Has anyone else dealt with plantar fasciitis?

PapillonNoire

How long was it before you recovered and/or how long before you could do your normal exercise routine again?

My left foot started having pain last Friday and got exponentially worse over the weekend. By Monday I couldn't walk without crutches. I saw my doctor on Tuesday who diagnosed it as plantar fasciitis. I bought new sneakers, insoles, and a night splint and have been doing the suggested stretches. I go to PT next week. It's improved a bit from where I was- I can tolerate walking enough in small doses to at least get through a grocery shopping trip and other basic daily functions. But I used to get 20k steps a day on average, so I'm going a little crazy having to be off my feet so much. Just curious what other people's experiences were and any advice or tips. Thanks in advance!

Lietchi

Well, I would say to not force it. If you don't rest, it will take a lot longer to heal! I think it took 6 months for me, but I didn't use splints and had no PT, and I had it in both feet so very difficult to recover properly (especially since I refused to truly rest).

4legsRbetterthan2

I have low grade pain, it gets much worse when I am distance running, but still nothing like you are describing. For me, arch support in my daily shoes, wearing supportive shoes around the house (I have lots of hard floors in my house), regularly rolling my feet, and regularly stretching my calves make a big difference.

springlering62

Mine troubled me off and on for months. I honestly thought I had a peice of broken glass lodged under the skin and couldn’t figure out how it got there, til I had it looked at.

I got an ankle high compression sock. OMG. Overnight relief and within a week all pain was gone.

Try one of the lattice looking black and white or all black ones. The cottony ones that look like regular socks with colored heels don’t have the compression.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=plantar+fascitis+compression+sock&ref=nb_sb_noss

PapillonNoire

springlering62 wrote: »

Mine troubled me off and on for months. I honestly thought I had a peice of broken glass lodged under the skin and couldn’t figure out how it got there, til I had it looked at.

I got an ankle high compression sock. OMG. Overnight relief and within a week all pain was gone.

Try one of the lattice looking black and white or all black ones. The cottony ones that look like regular socks with colored heels don’t have the compression.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=plantar+fascitis+compression+sock&ref=nb_sb_noss

Thank you- I'll definitely try those!

Lynatea

I used the soup can and rolled it under my foot when it acted up, however since I've dropped 45 pounds it hasn't bothered me in almost a year. It can be excruciating pain and miserable to walk on. I hope recover you quickly.

Xiaolongbao

Mine bothered me for about 2 years (sometimes worse than others) but it did eventually disappear. In my case I wasn’t overweight when I got it so it wasn’t something I could lose weight to help with.

I didn’t find anything that consistently helped although somethings (like rolling) seemed to help at times.

nooshi713

If it is just inflammation and not a major tear you may heal in a month or two. Some tears of plantar fascia can take 6 months to heal. Definitely wear a cushioned insole and shoe with good arch support. You really do have to rest your feet by walking less. I also recommend Ibuprofen 2-3 times daily. If you can, gently roll your arch on a cold bottle or can a few times a day.

I have dealt with this in the past off and on for years. It was most severe 10 years ago after walking too much on a trip to NYC. I had to stop wearing flat sandals and flip flop type shoes with no arch support. It took me months to fully recover. Once I started wearing the right shoes, I haven’t had many problems the last several years. I recommend wearing a supportive shoe at home too, especially on hard floors.

snowflake954

I had it bad years ago--I was thinner and younger, so not overweight. I had pain for over a year and saw a doctor for it . He sad to take ibuprofen 4 times a day for 2 weeks and that it would take awhile to heal. A friend of mine (husband a doctor, she a nurse) told me to do stretching exercises before getting out of bed--toes pointed, count to 10, toes turned back, count to 10 (repeat 10 times). I started doing these stretches 4 times a day and got better fast. I have kept them up as a precaution at least 3 times a week when I do my stretches and yoga. I'm 65 now and don't want it back. I also noticed that every year when I switched to flat summer sandles, it started to come back. Shoes and support make all the difference. I now buy sandles with an arch support (usually Sketchers) and the same with walking and exercise shoes. No problems for years.

Diatonic12

I learned how to tape my feet. Did that for almost a year. It's gone with the wind now.

HeidiCooksSupper

I've dealt with plantar fasciitis for years. I put arch support in everything that doesn't have it, even slippers and pool shoes, and only wear shoes with good arch support. I buy inserts from https://www.theinsolestore.com/

Sadly, you will probably need to kiss cheap shoes goodbye. You don't need to pay list price, however. Once you figure out which shoes work for you do aggressive online shopping to find good shoes that work for you cheap. For example, walking shoes from Earth Shoes do well for me. I watched their sales and got a $100 walking shoe for $40.

Rigid arches work for me. My feet are flat like a duck but I still got plantar fasciitis and need to wear shoes with effective arch support. Work on finding the orthotics or shoes that work for you. For me, I wear Sanita Professionals (clogs). Other brands that work for me are Dansko, Earth, and Mephisto but only styles with rigid arch support. I find cork inserts from Berkinstock works well for me even though I can't wear their sandals. You will need to figure out what works for you.

Don't expect this to go away fast or permanently. The pain, however, does go away if you are careful about what shoes you wear and are aware when you're feet start to act up because you haven't been diligent about arch support. Going barefoot is my guilty pleasure that stresses my fascia. Sigh.

jwcannon70

My experience isn't as bad as yours. What helped me is that I would freeze a bottled water. Then at night while watching television I would use the frozen water and roll it under my foot. That helped me immensely.

Awesomizer06

You need rest for a period of time. During this time you need to wear proper shoes, plantar fasciitis exercises and plantar fasciitis messages.
Give it time!

scarlett_k

It can take a long time but it will get better given a bit of tlc. Avoid walking or running on hard surfaces. Always wear footwear if you're on your feet, from when you get up to when you go to sleep. Losing excess weight can help too.

heybales

A year.

1 year to recover after many many years of almost allowing it but then doing too much and getting a setback.

A month off was never a enough, gently started up again was never enough.

Finally got custom inserts in all shoes worn so the tendon didn't have to provide any support and continue to wear and tear.
Like any tendon with problems, it needs time to heal while not being used. If it's used it takes longer. Being in the foot, it's being used to some degree.

1 from podiatrists, 2 much more cheaper ones from online doing my own imprint and thin carbon, another from local running store much cheaper.

I could keep biking with the stiff bike shoes with insert, no standing. I could walk with inserts. After 6 months I could backpack during winter with them.

After about 9 months I could start jog/walk intervals, leading into barefoot walking around house as much as possible to start strengthening back up, leading to removing any inserts from truly flexible shoes that moved with the foot (kept in rigid ones).

At 1 year had started to barefoot jog/walk and kept that up until 20 min barefoot jogging - super strong foot system.
Had to stop due to aggravating unequal leg length issue that required shoe insert.

I'll still put an insert into rigid shoes that don't allow the foot to work the way it is meant to, but anything flexible enough arch doesn't matter.

durhammfp

Definitely, a good physical therapist is worth her weight in gold. When you go to that first appointment ask her if eccentric heel drops might help. They have worked wonders for me.

https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/09/15/heel-pain-treatment/

heybales

durhammfp wrote: »

Definitely, a good physical therapist is worth her weight in gold. When you go to that first appointment ask her if eccentric heel drops might help. They have worked wonders for me.

https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/09/15/heel-pain-treatment/

That is a good protocol for Achilles tendon issues, actually about the only studied protocol to have good results.

But where the tendons attach mean it doesn't involve the plantar. Achilles attaches at heel.

Any benefit to the plantar could probably be improved with something specific to it.
Which low blood flow and slow repair and misaligned fibers all apply the same.

LloydGK

My wife found this video from physical therapist (among other things) Jeff Cavalier at Athlean X to be the only thing that has worked for her - https://youtu.be/72p58Iy6u7M.
It addresses the cause of the problem and not just the symptoms. Interesting too.

PapillonNoire

Thank you everyone- this is all so helpful!

GummiMundi

LloydGK wrote: »

My wife found this video from physical therapist (among other things) Jeff Cavalier at Athlean X to be the only thing that has worked for her

It addresses the cause of the problem and not just the symptoms. Interesting too.

Very interesting, thanks for sharing it! I'm going to try the advice he gives.

MelG7777

I had it once quite a few years ago. Got orthotics and it got better. A few years later I got it in my other foot. I had it from Jan-Aug. It was awful. It was before I lost weight and got in shape. I took ibuprofen every day almost. New orthotics. Massaging. Stretching. I was considering some alternative treatments/injections. Anything. I stumbled upon this video and share it with everyone when we talk about PF. I can only attribute it to this because it helped pretty much immediately. I don’t personally believe in orthotics anymore. Not for me and this issue anyway. Good luck!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GQhtavGoL6A

AlexandraFindsHerself1971

I have had it for years, and accept it as one more chronic condition to manage.

What everyone said above about cushioned shoes and don't walk barefoot on hardwood floors. I also have a night brace that I wear to keep the foot flexed while I sleep. I also find that keeping my hamstrings and calves stretched helps prevent a flareup.

I will say that last time I was on my feet a lot my plantar fasciitis didn't flare, but I did wind up with a stress fracture in a metatarsal instead. (wry grin)

age_is_just_a_number

My husband has it. He finally went to a physio therapist and she had it pretty well reversed in 6 weeks.

springlering62

Awesomizer06 wrote: »

You need ... plantar fasciitis messages.
Give it time!

I know your meant “massage” but for a brilliant fleeting yogic moment I had this mental image of talking to my foot during shivasana,”go away plantar fasciitis (breath deeply) sending love and relaxation to that spot (breath deeply) dammit, why won’t you go away!!!!”

It worked once for some ache or other, but I’ve never been able to recapture the magic. Probably because there’s too many achy nooks and crannies these days. The message can’t get past the one to reach the others. 😢

AliNouveau

Physio helped mine heal quickly. Also the rolling of it worked a treat, stretching too. Having shoes that are good help for sure. I got just a simple tensor wrap from the drugstore that had a bit of an arch support in it. That helped a lot too

allmannerofthings

custom orthotics will help tremendously and also prevent it from happening again

tmbg1

Over the course of about 3 months I got cortisone shots, did daily stretches, and got a custom orthotic. The pain slowly went away. Now I still stretch daily and wear the orthotic for my walks.

PapillonNoire

tgillies003 wrote: »

My husband has it. He finally went to a physio therapist and she had it pretty well reversed in 6 weeks.

That's good to hear! I saw a PT yesterday and she seemed optimistic I could be exercising normally again in 6 weeks. I'll be going twice a week for two weeks and once a week for the following four weeks. The new sneakers, insoles, and compression socks I bought all seem to be helping as well.