Plantar Fascitis, omg what do I do....

I live with this. When it first came on four years ago, and I let it get to its worst before doing anything about it, walking was excruciating and I limped everywhere I went. As you probably know, It's hard to limp with both feet!

My mother's doctor told her and myself (both afflicted with PF) that you can't wear sneakers. You just can't. If you can bend the shoe in half, you can't wear it. You need something with a heckuva arch support and anything spongy enough to bend isn't enough. Once the pain goes away for some months you can try wearing sneakers during workouts like I do, but it took me a long time before I got to that point. My feet no longer hurt when I wear my work-out shoes and I can even walk around the house barefoot for a short period.

I recommend Danskos if you can afford them. They're unfortunately expensive but I wear mine two years at a time. I wear them every day, nothing else. No sneakers, no cute shoes, no heels unless it's for less than two or three hours MAX. They are the only shoes I wear for any day-length period. I admit that I don't like clogs, but they work and keep my feet from hurting and allow me to stay on my feet. (I admit though, I was so far gone that even walking in Danskos was painful for a week. The hard soles take getting used to as well if you're accustomed to the cushioned soles of sneakers.)

If you can't afford Danskos, talk to a doctor about any other brands. Some people have had luck with orthopedic inserts, but personally I was too far gone for those. Remember: if you can bend the shoe, you can't wear it.

Exercises for your feet to help you:

Stretch, Stretch, Stretch!! Your muscle is pulled tight and tearing! Scar tissue is building up making it more difficult to stretch and there you have a recursive problem. You need to stretch it out. Find a golf ball or tennis ball and roll it under your arch with your foot. Do this every day while you're sitting. I've heard of people who do this in my office when sitting at their desks. When you wake in the morning, do this before standing up for at least five minutes.

And of course, doctor, doctor, doctor. Good luck!

Mine comes back right away if I walk barefoot (or even with socks) on my hardwood floors. I always, ALWAYS have to wear shoes around the house. And not just any shoes, either my running shoes (that are really supportive - moderate stability shoes that I was fitted for), Orthaheel flip flops, or Orthaheel/Superfeet insert insoles in my shoes. Even my "slippers" which are just Croc Mammoths have Orthaheel inserts in them. Good luck!

Between SuperFeet Green insoles and night splints mine is slowly going away this time but I'm still going to look into Orthaheel sneaks or the Merrels that were also suggested in this thread. I get to go shopping tomorrow! Hubby is of course going to want me to get the least expensive thing that will still help, so we'll see what I end up with...