Plantar Fasciitis

+1 for rolling. I had it for what felt like forever. Then started rolling with a lacrosse ball and within 3 days it cleared it up and hasn't come back since. I only do it once a week now

Things to try, in order of aggressiveness:

• Roll your arch on a tennis-ball sized ball before you take a step in the morning. Lots of people swear by a tennis ball, but I find it's too flimsy so I've stolen a ball from my black lab. (I'm a bad dog mom!) Use enough pressure that you're just short of swearing, and do it for about a minute.
• Get a pair of the green Super Feet inserts for all your shoes. The arch support will give you an all-day gentle version of the tennis ball, without the swearing.
• Night splint. These are amazing. My insurance paid 50% for these when my podiatrist prescribed it. YMMV.
• See a podiatrist and get custom orthotics. I've had them for 10+ years (on my second set), and they are even more amazing than the night splint. My insurance paid for them 100%.
• The orthotics did the trick for me, but my podiatrist said if they didn't, a cortisone shot and/or surgery would be the next/final steps.

I've got 1 foot that bothers me. I read that while laying in bed lift your leg up high, wrap a towel around your toes (hold on to the ends of the towel with your hands) and pull your toes toward you. It helps to stretch your calf muscles. I did this and it seemed to work. Another stretch they said to keep your legs flat and bend your toes like you are picking up a pencil with them. Not sure it that helped much, but the first stretch did! Good luck, I know it hurts awful.

Mine got so bad I needed several cortisone shots right in the heel. If the stretching and splints don't help you may want to explore that option. I got several months of relief from that before the pain crept back.

Some great advice here, I've been limping for a month, so I'll definitely be looking into this, thanks for the info everyone!

I tried everything everyone has suggested, but it was that bad (and I didn't want a steroid injection!) that I bought the night splint. It was the least sexy thing I've ever worn in bed, but hell it worked!

Ninkyou wrote: »

I got a night splint I wore to bed and that fixed my issue. I could barely even stand prior to it. It felt 80% within 2 days, it was amazing.

I did this AND threw out the shoes I had been wearing and found some more supportive ones. I couldn't afford orthotics from a Dr and any inserts in the store only made it worse for me.

My pain had been so bad I went to the Dr thinking I had broken my foot and needed x-rays, cast and crutches.

Best and fastest thing were the night splints. Well worth the money and I found them in a local pharmacy. I still use them occasionally.

Edited cuz autocorrect

Massage therapist opinion: get checked out if it is causing you daily pain. There could be a lot of underlying issues the won't just "go away". Calf problems, tendinitis etc are likely and solvable with therapeutic massage! And rest may be part of that treatment, don't continue to push yourself without knowing that it's not going to do more damage in the long run.

Read and try all of this until you find out what works for you. Then do a search in this forum and see if there is anything you haven't tried. I have had it for a year and a half. It's being held back, but I have had to switch up my workouts from running (which I had just learned to love) to swimming (which I flat out had to learn-not so fun, but now I love it too). I am running one day a week. That's it. PF isn't to be messed with. I read everything I could get my hands on, and saw a podiatrist 3x. The overall advice was that in order for it to completely go away, your foot needs REST. Since that's not usually an option for people, there are other things we can do, but it could take months. My podiatrist said 6-12 months. I called him out for being pessimistic. Guess who was right?

I did end up with cortisone shots (yes, they worked for me--for now), but here's what I am still doing, 19 months later:

rolling it on a ball
negative heel stretch on a step (every OTHER day, working up to 12x)
swimming/deep water cardio instead of any impact
sleeping in a baddass boot every night
taping with KT tape before my run
wearing orthotics (can't remember if they're superfeet, but I've heard good things about those)
absolutely NEVER, EVER walking barefoot, in socks, slippers, whatever
no more shoes that are cute but unsupportive

Good luck. Take it slow. PF can flare up at any time, and it can be bad. It's better to find out how to treat it, what works for you, and work hard to make it better. It can totally sideline an active person. I'm sorry you have to deal with it.

Tennis ball and cold water. Massaging your feet gently, feels awful but works.