Plantar Fasciitis

I'm not sure what braces you've gotten, but I got an Ace night splint from Walgreens to wear at night and ooooooooooommmmmmggggg it helped so much.

Go to this Live Strong page that has a number of articles of things to try for it, and most are pretty simple, like calcium & turmeric. Wouldn't hurt to try...

http://www.livestrong.com/plantar-fasciitis/

I have had it all my life. I have seen different specialists as well, all with different opinions. My feet almost always hurt. Therapy and custom made orthotics didn't help. I can't cure it ,but the things that helps me relieve it the most is stretching my feet before I get out of bed. I sit up, take a towel and put it around my toes/ball of my foot and gently pull it back with both hands. It stretches my tendon and my legs. Night splits help, but are uncomfortable to sleep in.

When the pain flares up, I roll my foot on a frozen water bottle. Sometimes a warm soak in Epsom salt helps. Rolling my foot on a tennis ball helps. And when I'm in tears, ibuprofen helps. If you can, try to wear a shoe that has a little lift on it to absorb some of the pressure when your foot is hitting the ground.

Yoga Toes!!

I have this and it flares up in both my heel and my arch (yes, I'm special to have it in two places). Stretching (yoga toes), a hard ball (I use a kong ball that my dog doesn't like, I like the fact it has no give) rolled under the arch, and ice have all helped to alleviate the pain. When it gets terrible and lasts more than a couple of days, I go get a cortisone shot in my foot (most unpleasant experience).

Good luck - it is manageable, just have to find what works for you.

For me losing weight has made it go away, although I only had it for about a year.

Unfortunately I met a woman of around 60 years of age who has had it for many years and does all of the above, including custom orthotics but still has pain. But my mother had it for years and she says it just went away. She doesn't know why.

I've heard of an ultrasound therapy where they 'shock' it. I know someone who had that done and it helped somewhat but not completely and not permanently.

I have the same problem. I've found that stretching helps, my foit is always wrapped in KT Tape. I also always wear birkenstock shoes. I rarely have issues now. I'll try anything before I have surgery.

I had Plantar Fasciitis and a torn Achilles tendon and 2 small bone spurs all at one time in my left ankle/heal. Yep I put off taking care of it for too long! I ended up wearing a boot for 19 weeks. The only time I got to take it off was when I showered. It was a LLLOOOOONNNNGGGG 19 weeks. I was thankful that I didn't have to have surgery to repair.

I agree with the brace to sleep in. Doctor said that night was the most important time to wear it.

I hope it gets better soon!

I recovered from it several years ago, after the initial diagnosis I got a cortizone shot, then after a week went to physical therapy, did stretches at home as well as iced it. AT LEAST 20 minutes!! Very painful to get the shot and to ice it, Also, resting the foot is a must, you may have to give up your love of running because I understand how painful pf is. I also remember it having to do with my achillies tendon too. That needs to be massaged and stretched to help. I'm sure you know all this but I did recover, it was at least a year of stretching and icing it.
Good luck! Hope you get better soon!

Questions for you..

Where exactly along your foot is the pain?

Does it hurt more when you first get out of bed in the morning?

Can you walk barefoot on carpeted floors without pain?

I only recently found out about PF and have had doctors say 'yes' that is what I'm dealing with and 'no, but we don't know what's wrong with you'....from some things I've read here and on other sites, PF seems to fit the bill. I wake up and it's excruciatingly painful to walk. It goes away quickly, but those first few morning steps are killers. As I wake up and go about my day that pain subsides...

What seems to throw the Drs off is that my pain radiates up into my ankle and other parts of my feet. I've had xrays and other tests done to no avail. I'm now trying to find if losing my extra weight will help. I truly hope that it does.

Do the night braces help alleviate the pain in the morning? Could someone link me to an example of what you're using? Thanks a ton!

My wife and I own a physical therapy practice and we treat this successfully all the time. The night braces usually are the most effective. However, take a regular water bottle and freeze it...then roll it back and forth on the sole of your foot.

Ice, ice, ice! It is very underestimated.

+1

My wife has this, and her Doc and physical therapist both recommended frozen water bottles. Coupled with a night brace, she is good enough to run 2-3 miles daily.

Acupuncture, ice, and foam roller or tennis ball to help with stretching and breaking up adhesion.

I ruptured my PF while jogging two weeks after giving birth (what was I thinking?!?). The recovery took about 16 months. Here's what helped me the most...

1) wearing orthotics 100% of the time. I have a pair in my slippers and was only ever barefoot in the shower. Now I will walk around the house barefoot sometimes, but mostly still use the orthotics. I like PowerStep and SuperFeet.

2) Voltaren gel. Much more effective for me than oral anti-inflammatories.

3) Medi-Dyne ProStretch Plus. This is a calf stretcher with an additional piece that draws the toes up and stretches the PF. I still use this regularly to keep any PF issues away.

Over those 16 months, I saw four doctors, did PT for 10 weeks, iced like crazy, bought a $500 night-splint (couldn't sleep in it), etc etc etc. But these three things plus rest and time are what fixed it.

I know this pain. Mine is mostly under control after two years, but I still have problems when I walk a lot. Saturday I walked ten miles and now I'm paying for it.

I have to ask this: when you had physical therapy, did you follow all the therapist's directions? Do your stretches several times a day? Use the ice? Pull your toes back and run in the parts of the arch that are painful? My understanding is that the pain is caused by the tendons being pulled tight and so causing inflammation on the bottom of the foot. For some reason my calves and hamstrings have just always been tight. If I don't keep them stretched, my PF comes back. If I stand or walk for very long in high heels or in shoes without my custom orthotics, the pain comes back. So if you were not very vigilant, this could be your problem.

Here's something else: My brother, who is a nurse, just made me aware of a relatively new treatment you might want to look into. It's called Tenex Health TX. It "combines ultrasound imaging to pinpoint damaged tissue with the advanced TX MicroTip (TM) which precisely breaks down and removes only the damaged tissue that causes pain. this procedure is not invasive open surgery and can be performed in an office or procedure room". Frankly, this doesn't make a lot of sense to me, but I'm not a medical professional. Whatever podiatrist or orthopod you trust, you may want to see if they offer this and what they think of it.

Best of luck to you. I know what you're going through.