Plantar fasciitis

Exercises like stretching your heel every morning and night.

This can be quite tricky to get rid of. You can exercise, but you can also make it worse and slow the recovery. I had it bad a few years back and had to get shots and orthodics from a podiatrist. You can Google the stretches they do help. The best one for me is standing on a board for a period of time at about 45 degrees. I suggest to be very cautious and not let it get too bad.

I had to use these brace/splint like things that are available at the drugstore without a prescription. They are with ace bandages and stuff like wrist braces.. I wore them at night to keep the foot stretched. My doctor also recommended freezing a water bottle and rolling my foot on it when the pain got really bad. She also suggested aleve, but it didn't work well for me and I went back to ibuprofen.

Mine was so bad, I actually first went to the doctor for x-rays because I thought I had a broken foot. It rarely bothers me now. I kept the braces and don't need them often because I immediately start treating if I get any pain at all.

I ditched the orthotics and did stretches. Stand on a step facing upstairs. Move to the edge so that you are holding on with yout toes and as little of the ball of the foot as possible. SLOWLY drop your heels as far as you can and hold the stretch. Then SLOWLY rise up until you are on your tippy toes and hold the stretch. I did this 10 times, twice a day and my PF disappeared after about two weeks, never to return.

Also, wear various heel heights on your shoes and go barefoot or in flats as much as you can. You don't want the calf muscles and heel/back of the ankle ligaments to shorten again.

I've had it for 7 years now. Stretches, shots, orthotic inserts, 10 different types of shoes and nothing has worked. It comes and goes but I have never been able to get rid of it. Some friends (runners and nurses) have had success with only one of those mentioned above. Flares do seem to happen when I am barefoot or in flip flops. Good luck to UA, PF just sux.

I bought a foot brace at Walgreens. Wore it every night for a month overnight and the pain went away completely. Give it a try.

Oh and I did not have any luck with the orthotic inserts. The only thing that worked for me was the braces. I had two, since both my feet were flaring up at the same time.

I have this problem off and on. My podiatrist also recommended the tennis ball rolling, it helps somewhat when I have a flare up. I have never gotten shots, but I do have a prescription for Naproxen that works wonders. I only use it when it gets bad.

See a sports physio, don't just treat the condition with ice etc. find and treat the cause, most likely top of foot and further up the leg / side of calf.

Check out www.runnersworld.com they have a great deal if information, treatments, and advise about how to train with it.

I had to go to the foot dr for back in 1994 and did the custom made orthotics, cortisone shots in the heel, physical therapy and ended up having surgery on it. At that time I was very obese and worked retail mgmt and was on my feet for 10 to 12 hours a day on concrete. It got so bad before surgery I couldn't even walk from my driveway to my house after work and that was it. I had to do something. The surgery helped but the one thing they didn't tell me is when they go in and cut that band it also could make your foot not be supported as well. I had problems a few years later when I did dog agility and was on my feet for 12 plus hours a day at agility trials. Foot dr, (different one that did my surgery) would tape the foot up, do cortisone shots, more custom foot orthotics. The foot orthotics work the best and really need to be the ones the dr cast and custom makes for you. They are pricey but some health insurances pay for them. My last set I had done in 2013 I still had health insurance that paid for them so I only paid about $60 of the $400 cost of the 2 full foot ones. My insurance was changing at work and the new co didn't pay for them so I wanted to get a pair made. I lost alot of weight in 2012-2013 also so I needed a new pair for the new size of my foot. I don't wear them much now and haven't had issues with my feet or PT since loosing so much weight.
Good luck it is a very painful issue and I never wanted go through that pain again. It was horrible!

In my experience, going barefoot only made it worse. For me the best shoes (and I tried many) to do normal walking around in was the soft rubber Croc clogs (not the hard soled dressy ones, but those standard, "ugly" clogs, like garden clogs. I wore either the name brand Crocs ones, or the ones I could get at Payless. They were the only ones that soothed and supported my feet making it easier for me to walk.) I also can wear some of the other Crocs styles but they have to be the rubber shoe when I have a flare up.

Wearing the braces at night and off and on during the day when I'm sitting certainly helped. The braces were more expensive at my local pharmacy ($70!!!!) vs. Amazon.com ($30). I got 2 for less than the price of one at my local pharmacy.

The braces are a bit inconvenient and weird to sleep with, but the return on investment is soooo worth it. Really really helped a LOT.

Sarasari wrote: »

If I try to go barefoot I feel a twinge of it wanting to come back so I don't do it very often. Good luck.

Generally that means that you still haven't stretched out the tendons properly. Orthotics lessen the symptoms, but do not cure the problem.

I've had this for a few years now and just quietly put up with the pain, until about 3 months ago when I invested in a night brace off Amazon. It works great; its not the easiest thing to get used to (it took me about a week) but I'm pretty much pain free now - especially when I get up first thing in the morning! Bliss

I was advised to go barefoot as little as possible, even slippers with a really soft sole had to go as they were just causing me pain.

I would definitely recommend the brace though

I've had this on and off for years. I've recently had to cut back on running and switch up my cardio workout because the pain was terrible. When it flares up, I basically ease up on my activity/workouts and wait for the pain to subside. Sometimes this takes months, depending on how bad it is. However, it's hard to "rest" because I love to work out and I do quite a bit of walking at my job.
I also roll a spiky ball under my foot - it feels great after a workout. Stretching helps A LOT. I've added inserts to some of my shoes or try to wear shoes that have some support. No flats. Even walking around the house, I always wear shoes because it hurts to go barefoot.
- I feel your pain tho..... sorry!