Anyone overcome plantar fasciitis?

On ice... Ice should only be used for new injuries as it helps reduce inflammation. It is not helpful for old injuries.

I suffered with this for years working as a Retail Manager on my feet up to 14 hours a day walking on concrete with dress shoes on. Finally one day I couldn't walk from my car to get into my house after work cause the pain was so bad. My foot dr tried cortisone shots, custom made orthotics for my shoes and nothing helped. I ended up having surgery on the foot to cut the band in Dec of 1996, after that I never had a problem. Nothing else was helping me and with a job that I had to be on my feet 12-14 hours this is what helped. What I wasn't told or knew at the time is when they do this surgery where they cut the band you have a chance of your foot not having support now. Years later I had problems again with this same foot and went to a different foot dr. Tried cortisone shots, new custom made orthotics, taping the foot up. The orthotics helped but to to honest with you, the best thing that has helped is loosing weight!
Cortisone shots aren't good for you but usually you can get 1 every 6 months in a joint or area of your body and it won't hurt you is what I have been told. I have always kept track of when and where I have had mine at since I've had them in my foot and knees before. I usually can get 6 months of pain free with a cortisone shot. I know some people do not though.
Good luck. PF is so very painful. Until you have it you can't imagine the pain it causes.

PS - your baby could not be ANY cuter!!!!

I read on the internet that it would take a year to recover 3 cortisone shots and a year later I was fine..
Skip all the cortisone and dr. visits. I got it from walking in oversized boots one winter.. Used to walk my
dog in the boots.

I acquired plantar fasciitis late in my recent pregnancy. My son is now two months old, which means I've been limping around with this for over four months! I stretch it out (with a ball) as often as possible, wear running shoes all day, and rest it as much as possible. I seem to re-injur it every few hours during the night when I have to get up to feed my son. I barely am able to walk the dogs around the block and I'm sore the rest of the day. I am dying to go for a run and get back to roller derby!
Can anyone tell me there is hope of this going away!? Do I need cortisone shots? Is there something I should be doing? Should I just "tough it out" or rest it?

I had it too! NO fun! I was in a boot and a cast. My saving grace was the arm bike at the gym and the pool. The arm bike was a great cardio burn, plus it tones the arms. The pool is awesome because there is next to weight put on your foot. They have awesome water classes you can take too!

I have this, and it's no fun! I added inserts to my shoes, and started wrapping the arches of my feet for compression, and it slowly got better (I mean, over the course of 9 months or so). But I never started running again like I used to.

Instead I found that there are other ways to exercise that are easier on the feet. Have you tried swimming? It can be a really hard workout, and a big challenge if you haven't done it in years.

Good luck getting better

I suffered terribly with it for over 5 years. I thought I would never be able to walk normally again. I had a cortisone shot which only helped temporarily, had orthotics made which actually made the problem worse. I had TERRIBLE pain in my heels and couldn't even work out in the yard without almost collapsing in pain. I tried creams and the foot brace, all did me no good.

THEN!! I had been going to see a physical therapist to help break up the "rice krispies" as she called them. I noticed a little improvement, but then a couple months later, my partner and I went to the Dominican Republic for 2 weeks. I have no idea whether it was walking on the uneven sand, the heat, or the rest that did it, but by the time we got home, THE PAIN WAS GONE. Since then, I have told everyone I know who suffers to go walk on the beach. It was just a miracle as far as I'm concerned.

I've had it in both feet for 15 years.

When I first go it, I felt crippled and miserable, and gained a lot of weight. At the time I also had painful neuromas in both feet.

ESWT and cryosurgery helped.

After lots of experimentation, I found relief by wearing a very supportive running shoe, the New Balance 1260, along with a thick gel insole called the Bauerfeind Viscoped.

I can wear other shoes with the Viscoped insole, like golf or dress shoes, but they have to be one size larger than I normally wear, and I have to remove the insole they come with. I've found if you wear the Viscoped without socks, the insole kind of adheres to the soles of your feet, helping support your arch. Almost like having an extra fat pad under your foot.

I also do calf stretches regularly, and avoid running or any sports that involve jumping or landing hard on your feet.

Good luck!

I was recently diagnosed with it. My doctor wanted to do surgery but so far I have refused. He recommended wearing Asics or Brooks shoes and getting fitted for arch support for them for when I work out. I haven't done it yet because my pain comes and goes but I plan to! There are also a lot of exercises you can do that is supposed to help! Good luck!

I had surgery on my left food while they injected my right foot. Noticed some calve cramping so i went to the hospital to get it checked out, fine they said. About a week later i was trying to walk across a parking lot and started getting a runners cramp in my side.... Fast forward the pain spread to my stomach and then my right shoulder. I was admitted into emergency after i went back to the hospital and found out i had a blood clot in my lung. I guess what i am trying to say is, surgery might not be the best option considering besides the fact it almost killed me, it didnt help my condition of my feet.

2 years ago i started developing chronic pain in both feet due to what seemed like temperature issues. Winter time they would turn blue and ache so much. Summer time they would turn sun burn red and ache so much. I am in pain from my feet 24/7 which really plays with your mind. Thats why only now i have gained enough resistance to the pain that i could once again go to the gym and train the best i can. Still have to find a place to sit all the time in between sets. I might be broken but i am far from defeated. I honestly just wish i could get some sort of satisfaction from the company that took so much of my life away. Lol hard to live on 900$ a month pension.

Yes, have had it and overcome it w/o surgery or shots. This is what I wrote on a previous thread on the issue:

I've had if for more than 4 years, and had it under control for the last 2. These are the things that worked for me. They aren't cheap, but they work:

- Get a pair of (real) Birkenstocks. Wear them like house shoes - never walk barefoot, slip on your birks straight out of bed and wear them as much as possible. I wear them all the time unless I'm working out or at work. Don't get the betula line or any of the narrower spin-offs, just a classic Birkenstock.

- Get a pair of Birkenstock insoles and wear them in all your flat (non-high-heel) shoes - sneakers (not for working out, but daily kicks), loafers, boots, etc.. Birkenstock insoles fit in all flat shoe styles except for really skinny dress flats. They are pricey, but you can move one pair between all of your shoes.

- the birkenstocks & insoles provide awesome arch support and keep some of the weight off the center of your heels by redistributing it across your foot and to the edges of your heels. They are far more effective than soft insoles, which make everything squishy but your weight is still distributed the same way

- Get some Strassburg socks to sleep in. They are super unsexy, but they keep your foot flexed while you sleep and so that the facia can't get as inflamed. I've tried the cheaper CVS boot styles - the sock is better/more effective and easier to sleep in.

- stretch the minute you get out of bed, and before you go to bed. Downward dog is your friend.

-if you can afford it, see a physical therapist who does ART (active release technique) or Graston technique. I've tried a lot of methods, and these are the ones that have worked for me. The podiatrist was happy to give me prescription meds and squishy insoles and let me just live in pain - the PT actually helped me recover. My insurance covers PT, so I can go for just a co-pay- but otherwise it can get pricey. Look for a sports medicine PT, not just one that focuses on rehab exercises.


I would also add - if you wear high heels, lay off them. They shorten the muscles that you need to stretch, and going back and forth b/tw heels and flats doesn't help.