Exercise with plantar fasciitis and painful heel spurs

jenneneNiell
jenneneNiell Posts: 1
in Fitness and Exercise
Help! I am currently in a program preparing me for gastric bypass surgery. I have a lot of weight to lose overall, (hopefully about 125 pounds) and I need to lose 5% of my body weight first to even be considered eligible for surgery. Since mid September I have already lost about 10 pounds from just changing my eating habits which is great because I am already about 1/3 of the way to losing my 5%! :smile: I am concerned though, because another requirement I have to meet before I am considered eligible is to log daily exercise for at least 30-40 minutes daily and this is terribly painful for me because of severe plantar fasciitis in both feet, along with painful heel spurs on both feet. I have been to physical therapy for several months and have worked to lengthen my now very short calf and back-of-thigh muscles without success. Much to my dismay, prior to swimming daily, I didn't have pain in my right foot at all, so I stopped and then began physical therapy. I am out of ideas on what I can do to fulfill this requirement without hurting myself daily. Any ideas are appreciated.

I am also getting a second round of extracorporeal shock wave therapy this week. The first time around I did feel a significant improvement in my right foot, but my left foot, which has had pain for about 3 years now, has stubbornly refused to heal. I have tried night splints, icing, stretching, heat, staying off my feet, changing shoes, and lots of different insoles without much help. The most I can stand on my feel regardless of insole or shoe type is about 10-15 minutes without acute and severe pain.

Its so frustrating and at this point stressful to hear 1/2 the doctors I see for various health concerns to say "oh, just lose the weight and everything will be OK," while the other 1/2 for the other health concerns tell me "Oh yes, you need to rest your feet." :noway: It may sound paranoid but am even experiencing a new hand pain and it's the same awful searing I feel in my feet, so I am wondering if I have some kind of bone spur there too? Again, any tips would be appreciated from anyone who has advice to offer.

Thank you for reading!

Replies

  • nicolabradley87
    nicolabradley87 Posts: 95 Member
    Hi!

    I am a physio and deal with a lot of people with plantar fasciitis! Low impact activities are easiest so cycling would be ideal. I would normally recommend swimming but breast stroke not the best as you stretch your plantar fascia for the kick.

    I would also recommend buying in-soles with arch supprt as this can make things more comfortable (won't solve the plantar fasciitis but should help the pain). Finally when patients are in a large amount of pain and physio isn't helping we often use cortisone injections quite successfully so it may be worth seeing your doctor about the possibility!

    I hope this is helpful.

    Nic x

    PS. It would be unlikely to have the same problem with your hand due to the different structure.
  • HeelPainSolution
    HeelPainSolution Posts: 1
    After treating thousands of cases of heel pain I can confidently say that you will need to combine several forms of treatment to get relief from plantar fasciitis and continue to exercise. Night splints can help alleviate the morning pain by applying a gentle stretch of the injured tissue (plantar fascia) while you sleep and a strapping (tape) can apply daily protection to the arch and heel to prevent overstrain of the plantar fascia. I like to use a wooden massage roller, but a thin hairspray can can also work to stretch the tight tissue on the bottom of the foot- 3 to 5 min several times per day.
    The simple truth is that your body has to be healing faster than you are breaking it down in order for the injured tissue to begin to heal. I usually have my patients decrease their exercise by 1/3 and see if symptoms start to decrease. Other helpful tips are to stop stretching (most people overstretch), decrease stride length which is the distance from one footprint to the next, avoid squatting and/or any movement that stretches the toes back and stay away from shoes that are flat and flimsy.
    I hope you get some quick relief.

    Doc Brown
    HeelPainSolution.com
  • acmcoc
    acmcoc Posts: 125 Member
    I feel your pain! I also have very painful bone spurs on both feet. I have not done physical therapy but do use a night splint when it gets real bad. It does help somewhat. My xrays were bad enough that the dr gave me a hug and said it looks painful. Ummm it is! I don't have any real advice for you but I sure can relate. Hope it gets better for you!:flowerforyou:

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