Plantar Fasciitis.... tips?

MelAb8709

I went to a podiatrist for mine. What helped was:

ice/warm bath - fill one bucket with ice water (so cold that you want to cry) and one with warm water. stick your foot in the ice for 2 minutes, then into the warm water for 1, then repeat a total of 3x. Do this a couple times a day if you can.

If you're resting, ice

Before you stand up or get up after sitting or laying down a while, stretch your foot by flexing calf and toes up, rolling your ankle in both directions to loosen it up

Do the exercises someone else posted above

Never go barefoot (I wear these Under Armour slides around the house https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LHAR7NA/ref=twister_B0156VWA14)

Check out Vionic shoes

I also had a pair of orthodics made for my athletic shoes

deannalfisher

in addition to what others have mentioned - look around and see if you can find a physical therapist/physio who specializes in the graston; or a massage therapist who does myofascial release therapy - between the two of them, as well as lots of stretches (focusing on calves and feet) - my PF is manageable

Kadoober

I had it for a couple of years.
I never get out of bed before stretching my calves, I don't even think about it anymore, it helps tons.
Rolling my feet over a tennis ball or a frozen water bottle provided some relief.
The thing that I think helped the most though, and that has kept it from coming back is shoes. It pains me to say this, you have no idea how much, but I NEVER go barefoot anymore. I've got a couple of pairs of crocs for around the house, and it made a massive difference for me.

jefamer2017

What has helped me is not wearing the same pair of shoes 2 days in a row. I wear a different pair nearly every day. I swear by this now. I did the stretches and used rollers and they helped a lot but it would come back. I haven't had foot pain in 3 months now. Of course you should always seek the advice of a medical professional. I also suggest getting a proper fitting there are some shoe stores that will do more than just measure your feet. Best of luck.

april522

I'm glad I came across this thread. I too suffer from plantar fasciitis (ongoing for 8 months now), and it can be so discouraging. I've never been held back from exercising the way I want to because of foot issues. Mine doesn't hurt when I do Zumba, but I feel it the rest of the day. I'm going to do some of the tips recommended in this thread and see if it helps.

JBApplebee

Find a rehab place that does Active Release Therapy (ART). I had 2 cortisone shots & I have orthopedic inserts, but it got so bad that I ended up with hip & back problems from it. The only thing that worked was ART. They basically take a butter knife type instrument & they work on your feet to break up the scar tissue that causes the problem. After going through rehab for about 4-5 months, I was pain free. It was incredible. I've never been a runner, but I had been running on a treadmill & I actually ran a 10K race.

I cannot recommend Active Release Therapy strongly enough, you won't regret it.

dreamer12151

Everyone here has had some good advice! I would say to visit a good podiatrist and stay on top of it! Mine did ultrasound to "see" into it (Ultrasound-ist is a triathlete!) and I had the boot, ice packs, rest, stretches, oral meds, golf balls, cortisone shots, you name it.

Finally, after about 8 months, he told my there were no more options. He wasn't giving me any more shots or medications, as they just weren't working. Other than the daily things, surgery was the only other option open. Endoscopic Plantar Fasciotomy. He's been doing them for years (on people who qualified, of course!) and gave me all the information and plenty of time to think. A year 1/2 ago I finally decided to go for it....BEST decision ever! I had no idea how much in spasm I was in daily life until I was all healed up! I can walk from one point to the next, I can run, all with no pain.

Am I suggesting surgery is your option? Not at all. Just letting you know it is out there, and it can be a good thing if needed. If you stay on top of it NOW, and you might not get to this point.

neversaynever_43

I am not lying when I tell you that this massage on YouTube worked for me. I also am very careful about footwear these days. I had it for a year. Did this a few times and it was gone. Maybe it was a coincidence.

https://youtu.be/eW25-VqFqeI

como_agua

i had to tape my heels when i danced flamenco. *videos on youtube galore for the details!*it kept everything *tight*, and it also worked when i had to go to work where i'd be on my feet 8 hours a day, with proper running shoes and inserts. also if you go to an athletic supply store they can tell you the type of insert for your shoe you will need. i don't have problems anymore with it but definitely like most people say on this thread : when you're in lots of pain - no flipflops, proper shoes indoors all the time., etc! good luck

BeezBeez

cardio_enthusiast wrote: »

I had plantar fasciitis that only recently began to go away—it’s taken 1.5 years. Yikes! I tried it all; calf massage, stretching my foot, posterior and anterior night splint, ice, rolling my foot on tennis ball/ golf ball/ racquetball/ baseball.

Here’s what worked for me:

#1-tincture of time, followed closely by...
-not running for a period of time
-series of 3 cortisone injections
-never walking barefoot
-wearing hard soled slippers around the house
-using either prescription orthotics or good supportive inserts, like Superfeet
-not wearing flip flops, except Superfeet flip flops
-doing a lot of eccentric calf stretches

I really do wish you the best! It sounds like a lot of people have offered some great suggestions. Just try out a few things, and see what works best for yourself

Omg, I had no idea Superfeet made flip flops. Thank you so much for this! I've been dealing with this for around a year myself. The Superfeet inserts have really helped a lot, as well as replacing all my shoes with more supportive shoes (no more ballet flats, etc.). Also stretching. I think I'm probably going to have to get the shots to finally clear this up, but this list is pretty much what I've been doing. I've given up running in favor of rowing for the moment. I've put on quite a bit of weight since this started and couldn't figure out how to get back to exercising, so I'm grateful for the rowing machine.

Chris8122

Find a physical therapist or chiropractor that does “cupping” I had it done about 4 times and have been pain free for several years.

mohanj

Planter fasciitis related exercises helped me a lot. When my dad had it (91 year old), he bought new pair of shoes with lot of cushion support and it went away with in a few weeks. Diligent stretches and exercises, shoes with good cushion will all help. Hope you feel better soon.

shaumom

I had a podiatrist who sent to an amazing physical therapist, and this is what they did that worked for me - I don't wear inserts any more, pretty much go barefoot on hard floors most of the day, actually, as long as I keep my weight in check, so it really worked well, IMHO.

Same as many have said, first - rest, if possible, ice, anti-inflammatory meds.
- I, too, can't do NSAIDs. Instead, what I do now (if weigth goes up and it flares up), I looked up some anti-inflammatory foods and add them in large amounts to my diet. It ends up being mostly a lot of fresh herbs and some greens, and that does help some.

Also, they taped up my feet in a specific way that helped support the tissues in question (basically like a tape-based lift, pretty much) - this is close to the method - https://heelthatpain.com/plantar-fasciitis/plantar-fasciitis-taping/ My therapist, though, skipped the x part and didn't tape the heel. Basically tape around the side of the foot, the back, and up the other side - this is the support. Then tape the middle and pull it a little tight, from around the end of the ball of the foot to the beginning of the heel. The tightness of the tape mattered. Too loose, and you get no support, too tight and it was painful to the tissues and not good. You'll feelt it when it's right - it feels better to walk on. If you can get some wax, and wax over the tape to keep it on well, it can last a couple days.

Next, there were exercises, but I was cautioned to NOT start exercise until there was NO pain. Otherwise, you might as well be walking on your poor feet, because it just hurts them. Rolling with the tennis ball, or picking up pencils with toes was one. Stretching was a big thing too, but only if you are really tight along the back of your legs (I was, so this contributed to the plantar fasciitis - it's not helpful if you aren't tight there), like doing that stretch where you stand on a step and let your heels hang off the edge, going up on your toes, then down until heels are lower than the step you are standing on. Also calf stretches can help in that regard, too.

Diatonic12

I learned how to tape my feet, was diligent for months, when the weight went away the foot pain did, too. Took a long while, though.