Anyone know about Plantar Faciitis?

robynbjohnson

I had this a while ago and bought Birkenstock sandals and Alegria sandals. I think any of the heel lower balancing kind of sneakers are probably good too. When it is bad, don't walk or stand in bare feet as it will make it worse!

sthem5

I dealt with this for about 5 years off and on. It is very painful. I would echo the others in getting a good pair of shoes with great support. I practically Iive in tennis shoes with special made orthotics that you can move from shoe to shoe. DO NOT get a cortisone/steroid shot!! They break down your muscles and tendons and make things worse over time. It isn't worth the instant pain relief for more long term problems. I have had a night splint that really helped me too. (Got that at the ortho doc) It's kind of like a lightweight cast that keeps your toes in a slight stretch all night thus getting rid of the "First morning pain". It took about a month in that and that is when I felt the most improvement. My friend, who is a runner, also developed this and the orthopedic doctor taped the bottom of his foot. There are YOU Tube vids that show you how to do this. He swears it worked for him. NEVER stop stretching your feet even when it gets better. I also agree that ice, rolling your foot on a tennis ball or deep tissue massage and Aleve will help you through it. If all this fails, I have heard that a therapy called Prolotherapy will help this type of problem. You can look it up on the internet. It is a series of shots given 4-6 weeks in between time. It is all natural shots that create a controlled inflammation and tells your body that you are hurt there and it sends healing to the area. It is supposed to build up weak muscles and tendons too. I'm all for helping the body heal itself. I have had chronic tennis elbow for a year and I just started with my first set of injections yesterday. (13 shots in the area, but today it hasn't been very bad at all, just a little sore). Hope you find what works for you!

liveforfriday

I suffered with this for mmonths. it was getting worse every day so I did go to a foot doctor. She told me to stop wearing crocks (which I was wearing at work all day as I work in a hospital) and gave me some exercises to do. The best was to step on a stair and bend the heel down and stretch. Do it several times a day. It worked. Completely gone!!! No more pain. Hope this helps.

jfan175

Yes, it hurts!!!

The best thing for me was to wear shoes ALL the time. Even if I got up in the middle of night and walked to the bathroom I put shoes on.
Try advil and some ice for immediate relief and wear shoes!

I had a wicke case of PF, but I was just the opposite. I started doing everything barefoot, including working out. I rarely wear shoes around the house, and I just got a pair of Merrell Barefoot shoes to wear to work. My feet are completely pain free now, and have been for 9 months. Going barefoot strengthens all the little tendons and stabilizers in your feet that go unused when wearing shoes.

JustTracyB

All great advice above! I have battled PF for a couple years and found out last year I had heel spurs as well. I have more of an extreme case though. Do the stretches. See a foot doctor and get xrayed and go from there. Your doctor will guide you from there.
There's lots of different therapies. Shots, cortisone, other steroid type shots, ultra sound heat, electro (TENS), and in extremes cases surgery, but it doesn't usually end up this far. I had a visiciously long/sharp spur.

Dianak005

Thank You for all the suggestions. Just when I think it is starting to get better it gets bad again. I have now been getting very sore legs from the way I walk to avoid the pain. I am thinking I should maybe see a doctor just to make sure nothing else is going on. the doctor I saw was at an after hours clinic and I was there for another reason and just happened to ask him what he thought was wrong wtih my foot. So anyone know if its better to see a podiatrist or a chiropractor?

txlissa62

PODIATRIST. Definitely a podiatrist.

Elleinnz

Had this last year - very painfull - got some good quality arch support inserts for my shoes - huge relief to the point where I have not had issues since... they cost about $38 - but well worth the money!!

Elleinnz

Thank You for all the good suggestions. I never thought of Crocs! I have been trying to find a good pair of house slippers that dont make noise and wake everyone up when I get up in the night. I did notice that when I started stretching in the morning it is getting better. I am hoping to start working out harder and dont want to cause it to get worse. Im sure taking some weight off will help too.

Nooooo don't use Crocs! I went to the foot doctor when I had plantar fasciitis (sp?) and he said that was the WORST shoe for a condition like this because, while comfortable, they have no support. Find a good, supportive shoe, use inserts, do the stretches others have suggested. If it doesn't get better - see a doctor. I ended up getting a cortisone shot to help with the pain and inflammation and it really helped as well - hopefully stretches work before you head down that route!

^^^^ Totally agree - BIG No - no -no to Crocs - they are the shoes of the devil when it comes to foot issues!!

bikinibeliever

Doctor for sure. I speak from experience. I remember how bad it was, good luck to you.

dorothytd

See a foot specialist...

But also, rolling the foot on the frozen water bottle REALLY feels good.

beckyedelle

My husband went thru months of pain and two doctors. The exercise that he said gave him the most relief was: stand about a foot from a wall, feet spread slightly, palms on wall in front of you for stability, and then go up on your toes and hold for 10 seconds then foot flat on floor. Repeat 10 times several times a day. Also, freeze water in a soda bottle and roll it back and forth under your foot while watching tv. Doctor also suggested Brooks tennis shoes.

JustTracyB

Thank You for all the suggestions. Just when I think it is starting to get better it gets bad again. I have now been getting very sore legs from the way I walk to avoid the pain. I am thinking I should maybe see a doctor just to make sure nothing else is going on. the doctor I saw was at an after hours clinic and I was there for another reason and just happened to ask him what he thought was wrong wtih my foot. So anyone know if its better to see a podiatrist or a chiropractor?

BOTH! Your podiatrist will help you heal your foot and find a solution that works for you. You've been walking around funny and throwing everything else off. You need to have a chiro adjust your neck, back, hips....maybe knees and ankles from all the stress you put on them walking funny while trying to alleviate your pain. I know people have mixed reactions about chiropractors, but I've had nothing but great experiences with mine....he got me through chronic hip issues from my former line of work in retail. I survived pregnancy because of him, I have diminished migraines and general headaches. Now he's working in conjunction with my treatment at the foot doctor. :-)

jules1984

I am starting to heel (haha) from Plantar Faciitis after having a problem for about half a year. I also have a heel spur so that's no fun. I have two product recommendations:

- Profoot Plantar Fasciitis shoe inserts are amazing but I don't slip them into shoes with already high arches. They let me wear all my favorite shoes that were killing my feet before with flatness.

- Arch wraps - they are these little tight sleeve things to put around your foot. I probably wear them 12-18 hours a day. They sell them in drug stores they look like ace bandages and they are a CHEAP MIRACLE.

quiltlady77

I have had it in both feet, but not at the same time. The towel and ball did not work for me. I ended up at the podiatrist. Had several shots of cortisone with the first foot and ended up having prednisone which the only thing that worked. With the second foot the podiatrist (a different one), taped it and I did exercises and then he ordered custom orthotics. I wear these most of the time and have no more trouble. He did say, no barefoot or sandals though. Did not have cortisone for this second foot because I think I got on top of it in time. The first time I let it go for a long time before I went to the Dr. which made it so much harder to treat and cure. I have very high arches which probably doesn't help any. Good luck, I feel for you!

EvaD12

Hi

I've had this on and off for about a year as well, stretch your calves a lot! Get fitted with proper shoes.

Surprisingly running more helped me, it was the opposite of what the doctor advised but it really did help. I guess because I stretched more or something.

CHerbert

You can freeze a bottle of water and roll your foot on it. I had it long enought that I developed a heel spur. It took about 6 months of therapy, orthodics from the podiatrist, and foot massage before it finally cleared up.

Bobbr2

stretch, massage and a GOOD pair of shoes is about all you can do.

Chibea

I posted earlier that I had just gotten the splint. I didn't mention that my husband also has this in the right foot like me...strange coincidence..anyway, this splint is really helping both of us. We fight over it a bit I also like any sandals that make my toes grip the shoe. I think that curves the arch up a bit and takes the strain off. Flats are the absolute worst for me. I think I got this because my sandal Crocs- the ones that come up through the toes - finally broke after years of wearing them for hours every day and even on long walks. I think the different position of my arch in regular athletic shoes was just too fast a change for my feet.

hayley1973

Wow...so glad I have found you guys ... its nice to read up on posts about people suffering with the same as me! OK...I just want advice really, honest opinions etc! The internet scares me to death with the varied stories, they all differ so much! Basically I have never had this before and my first notice of it was only 1 week ago, I stupidly went on power walking as I didnt know what it was but after 5 days I gave it up completely, went to the doctors and got diagnosed with PF! So... I have been resting, icing, ibroprufen, volterol gel etc but no better! Yesterday I went to A&E as I simply couldnt walkj normal anymore, it was really getting me down, gaining weight in the last few days from eating through boredom and feeling down and worrying that I am not going to get fit like I had planned for the summer! Anyway, the nurse up there told me to take 1000mg paracetamol with 400mg ibroprufen and to totally change the shoes I was wearing to a different style! Came home, dosed up, iced/volterol gel and put some 2 inch wedge heels on... OMG the pain was 95% better and I was walking NORMAL!!! This morning I repeated the same as last night, its kinda burning very very slightly under the heel but other than that the dreaded "morningfoot" is so much better! I plan on a swim today and a large cut in my calorie intake too as the swim is all Im really pushing myself for today! the advice id like is...should I be doing these stretching exercises whilst I am actually sufferring a flare up? Im doing pointing and flexing and the dressing gown cord round the ball of foot and pulling towards me, is this ok? i know you guys cant actually see/xray my foot or any of that but going by "your symptoms" does mine sound like a mild case? I have no pains in my legs, just the dead centre of my under heel and a slight burning in that area and a tiny bit under the arch. I may be asking too much but what do you reckon for my recovery time? weeks? or months ;((( I have an appointment with a podiatrist on thursday, 90 minutes where she checks my gait, walk and lots more...she will make me orthotics too...is this a good move? I have a night splint on the way...I am just doing everything to get back to normal again but I will be so frightened to get back on my treadmill...lets hope I like the swim today!!! Please write back with ANY advice...would love to hear from people that did the swimming in replacement for running and got fitter than ever lol I need to keep positive!!!

natalie412

Mine sounds somewhat similar to yours - It started in November for me when I increased my running mileage (ran 100 miles that month). It is getting better now. I always stretch my foot before I get up. Also, the yoga position downward dog is a great stretch. The funny thing is it felt really good after an 11 mile run last weekend and this weekend!

I started taking Aleve (naproxen sodium) twice a day and that is helping with the inflammation. Doesn't seem any worse when I forget to take it though. Rolling on a frozen water bottle helps too.

diane1223

I've had it off and on for several months, I would recommend a foot doctor. Anti inflammatory Meds will help get over the acute stage! There are great suggestions on this thread! Mine really flared up the day I wore flat shoes a long time while walking on concrete floors.

I love my Nike air Max shoes!

moxie1962

I had it for 9 years, and finally did something about it. I worked at a physical therapy Dept in a hospital, and my coworkers showed me how to do this stretch.


Gastrocnemius muscle stretch

Stand in a wide stance, with the leg to be stretched at the back.

Lean forwards against a wall and make sure you keep the back heel down.

Hold for 10 seconds, repeat 3 to 5 times and repeat the set 3 times a day.

Gradually hold the stretch for longer (up to 45 seconds).

http://www.sportsinjuryclinic.net/sport-injuries/foot-heel-pain/plantar-fasciitis/stretching-exercises-plantar-fasciitis

kimberlyn61

I had that foot pain for quite awhile, I did all the stretches, that helped some. Wearing shoes as soon as your feet hit the floor is a biggy, at least while you are having this problem. I eventually had to go to a foot doctor for a cortisone shot that they put in my foot. I still had the problem for a couple more months but with less pain, then it just went away. I haven't had a problem since.

loobz12

I had it really bad for about 2 yes, the podiatrist told me about "fit flops" since wearing them I've never had anymore problems with my feet. I used to be constantly hobbling but now I can run and walk without any problems. Good luck

dannirxx

I've got plantar faciitis and use K Tape to help bring my arch up! If you have a look on you tube you'll find loads of videos on this! It's really helpful I've still managed to run 2 half marathons with it and PB!!

DiamondWoman

I have pf to the point of having bone spurs. I got a pair of Dr. Scholls inserts (the ones that are somewhat custom), I also stretch several times a day, and roll my foot around on a frozen water bottle at lunch. This has made such a difference. I'm on my feet all day everyday because I'm a security guard. The one thing that has made the biggest difference though is stretching before I get up. Hope all of this helps and that the pain goes away soon.

Mainey13

PHYSIOTHERAPY will do the trick. It usually will not go away on its own. You may need orthotics down the road.

AnnieMeredith

I have this, it actually started while I was doing gymnastics. The most important thing for me is really comfortable insoles in my shoes and stretching every morning

NiSan12

I had the same thing some years ago, tremendous pain! I found some stretches online that I did every morning before I got started and it went away. No doctor bills :-)