Plantar fasciitis in BOTH feet???

AngInCanada

Ok I'll make my admission first that I have ignored the pain and kept running through it. I generally run 2 or 3 times a week and have for months.

The pain has just started in my other foot so it's not fun at all. My foot almost feels like a really bad bruise and sometimes feels like something stabbing through my heel. The pain has been there for a few months. I saw a chiropractor who told me that it's not plantar fasciitis but that I have tight hamstrings which in turn were causing nerve pain in my heels. I was doing the stretches religiously with no relief. I've been trying to find a solution to the pain but its not working and I'll need to go see the doctor.

The strange thing is, when I run I have ZERO pain at all. I only feel the intense sharp pain when I take my shoes off and the pressure from my shoe is released. It doesn't make sense to me. We have a gravel driveway and I walk in sandals. I can be walking fine and then a rock presses into my sandal at an odd angle at the heel area and the pain is so intense I can barely talk. Literally feels like a knife being stabbed into my foot.

When I wake up in the morning the pain is quite intense but it levels off once I get up and moving around. I've done heat, I've done frozen water bottles. I've tried rest. Only thing I haven't done is got a new pair of shoes. I did get a pair a couple of months ago but they weren't my asics that I normally get. I just can't afford a new pair right now unfortunately.

Does this sound like plantar fasciitis?

aaliceinw

Go to see a physiotherapist or a podiatrist. I've wasted a lot of money because I didn't want to go and see mine. I've just spent a full week at home away from work with my moon boot back on and it looks like I may have to spend another week off. I was told that a soft tissue injury takes 6 weeks minimum to heal because when the pain stops, the tissue is still swollen but we tend to ignore it.

The longer you leave it, the more damage you are doing to yourself.

Chieflrg

PF can come from tight calfs not hamstrings.

It could be PF or heel spurs from what I'm reading. Both symptoms can and usually go away with 90% of the people that endure them as long as you address the problem. They both are treated relatively the same.

Stretching is one part of the equation and should be done 3-4 times a day especially the time of day it hurts most(usually morning) It will hurt like hell at first, but will be much easier as the days go on. Do this for 10 minutes, its will seem long, but well worth it

One stretching exercise would to face a wall and be press your toes of one foot against the wall while keeping heel down and stretching the plantar tendon. There are other versions of this you can do while sitting where you stretch the toes back and heel away from calf.

Another would to be rolling your foot by placing a baker's roller or baseball bat on the floor.

Cross massaging the scar tissue to loosen them from the muscles on the bottom of your feet.

Icing the area.

NSAIDS will help with the pain and swelling, but it isn't something I recommend for all day or a long period of time. More of a temporary thing just to help with the initial pain of rehabbing.

One of the best things you can buy that will definitely help at least some and speed the process along is KT Tape. I'm not a big endorser of anything 99% of the time and I'm in extreme pain 24/7 due to health issues, but it will work wonders.

If you don't get relief from it there are cortisone shots that may take several of them to help in the most stubbor and severe cases.

Goodluck.

GiddyupTim

That intense pain with the first steps of the morning is a classic symptom of plantar fasciitis.
Get arch-support insoles for your running shoes. (The ones that come with the shoes are almost never good enough. If they were, your problem would be resolving a bit.) The brand called Superfeet are best, I think. A running shoe store can help you.
Here is a page that describes a great stretch.
https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/ortho/foot-ankle/_documents/plantarfasciitisteachingsheet.pdf

bunsen_honeydew

tufel wrote: »

That intense pain with the first steps of the morning is a classic symptom of plantar fasciitis.
Get arch-support insoles for your running shoes. (The ones that come with the shoes are almost never good enough. If they were, your problem would be resolving a bit.) The brand called Superfeet are best, I think. A running shoe store can help you.
Here is a page that describes a great stretch.
https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/ortho/foot-ankle/_documents/plantarfasciitisteachingsheet.pdf

Yes, this.

I took about a year to fully recover from it. Religiously using inserts in all my shoes, rolling on a golf ball and lots of stretches. At the worst, I was taking the max dose of ibuprofen every day for about 2 weeks (doctor said to do so) and avoided walking at al until it got a bit better

terrasdiet123

I had it and the best remedy I found after seeing a podiatrist ...was stretching. I stretched all day and bought balls with ridges that you rub under your feet to help with stretches. I also wore night splints to help as well. In addition I received cortisone shots and custom inserts. However, a good insert is best in any shoe even new ones if indeed you are struggling with plantar fascia. You can look online how to do the stretches but basically you stretch like a calf stretch and circling your feet helps. Buying news won't really fix the core issue. I would try the stretches, buy the night splints at Walgreen's and buy some good inserts and see if you improve. It took me about six months to get rid of the daily pain. I had it in both feet from teaching zumba. Hope this helps.

bunsen_honeydew

I developed it from wearing flat shoes (ballet flats) with no arch support.

Numberwang22

Shoe inserts didn't work at all for me, just replaced trainers with aisics motion control ones and got better quite quickly. I can't really walk miles in totally flat shoes without the odd niggle but otherwise ok.

Edited to add I had it in both feet too and completely understand your pain!! Mornings were a complete nightmare!

wizzybeth

Inserts didn't work for me either. The only things that worked were:

Wearing night splints on both feet every night and also a little during the day if I was resting for a period of time.

Wearing Crocs shoes 99% of the time...either the traditional Crocs clogs...or a couple other varieties of Crocs like the ones that looked like Keds sneakers.

Seriously. ..only thing that worked for me. I still wear Crocs shoes a lot of the time ...even branched out to wedge sandals....and i always wear the flats or clogs in the house as slippers. If I wear another type of shoe all day long my feet start to hurt. I wear sneakers only for exercise .