Plantar Fasciitis is making my life miserable.

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Radiskull
Radiskull Posts: 70 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I wake up limping. I come home from work limping. I go to the gym limping. Anyone else here have trouble with Plantar Fasciitis? Have you tried anything that has worked?
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Replies

  • qhorn1
    qhorn1 Posts: 4 Member
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    check out this article:

    http://www.trailrunningclub.com/blog/2012/06/22/dealing-with-plantar-fasciitis/
  • Playingwithfire89
    Playingwithfire89 Posts: 87
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    Oh noes....that sounds horrible! All i can recommend is some hot tea, a good movie, and a break from working out. If you have any muscle relaxing bath stuff that would prob work too. (i had some once and cant remember the brand, it works amazing.)
  • iryshjones
    iryshjones Posts: 79 Member
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    Go see a podiatrist. You may need orthotics, if not there are exercises you can do. There is also a splint type cuff you can wear at night that will stretch out the tendon. All 3 have helped me tremendously. Good luck
  • LLS88
    LLS88 Posts: 4 Member
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    I recommend visiting a physiotherapist. They can show you how to strap your foot to relieve some of the tension. Once you know how to strap it, you can buy tape and either do it yourself or get someone to do it for you.

    I'm a medical student, we were recently shown how to strap for plantar fasciitis in a training course...I strap my friend's foot before we train and she has said it makes a huge difference.

    Good luck
  • Bob314159
    Bob314159 Posts: 1,178 Member
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    I started getting in one foot 2 months ago and stretching is helping. My personal experience is that most orthotics are a scam - I know someone who gets good orthotics and no way I can spend what she spends to get them.
  • gpstrucker
    gpstrucker Posts: 930 Member
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    I did have that problem. Exercises and the right shoes helped me a lot.
  • reneeot
    reneeot Posts: 773 Member
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    all the above!!!

    And what I do for clients as massage therapist is strip out the calves. And massage the achilles tendon.
    Lay face down and have someone press thumb into calf, slide up from ankle to knee(repeat several times over entire calf). Its painful, but effective! massage achilles between thumb and pointer finger. Dont over massage. Same thing with calf strip through entire calf only 1 or 2 times.

    Repeat 2-3 times a week.

    If you loosen calf muscle that will take tension off achilles tendon, which will relieve plantar fasciitis.

    Works best is you dont over exert while doing treatments for 10-14 days.
  • theNurseNancy
    theNurseNancy Posts: 149
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    KT tape and better shoes. I would take a short break before hopping back into exercise, though.
  • ubermensch13
    ubermensch13 Posts: 824 Member
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    See you doctor and get prescription inserts. My wife struggled with it for months until then, after a few months of using them religiously, she is fine.
  • hooperkay
    hooperkay Posts: 463 Member
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    yep have had it. Need good shoes. Can get inserts for shoes for heel pain, they help. You can sit. Put bad foot on your other knee. with one hand gently hold toes in your hand and pull toes back. with other hand rub down arch of your foot. The tendon on the bottom of your foot tightens when you have PF and massaging it will help. Also don't walk around barefoot. It takes a long time to heal. A poditrist will offer injections for foot. I don't like medication so I didn't get them, but the massaging really helped with pain. Finally went away after like 8 months.
  • Jongfaith
    Jongfaith Posts: 195
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    I used to work at a foot massage spa. Go to your doc, rest it as much as you can, stretch and get it rubbed! Got a significant other? Fab then its free! otherwise seek out a friendly massage therapist to work that out once the inflamation has gone down.

    Plantar Fascitis is very painful so baby your feet as much as possible... Good luck and feel better!
  • lostemt
    lostemt Posts: 152 Member
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    Get a bottle like a soda bottle the smaller one. Then roll that along the bottom of the foot and and will help. Also what I a have done is sit on a flat surface and straighten the leg out grab and elastic band or even small towel and put around the ball of the foot and pull it forward. This will stretch it out. Like the others said may want to see a dr to.
  • AlissaFL
    AlissaFL Posts: 80 Member
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    Yes! I have had this since 2003. I had to see a physical therapist in order to get some relief. Once I did that, I have been able to maintain on my own- massage, wearing supportive shoes, watching for fatigue, etc. Arch supports won't solve the problem, but they will help prevent it from coming back once your done with the PT. Also, I started doing yoga and all the balancing has helped strengthen my arches, so I rarely have any pain. Good luck to you, I know how bad it hurts. I would 100% start with a PT before I did or bought anything else.
  • bathsheba_c
    bathsheba_c Posts: 1,873 Member
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    For me, regular stretching was enough (the UK's national health service website has good recommendations). If that doesn't help, then I would see a doctor to learn about taping, proper shoes, etc.
  • AlissaFL
    AlissaFL Posts: 80 Member
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    Oh yeah and I wouldn't go the injections or expensive custom arch support route either. My PT used hydrocortizone cream and an ultrasound (I know, I thought it was odd, but it did work- something to do with the frequency used) on my arches. The ultrasound heated it up, so it would absorb faster. Then I had to do some foot exercises which weren't hard especially since I wasn't in pain. All in all I went twice a week for 6 or 7 weeks, so not too much of a time investment. : )
  • Diana35bha
    Diana35bha Posts: 292 Member
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    The only thing that worked for me was prescription inserts!

    The 1st time I got some I had to go private as they weren't available on the NHS and they were very very expensive, but the pain relief was immediate. Several years later I started with pain again, this time the GP referred me to an NHS physio who got me free full length orthotics. These are now reviewed annually.

    Good luck

    Di
  • xiofett
    xiofett Posts: 138 Member
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    Get a 20 oz plastic Coke bottle, fill it with water and freeze it. When you have a flare up, use it as a roller on the floor, the bottle shape fits the foot pretty well. The rolling will help stretch the fascia, the cold will help with the inflammation (the -itis part of fascitis). When you're not having a flare up get a tennis ball and roll your foot over it just like you did with the bottle. Don't use your whole body weight, but do put as much weight as you can stand on it.

    Go find a massage therapist that specializes in sports massage or medical massage. You're not going to find these at a salon or a spa, you'll need to find someone working with a chiro/PT office. That's where I got the tip above.
  • bimpski
    bimpski Posts: 176 Member
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    i suffered for years. this is the only thing that helped me...

    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001B5JVIA/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i00
  • misscoup
    misscoup Posts: 1 Member
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    This may be late, but hopefully it will help. I had struggled with the same thing for 3 years and these are the things that I found that have helped tremendously. I saw several physical therapist and found one that helped and stuck with him.
    ---never walk barefooted
    ---get orthotics made.
    I had one set made from a podiatrist and one made from a good physical therapist. The podiatrist made one I wear all the time now but it was the one made from the physical therapist that got me over the hump as it had a soft top and worked with what shoes I was wearing at the time. Be aware of the over counter insoles. I spent a lot of money on these types first (along with different shoes) before I realized that the over the counter arch and my arch did not match up and therefore putting more pressure on the heel side of my arch where the pain was the most.
    --wear night splints
    --increase range of motion of your ankle. I have a chiropratic adjust my feet whenever I went in, which is about once every 2 months.
    --once you find a good shoe that works with the insoles, buy mutiples. I change shoes about every 6 months.
    --stretch your feet and calves before you get out of bed, then continue to stretch throughout the day (you can google this to see what you need to do
    Good luck
  • twoboysnmygirl
    twoboysnmygirl Posts: 161 Member
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    I'm so sorry! I got PF in January this year and it was so excruciating! There were days that I was in so much pain and SO frustrated that I had to stop running and couldn't work out. BUT, that's what I had to do. I did all the things you are "supposed to", I have inserts, went all summer without flipflops and wore my tennis shoes instead, ice, stretching...you name it...and the bottom line is that it is an injury that just takes a LOT of TIME to heal. Taping helped as well, and after 9 months, I am FINALLY able to run again!!! WOOT! I have to go slow and be careful b/c I can still feel a little bit of tenderness when I push it too much, but it's healed enough that I'm not in constant pain anymore.

    So, my advice would be to rest. :/ I know it's not what you want to hear, believe me, I was so frustrated that I finally wanted to exercise and my feet wouldn't allow it, but I believe it will heal eventually and the quicker you rest them, the faster they will heal! Good luck to you.

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