This is a very timely topic! Thank you for all the suggestions. Just on Tuesday of this week, I had a cortizone shot in my foot for plantar faciitis (very painful, but the faciitis has been acting up for 4 months), and oral meds make me retain fluids and swell up like a balloon. I hope to be able to try a pair of the z-coils that Phyllis nm recommended very soon. I have a short-arm machine, and haven't been able to do any short-arming since Nov., except for a few minutes at a time here and there, because of the pain in my foot.