed on it. There is a pivot like motion that orthopedic surgeons seem to believe caused the problem.

The operation itself is a fairly straightforward one but now the name of Tiger’s game is rehab.

Woods tell us in his blog that he is more mobile than a month ago, and that he spends most of his rehab time riding a stationary bike. It sounds like he would look a lot different as well. He says he has lost 10 pounds of muscle and is mainly eating a raw and organic diet. The kicker is that he is not even planning on swinging a golf club until next year. That’s quite a change of lifestyle for someone who has played golf for almost his whole life.

When Tiger does come back, he may have a different swing than the one he has now. He may not be able to generate the same amount of force and may not have the same pivot that we are so accustomed to seeing. If you had to assign a number to it, between 82 -95% of athletes do make a recovery. (watch my report)

Have you ever had knee surgery, arthroscopic or a ligament repair? What was the most challenging part of rehabilitation? Did you ever get back to full function?

Editor's Note: Medical news is a popular but sensitive subject rooted in science. We receive many comments on this blog each day; not all are posted. Our hope is that much will be learned from the sharing of useful information and personal experiences based on the medical and health topics of the blog. We encourage you to focus your comments on those medical and health topics and we appreciate your input. Thank you for your participation.

by Dr. Sanjay Gupta
Chief Medical Correspondent

Tiger Woods had arthroscopic knee surgery yesterday. You may be surprised to know that it was his third operation on his left knee. The first was done in 1994 for a benign tumor and the second was done in 2002, to remove a cyst and drain fluid from around one of his ligaments. Yesterday's surgery was to correct cartilage damage. Now Tiger will undergo a few weeks of rehabilitation and stay off the golf course for 4 – 6 weeks, according to his website.

Couple of things I learned that I wanted to share. First, watch this video of Tiger's swing.  (Watch Video)  Tiger Woods is a right handed golfer and as a result, he places a lot of pressure on his left knee. He has a particularly aggressive move through the swing and the left knee absorbs a lot of that strain. So, even at the young age of 32, Woods has already had significant wear and tear on his knees.

The second thing I saw was a study from the New England Journal of Medicine.  I have attached it here if you want to read it (See Study), but let me summarize. They had three groups of patients under the age of 75, who all had knee pain and osteoarthritis. One group received arthroscopic removal of cartilage, another group had arthroscopic surgery where the knee joint was flushed with an irrigation fluid and the third group simply had incisions on their knee with no actual operation. Here is the amazing thing: the groups who had surgery did no better or worse than those who did not.

I was wondering what you thought of this study. Is this a "placebo" effect or do you think the operations were just not as effective as once thought?..

Editor’s Note: Medical news is a popular but sensitive subject rooted in science. We receive many comments on this blog each day; not all are posted. Our hope is that much will be learned from the sharing of useful information and personal experiences based on the medical and health topics of the blog. We encourage you to focus your comments on those medical and health topics and we appreciate your input. Thank you for your participation.