Plantar facinitis...... #$&%$@

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elephantlove38
elephantlove38 Posts: 2 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I am in pain. I stretch, ice, sleep in a boot, eat ibuprofen on the daily......I just finished my triathlon, so I can rest more. Amy other advice!?!!??!

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  • socalrunner59
    socalrunner59 Posts: 149 Member
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    Oh I feel your pain. I had it in both feet. Months of physical therapy; two different pairs of custom orthotics; 4 cortisone shots in each foot--all for naught.

    The only thing that worked was Graston Technique. On the bottom of the feet it's very painful, and the doctor who treated me warned me. But 4 treatments and I've been free of plantar fasciitis for some 4 years now.

    http://www.grastontechnique.com/faqs
  • DonM46
    DonM46 Posts: 771 Member
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    Custom orthotics worked for me. Felt like a golf ball in my shoe at first, but I got used to it. No pain for 12 yrs now.
    Cheap? Heck, no.
    Worth every penny.
  • GiddyupTim
    GiddyupTim Posts: 2,819 Member
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    I have found the stretch described here (link below) to be amazing.
    It is different from simply stretching your achilles, by standing half off of a step or something, but you bend back the toes too, increasing the stretch.
    You can also do it by kneeing on the ground, with the bottom of your toes still on the ground and the soles of your feet facing the wall behind you. Push back to intensify it.
    https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/MediaLibraries/URMCMedia/ortho/foot-ankle/documents/plantarfasciitisteachingsheet.pdf
  • CarolPre
    CarolPre Posts: 1,845 Member
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    I've had it in my left foot for a couple months now. Yes, it is painful. I did the ice and ibuprofen. I think what helped me the most was taking a break from walking (my go to exercise), then stretching, and I use a foot roller under my desk at home all the time now. I almost bought a PF brace, but the other things I did seemed to work better for me. Everyone is different, so you just need to find what helps for you.
  • treehugnmama
    treehugnmama Posts: 816 Member
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    I had this for years!! I had custom orthotics for years and wore the contraption to bed and rolled by foot over a frozen waterbottle and suffered for years. I'd been taped every two days for 6 weeks.

    It flared up bad in 2010 after a half marathon and I went to a new podiatrist and he uses an ultrasound machine and lazer on the area. I didn't think it would work but I tried it had to go 2 times a week for a month and I haven't had pain since. It was great! Highly reccomended it. I could barely hobble in there the first day and was walking around disney a month later. I have no pain now.

    Good luck!
  • MiMi_5151
    MiMi_5151 Posts: 41 Member
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    I suffered with PF in both feet for about 5 years - tried everything mentioned already, including multiple steroid injections. I could barely make it through the grocery store without severe pain. Finally, I had surgery (plantar fascia release) in both heels (about 10 months apart). The recovery process is long but worth it. That was 20 years ago and I've pain free the entire time!
  • Chieflrg
    Chieflrg Posts: 9,097 Member
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    KT tape will give you instant relieve.
  • janettles
    janettles Posts: 69 Member
    edited August 2016
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    Karate workouts, barefoot on a 1-2 inch-thick mat, helped me years ago. I seem to recall that the relief came fairly quickly, like maybe within a week or two. The problem has not returned.
  • toniquimby
    toniquimby Posts: 24 Member
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    When I first started running, I had it in both feet. I still occasionally get a flare up. Podiatrist told me no more running, taped my feet with arch pads that did nothing but keep me out of the shower for days on end, and made me some very expensive orthotics. I went to a running store and talked to the experts. He told me NOT to stop running, but to take it easy distance-wise. Told me to roll my feet on a frozen water bottle until I just couldn't stand the cold any more. Then roll my feet on a tennis ball with as much force as I could handle. Lo and behold I was MUCH better in a matter of days. Whenever I feel it coming on again, I head it off with my trusty tennis ball and the water bottle that stays in my freezer for use by my feet only.
  • blackhawksgrl25
    blackhawksgrl25 Posts: 6 Member
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    I ended up having to have surgery on both my feet due to this buuuuut the one thing that helped me was freezing a 20oz water bottle and rolling it with my feet. It stretched and iced it at 1 time
  • NadiaMayl
    NadiaMayl Posts: 495 Member
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    Orthotics and PT for me got me out of it. Now, I stretch stretch stretch, especially ones for Plantar F. Never, and really mean it, walk on flat shoes or flip flops, ever! The only flip slops I wear now which help are croc ones, they offer enough arch support.
  • Cherimoose
    Cherimoose Posts: 5,210 Member
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    NadiaMayl wrote: »
    Never, and really mean it, walk on flat shoes or flip flops, ever! The only flip slops I wear now which help are croc ones, they offer enough arch support.

    I used to have PF and now i only wear flat shoes. I gradually weaned myself off arch supports, because they seem to be a crutch that weakens the arch, which in turns causes PF. :+1:
  • thatdesertgirl777
    thatdesertgirl777 Posts: 269 Member
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    I got healed of this and it was so simple... My Chiro told me what to do.....

    Every morning before you STEP FOOT out of bed, you roll the bottoms of your feet with a golf ball for a minute or so each. (Keep it by your bed at night).. It slowly got better everyday and within a few weeks it was completely gone.
  • kirkwaterman
    kirkwaterman Posts: 1 Member
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    Wow! I never thought this to be such a widespread problem. I was first diagnosed with tendinitis, given a steroid shot and sent home. I lived with daily pain for a year after until I couldn't stand it any longer. After a visit to a specialist I received the PF diagnosis. I now stay away from running and bike and use the elliptical machine instead at the gym, follow stretching regimens many have outlined here in the mornings, and use moxicam, prescribed for pain, which now I rarely need to use. It feels good to finally walk without pain again!
  • Sqeekyjojo
    Sqeekyjojo Posts: 704 Member
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    The injections never worked, as they just stopped the pain in one tiny place, so, as I had it left over from an ankle injury, I wore an aircast during the day for three months and one of those much maligned Skechers shoes on the other foot (mainly because it was the only thing that brought my other leg length close enough to prevent knee/hip pain).

    I massaged it every day, said lots of bad words, but never, ever stood up without the cast being on unless I was in the shower. Twelve weeks of doing that fixed it in a way that three years of painkillers, taping, injections and limping everywhere had failed. The only time I found taping to help was just a tiny bit at night to stop my foot dropping as I fell asleep.

    Once I was pain free, I started doing gradual heel raises/slow, controlled drops on the stairs and made sure every pair of shoes had a pair of inserts in them. Oh, and I avoided heels and flat shoes without support or fastenings, plus replaced all my gym shoes the instant they stopped giving my foot perfect support.


    After an xray and an ultrasound scan (due to spraining my ankle), the specialist said he could see I'd had fasciitis in the past - I'm not sure how, maybe it's slightly scarred or something? - but, apart from the sprain, everything looked pretty good to him.

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