Has anyone else dealt with plantar fasciitis?

How long was it before you recovered and/or how long before you could do your normal exercise routine again?

My left foot started having pain last Friday and got exponentially worse over the weekend. By Monday I couldn't walk without crutches. I saw my doctor on Tuesday who diagnosed it as plantar fasciitis. I bought new sneakers, insoles, and a night splint and have been doing the suggested stretches. I go to PT next week. It's improved a bit from where I was- I can tolerate walking enough in small doses to at least get through a grocery shopping trip and other basic daily functions. But I used to get 20k steps a day on average, so I'm going a little crazy having to be off my feet so much. Just curious what other people's experiences were and any advice or tips. Thanks in advance!
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Replies

  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,036 Member
    edited October 2020
    Well, I would say to not force it. If you don't rest, it will take a lot longer to heal! I think it took 6 months for me, but I didn't use splints and had no PT, and I had it in both feet so very difficult to recover properly (especially since I refused to truly rest).
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 7,342 Member
    Mine troubled me off and on for months. I honestly thought I had a peice of broken glass lodged under the skin and couldn’t figure out how it got there, til I had it looked at.

    I got an ankle high compression sock. OMG. Overnight relief and within a week all pain was gone.

    Try one of the lattice looking black and white or all black ones. The cottony ones that look like regular socks with colored heels don’t have the compression.

    https://www.amazon.com/s?k=plantar+fascitis+compression+sock&ref=nb_sb_noss
  • PapillonNoire
    PapillonNoire Posts: 76 Member
    Mine troubled me off and on for months. I honestly thought I had a peice of broken glass lodged under the skin and couldn’t figure out how it got there, til I had it looked at.

    I got an ankle high compression sock. OMG. Overnight relief and within a week all pain was gone.

    Try one of the lattice looking black and white or all black ones. The cottony ones that look like regular socks with colored heels don’t have the compression.

    https://www.amazon.com/s?k=plantar+fascitis+compression+sock&ref=nb_sb_noss

    Thank you- I'll definitely try those!
  • Lynatea
    Lynatea Posts: 311 Member
    I used the soup can and rolled it under my foot when it acted up, however since I've dropped 45 pounds it hasn't bothered me in almost a year. It can be excruciating pain and miserable to walk on. I hope recover you quickly.
  • Xiaolongbao
    Xiaolongbao Posts: 854 Member
    Mine bothered me for about 2 years (sometimes worse than others) but it did eventually disappear. In my case I wasn’t overweight when I got it so it wasn’t something I could lose weight to help with.

    I didn’t find anything that consistently helped although somethings (like rolling) seemed to help at times.
  • nooshi713
    nooshi713 Posts: 4,877 Member
    edited October 2020
    If it is just inflammation and not a major tear you may heal in a month or two. Some tears of plantar fascia can take 6 months to heal. Definitely wear a cushioned insole and shoe with good arch support. You really do have to rest your feet by walking less. I also recommend Ibuprofen 2-3 times daily. If you can, gently roll your arch on a cold bottle or can a few times a day.

    I have dealt with this in the past off and on for years. It was most severe 10 years ago after walking too much on a trip to NYC. I had to stop wearing flat sandals and flip flop type shoes with no arch support. It took me months to fully recover. Once I started wearing the right shoes, I haven’t had many problems the last several years. I recommend wearing a supportive shoe at home too, especially on hard floors.
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,400 Member
    I had it bad years ago--I was thinner and younger, so not overweight. I had pain for over a year and saw a doctor for it . He sad to take ibuprofen 4 times a day for 2 weeks and that it would take awhile to heal. A friend of mine (husband a doctor, she a nurse) told me to do stretching exercises before getting out of bed--toes pointed, count to 10, toes turned back, count to 10 (repeat 10 times). I started doing these stretches 4 times a day and got better fast. I have kept them up as a precaution at least 3 times a week when I do my stretches and yoga. I'm 65 now and don't want it back. I also noticed that every year when I switched to flat summer sandles, it started to come back. Shoes and support make all the difference. I now buy sandles with an arch support (usually Sketchers) and the same with walking and exercise shoes. No problems for years.
  • Diatonic12
    Diatonic12 Posts: 32,344 Member
    I learned how to tape my feet. Did that for almost a year. It's gone with the wind now.

    c91lwe1n2iro.png
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,831 Member
    I've dealt with plantar fasciitis for years. I put arch support in everything that doesn't have it, even slippers and pool shoes, and only wear shoes with good arch support. I buy inserts from https://www.theinsolestore.com/

    Sadly, you will probably need to kiss cheap shoes goodbye. You don't need to pay list price, however. Once you figure out which shoes work for you do aggressive online shopping to find good shoes that work for you cheap. For example, walking shoes from Earth Shoes do well for me. I watched their sales and got a $100 walking shoe for $40.

    Rigid arches work for me. My feet are flat like a duck but I still got plantar fasciitis and need to wear shoes with effective arch support. Work on finding the orthotics or shoes that work for you. For me, I wear Sanita Professionals (clogs). Other brands that work for me are Dansko, Earth, and Mephisto but only styles with rigid arch support. I find cork inserts from Berkinstock works well for me even though I can't wear their sandals. You will need to figure out what works for you.

    Don't expect this to go away fast or permanently. The pain, however, does go away if you are careful about what shoes you wear and are aware when you're feet start to act up because you haven't been diligent about arch support. Going barefoot is my guilty pleasure that stresses my fascia. Sigh.

  • jwcannon70
    jwcannon70 Posts: 28 Member
    My experience isn't as bad as yours. What helped me is that I would freeze a bottled water. Then at night while watching television I would use the frozen water and roll it under my foot. That helped me immensely.
  • Awesomizer06
    Awesomizer06 Posts: 5 Member
    You need rest for a period of time. During this time you need to wear proper shoes, plantar fasciitis exercises and plantar fasciitis messages.
    Give it time!
  • scarlett_k
    scarlett_k Posts: 812 Member
    It can take a long time but it will get better given a bit of tlc. Avoid walking or running on hard surfaces. Always wear footwear if you're on your feet, from when you get up to when you go to sleep. Losing excess weight can help too.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    A year.

    1 year to recover after many many years of almost allowing it but then doing too much and getting a setback.

    A month off was never a enough, gently started up again was never enough.

    Finally got custom inserts in all shoes worn so the tendon didn't have to provide any support and continue to wear and tear.
    Like any tendon with problems, it needs time to heal while not being used. If it's used it takes longer. Being in the foot, it's being used to some degree.

    1 from podiatrists, 2 much more cheaper ones from online doing my own imprint and thin carbon, another from local running store much cheaper.

    I could keep biking with the stiff bike shoes with insert, no standing. I could walk with inserts. After 6 months I could backpack during winter with them.

    After about 9 months I could start jog/walk intervals, leading into barefoot walking around house as much as possible to start strengthening back up, leading to removing any inserts from truly flexible shoes that moved with the foot (kept in rigid ones).

    At 1 year had started to barefoot jog/walk and kept that up until 20 min barefoot jogging - super strong foot system.
    Had to stop due to aggravating unequal leg length issue that required shoe insert.

    I'll still put an insert into rigid shoes that don't allow the foot to work the way it is meant to, but anything flexible enough arch doesn't matter.
  • durhammfp
    durhammfp Posts: 493 Member
    edited October 2020
    Definitely, a good physical therapist is worth her weight in gold. When you go to that first appointment ask her if eccentric heel drops might help. They have worked wonders for me.

    https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/09/15/heel-pain-treatment/
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    durhammfp wrote: »
    Definitely, a good physical therapist is worth her weight in gold. When you go to that first appointment ask her if eccentric heel drops might help. They have worked wonders for me.

    https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/09/15/heel-pain-treatment/

    That is a good protocol for Achilles tendon issues, actually about the only studied protocol to have good results.

    But where the tendons attach mean it doesn't involve the plantar. Achilles attaches at heel.

    Any benefit to the plantar could probably be improved with something specific to it.
    Which low blood flow and slow repair and misaligned fibers all apply the same.
  • PapillonNoire
    PapillonNoire Posts: 76 Member
    Thank you everyone- this is all so helpful!
  • GummiMundi
    GummiMundi Posts: 396 Member
    LloydGK wrote: »
    My wife found this video from physical therapist (among other things) Jeff Cavalier at Athlean X to be the only thing that has worked for her

    It addresses the cause of the problem and not just the symptoms. Interesting too.

    Very interesting, thanks for sharing it! I'm going to try the advice he gives.
  • MelG7777
    MelG7777 Posts: 14,002 Member
    I had it once quite a few years ago. Got orthotics and it got better. A few years later I got it in my other foot. I had it from Jan-Aug. It was awful. It was before I lost weight and got in shape. I took ibuprofen every day almost. New orthotics. Massaging. Stretching. I was considering some alternative treatments/injections. Anything. I stumbled upon this video and share it with everyone when we talk about PF. I can only attribute it to this because it helped pretty much immediately. I don’t personally believe in orthotics anymore. Not for me and this issue anyway. Good luck!
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GQhtavGoL6A