Plantar Fasciitis help?

I found swimming is my cure....I guess it stretches and strengthens muscles. I do a mix of strokes...

I have quite severe PF (combined with heel spurs) and cannot run or put any sort of excessive pressure on either of my heels. Ops and injections have all failed to resolve so I am limited to low/non impact exercise. For me rowing (indoor) was the saviour! Cycling and swimming are also acceptable, but not my thing. Good luck, you can work around it

Stretch your hammies. I was told PF starts with tight hamstrings. I don't need my custom orthotics ($$$) at the gym or for work any more, thank goodness ($$$)

Roll your foot over a frozen water bottle every night before bed. It hurts a lot at first, but helps tremendously.

The frozen water bottle like deluxmary200 said and rolling a tennis ball in the morning, also Epson salt paste. mix Epson salt and coconut oil and let it sit on your feet for a little while and then shower or bath.

My mother in law gave me a tip about gettinf a sauce/ketchup bottle (glass) and banging it gently on the sole of your foot...it actually healed my PF! The pain is worse in the mornings so try the trick then.

The therapists at my chiropractor's office did a few different therapies when I went through that the first half of the year. They mostly did some kind of deep heat therapy followed by myofascial release. A few sessions of deep tissue massage too. It seemed to help, but it still took me about 6 months to recover (but I didn't start treatment until a couple months in, so who knows how much worse I made it by trying to tough it out!) That kind of thing might be worth looking into if you can afford it, a lot of insurance plans don't like those offices.

Everyone else has also mentioned great ideas, at least the ones I've tried. Having to wear shoes all the time was the hardest thing for me to get used to, haha, but for being easy and free it made a ton of difference!

jgnatca wrote: »

It's not mind over body when it comes to chronic inflammation, which is what PF is. Consider recovery to be months long.

I'm a big fan of stretches (hamstring). Do some before you step out of bed.

The ice roller, foot brace, shoe inserts and rest are all excellent helps.

Voltaren gel can provide temporary relief.

Weight loss and the corresponding relief of pressure on your feet is also excellent.

The next time you feel pain like that when you are exercising, stop what you are doing. You bull through cardio exertion, not joint/tendon pain.

Unless you want to extend your recovery by months.

This. You can't outrun this one. The NUMBER ONE thing you can do for PF is R.E.S.T. Seriously. I've dealt with this twice--once was about 15 years ago when I actually could take a load off for hours a day and rest my foot. It went away. Now, I'm in a different place in my life (full time work, three kids, etc) and cannot rest it as I should. You should NOT put any strain on it if you feel pain. This is NOT a "Just Do It" moment. I had two back-to-back steroid shots (so that I could follow through with a plan to climb a mountain last summer) but I was doing all of the PT that was recommended AND sleeping in a boot. Find a boot that fits. Roll your foot daily on a frozen bottle, wooden ball, whatever. Do calf raises with a negative heel. And do cardio that is non impact (water cardio in a pool, water running, swimming, cycling).

You CANNOT outrun this. You will extend your recovery by months. MONTHS. It's not worth it. Get to a PT or a doc and make a plan.

Man, that sounds terrible, but this is the voice of experience. I'm still only running 1 day a week (before it was 5) because I want to be pain free.

Oh, and ditch ANY shoes that are not supportive. Find out what works, and toss the others.

Good luck.

Agree with all those above that have said REST! I've had recurring PF and the impact of running/jumping type exercise just makes it worse and then it takes even longer to improve. Not worth it! Find exercise you like that doesn't aggravate it, rest and stretch your hamstrings well. Weight loss will help (it has for me) but running any long distances still sparks it off again. I was wearing a lot of flat shoes when mine was at its worst and the thing that seemed to help the most was swapping to a pair of shoes with a bit of a heel (only a low block heel) - no idea how - but the relief was almost instant. Perhaps worth a try?!

Good luck.

My podiatrist told me to get a pair of Crocs. Not the ones that look like regular shoes, flip flops, or the generic. He told me to wear them around the house and never go barefoot. They really, really help. I don't limp around any more.

Okay...lots of advice going on. I just finished therapy for my first bout of PF! Was diagnosed by a doctor and went immediately to Physio for the past month. It is much better but not 100% it takes about 6-8 weeks to get better with proper excerxises.

1- stretch hamstring and calves
2- internal and external rotation with toes up leading with the heel 10 each way
3- stretching your toes backwards and holding for 30 sec (repeat 5x)
4- roll with frozen ice bottle or tennis ball to relax the knots and fascia

5- a brace to be worn at night! Every night to keep the calf stretched which elevated the fascia at the bottom of the foot
6- NEVER walk barefoot. Wear soft supporting slippers or shoes in the house!!
7- no running or any impact exercises (for now)

These are the guidelines the Physio and Dr gave me and it takes time to heal but it will. Don't rush it or you won't heal.

Good luck and be patient

Compression socks can help! I wore them for a while because I work 10 hour days as a server. A coworker suggested I try them...Not entirely sure how it works but combined with that, stretching, and avoiding the treadmill. My feet are feeling a LOT better.

I had this for years. It was actually caused by my inflammation due to being an undagnosed celiac. When I went gluten free the pain was gone within a few months.

My advice (from my expereience) would be to consider if there is any possible cause to it that you could correct. Is there anything causing inflammation in your life? Autoimmune issues? High blood glucose? Food sensitivities? Anything like that?

Hello me again on this.

I may be lucky but (so far) I have found that swimming is ALL I need - I am guessing it stretches my hamstrings? I do a fair bit of kicking only. When I stop swimming, it comes back....

The reason I mention this is:

I am really loath to go down the arch support route - having tried properly fitted arch supports many years ago. I never could wear them for long....it all just hurt too much...and they made shoe buying even more difficult (I have feet that are hard enough to find a fit for anyway...). Plus I cannot tolerate any shoe with a built in arch....

There is also a whole school of thought out there that arch supports is not the way to go. Instead foot excercises that strengthen your arch, and going bare foot as much as possible is the answer - eg look up Bare Foot Running.... Arch supports relieve the problem but do not solve it.


( Oh - I also found doing ham stretches in bed before getting up helped.)

Anyway I am so grateful I found swimming.....but if it is no longer enough I will try the arch strengthening not arch support approach with gusto!