Beginnings of plantar fasciitis and workouts

I don't know the answer to your question about how long to rest, but it took me insoles to start getting my PF under control. I'm also seeing a physical therapist (those calf raises are one of my prescribed exercises). For what it's worth, superfeet insoles are working well for me and I'm finally starting to see some improvement. I've continued my regular activity, plus physical therapist exercise and stretches, along with the water bottle and tennis ball massages. The only thing I'm not doing right now is running, which was the source of the issue in the first place. I still do other intensive cardio, as long as I'm using my insoles.

Best of luck - glad you're dealing with this now and don't hesitate to see a sports medicine doctor for a dx and PT referral if you've got the coverage for it.

If you have never used KT tape (Kinesiology Tape) it does wonders for my husband's PF. We order it off of amazon for about 10$ a roll, and you can wear it in the shower. If you apply the tape properly, it will last about 4 days.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mZUKNkMPG4

I love to walk and thought my walking would come to an end after finding out I was suffering with PF. I had to get orthodicts which made a huge difference. I work on my feet all day and my feet no longer hurt. With orthodicts you can change them to whatever shoes you are wearing....It's like changing insoles from shoe to shoe. I also do foot stretches first thing in the morning. This was the only way I could get some relief. Good Luck....I know the pain you are going through.

Agreed. Orthotics will help for sure and if you can stand wearing a night splint that helped mine tremendously, but they are more expensive and quite cumbersome. So start with orthotics and make sure you get good orthotics, like from Powerstep (not Dr. Scholl at grocery store). Powerstep are actually doc recommended and a little more pricey but worth it. Good luck, PF sucks.

The good news about PF is that you don't NEED to restrict your workouts - you can work out according to pain tolerance. If you understand what's going on, the damage is already done. The pain comes from the healing process.

Mine got really bad and I'm in physical therapy for it (I'm a distance runner) and my PT is trying to strengthen and increase the range of mobility in my injured foot.

It is easiest to get over plantar fasciitis if you take action early. Otherwise it will usually get worse.

I had PF for over a year and tried many different things. I am a runner and gym rat, and I tried to ignore it at first but it got to the point that I had to do something. I tried physical therapy, podiatrist vist, night splints, custom inserts, and rest amongst other things. But when I got some orthotic sandals to wear around the house instead of going barefoot it started to improve right away. I'm not talking about really expensive custom ones; these are quite reasonable. Take a look at them at www.heelpainrelief.net.

Now I always stay in good quality shoes, and have found that over the counter orthotics work really well also. This tends to keep the PF away, although it will start to flare up occasionally if I start getting careless. This will pass, but you need to go on the offensive to battle it. Good luck !