Work outs for Plantar Fasciitis

I get cortisone shots every 4-6 months... I have Plantars Fascitis and Heel Spurs... The shots are a little painful but SOOOOO worth it!

The best thing I have found for myself to heal my PF is to always wear my halflinger clogs (birkenstocks) with my gigantic arch inserts that I got from the podiatrist. It is the most supportive thing I've found and it really allows my foot to heal better than anything else. My doc said that it is serving as a cast to allow my foot to heal. My only barefoot time is in the shower. I run 3 miles every other day at this point.

When I run or leave the house, I wear great shoes with my inserts

My chiro gave me some ankle-strengthening exercises which helped my plantar fasciitis tremendously. I felt like the wobble board was most helpful; I also like to do ankle alphabets before I go to bed at night. The way I understand it, the fascia is over-stretched and aggravated when your ankle collapses inward, so strengthening the ankle muscles, to prevent than happening, allows the fascia to heal.

He also made me some orthotic insoles, which I use when I'm going to be on my feet a long time. When healing, I stuck to exercises that were easy on the feet; stationary bike and rowing machine mostly.

Talk to a podiatrist, preferably one that specializes in Sport's Medicine. This is an entirely treatable condition. Insoles with a tone a of arc support go a long way to reducing it.

Compression socks solved my plantar problem. Last year I had plantar fasciitis from January to June, I started wearing compression socks on all my runs and problem went away. Now I run 40-50 miles per week without any problems. I love my compression socks!! I even ran an Ultra Marathon with them in July. They are awesome.

I have plantar's in both feet, too (and I'm about to go to disney world! :-O ). I've been doing physical therapy for a month now, and haven't seen a change. I've also been icing, rolling, and wearing night splints. I've been waiting for my orthotics to come in and I'm hoping it will help a lot, but I'm not sure.

I'm pretty much been stuck using the elliptical. It doesn't seem to make it any worse. Boring, but I can do it.

I had horrible plantar fasciitis and had to go to a podiatrist. I was told three things:

1) NO MORE FLIPFLOPS OR FLATS WITHOUT INSOLES. They are terrible for your feet. You meet need to re-evaluate your shoe collection or buy insoles that you can switch from shoe to shoe.

2) I was told to take 6 weeks off from running. As a runner, this was daunting. I cried. No joke. But it was one of the best things that could have happened to me. I started weight lifting and learned how it shaped my body in a way that running didn't. I ended up doing a lot of circuit training, elevating my heart rate on an elliptical and then doing different weight sets.

3) Make sure that you are replacing your running shoes every 300-500 miles. Also, go to a specialist running store when buying them so that you can get advice about which builds and brands are best for people suffering from plantar fasciitis.

Overall, remember that running is a great workout, but you don't want to sacrifice possibly tearing anything for it. Find some other exercise you enjoy. I've started to mix it up with kickboxing and martial arts, and I've never been in better shape!

I'm pretty much been stuck using the elliptical. It doesn't seem to make it any worse.

Okay, but it doesn't seem to be getting any better, so maybe you should stay off your feet?

My doctor told me to do the elliptical that it was fine, and wouldn't deter healing.

I have it mostly in my right foot, I sew for my job (self employed) and the industrial machine pedal has aggravated this problem I have had for years. My pain is not constant or severe put it is always there. I recently purchased over the summer a pair of MBT shoes and they have made a HUGE difference, I often put them on as soon as I get up and walk around in them to ease into the morning. They are not work out shoes but is an approach to easing the pain, I do know runners that use them as their recovery shoes. There are youtube videos and lots of customer reviews on Amazon which I looked at before deciding to purchase. I really like them and am contemplating a few more pairs to work into my routine.

I have been looking at shoes for working out and lighter weight flexible shoes I think will be key to not aggravate this further. I too have a night splint and ice, actually do them together. I will also add losing weight seems to help it a bit as well as some simple yoga that I do in the evening.

This may sound weird, I went to 2 doctors and a podiatrist twice and was only told that I would have to buy expensive insoles to make it better, but I did some research and bought some barefoot running shoes (new balance minimus) and running and working out with them my pain is all but done..

worth a try since you said you do run.. try it barefoot and midfoot strike instead of heal strike (this took some practice to change my running style)

This. It hasn't completely alleviated my PF, but I can definitely tell a difference when I'm wearing either my Vibram Fivefingers or Merrell Pace Gloves (both minimalist shoes), versus my Adidas trail running shoes (my running shoes cause pain just when walking in them!).

Investing in a foam roller to use at home also helped me. There is one at my gym that I've used, but the one I bought is actually firmer and works better it turns out. I use it on my calves and lower leg, which reduces the tension in the plantar fascia for me.

When mine flares up, the stair climber (with independent pedals) is what I use. Then I'm not constantly having to strike on my foot and bounce.