Anyone else have plantar fasciitis?? Need advice please!!

Hi!

I can really empathise as I have had Plantaar Fasciitis for several years. I had the steriod injections which were pointless - a lot of pain for very little relief! But I found stretches to be the best solution.

I do this:

Stand on the bottom stair as if you are going upstairs, with the back half of your foot off the stair, then gently push your heel down as far as you can stand it. Hold for a count to ten then release. Do this ten times on each foot several times a day.

I have noticed a massive difference and although I dont do this every day now, I can soon tell when I need to start doing them again.

I hope this works for you.

Charlotte.

Yep I have it as well. As was posted preiously, you absolutely have to stretch out that foot every day, several times a day. You can use a stair or anything that you can put the front part of your foot on and push that heel to the floor. Also, I find that icing the bottom of the foot at night for at least 30 minutes helps alot. There have been times where I have iced in the morning and at night. If you keep up with it, its not as bad. But if you neglect it, it will only get worse. good luck and God Bless

Boncharlie, thank you for posting this. I truly feel your pain. By the time the night comes around, the pain is hard to deal with and by my limp, you would think I had a sprain. I haven't had this problem since I was around 260 pounds, but this time it is worse. I have been stretching, but maybe not enough. My lack of adequate stretching has caused a number of problems, shoulder, hip and now the feet. Hopefully, more stretching will work.

I had it for awhile. It went away. So obviously it wasn't a chronic condition for me as it seems it is for most of you all. But the doctor told me before I even got out of bed in the morning. (Cause it hurt a ton to take the first steps out of bed). He said to roll your feet over soup cans or baseballs to loosen everything up. So I did that many times in my day and it helped a lot.

Bump

My father and I both suffer from plantar fasciitis from time to time. I rest and he doesn't. Consequently, I heal and he doesn't.

Stretching is great for preventing and lessening the pain, but if you have it badly, you really do need to rest. The last time I had it badly, I tried to stay off my feet as much as possible. I walked to work still (20 minutes each way), but once I got there, I stayed sitting except to go to the washroom or get lunch. Same once I got home. It took about 2 months to go away.

That was five years ago by the way and I haven't had it since. (My father still has it).

Tips to prevent getting it again:

1) Alternate load bearing exercises (jogging, walking) with non-load bearing exercises (biking, swimming, leg lifts while watching TV) every other day. This helps prevent joint problems too.

2) Do the stretches everyone else has talked about.

3) Get "good" shoes. I put good in brackets because the type of shoes that have been considered good the last 20 years or so are actually not good in my opinion. All the big companies have promoted shoes with lots of arch supports etc. which would be fine if they were made especially for your feet, but since they are mass produced, they are most certainly not made for your feet! I switched to wearing children's shoes because they don't have much support and it made a world of difference. Also, my boyfriend bought me some Nike Frees as few months ago as a present and I've been wildly happy with them.

Also, shoes that require you to grip them with your toes in order to stay on can cause or worsen plantar fasciitis. That would be flip-flops or ballet flats or most type of shoes that don't lace on. If you wear slippers in your house, consider switching to moccassin-type slippers instead as they stay on your feet better than the slide into type.

I understand you want to continue exercising so the idea of rest is difficult, but you need to stay off your feet. Find non-load bearing exercises to do and you should be fine. (^_^)

Have you tried a night brace. a friend suggest it to me. its fantastic (once you learn to sleep in it) when my acts up, despite the show inserts, and arch band. a few nights in the night brace and its all good

I have it! I had it so bad I had to completely quit working out and I gained so much weight. Finally after trying so many things it is gone. This is what I did.
1. First I got me some awesome insoles. I cannot remember what they are called right now but pm me if you are interested and I will tell you. I ordered them online for like 25.00 I think.
2. I got a night splint--this thing was AMAZING. I wore it every night for 2 months and no longer have to wear it. It has a handy little ice pack in it too and it helps so much
3. I finally broke down and bought some fugly but so worth it motion control shoes. They are called Brooks Aeriel. They are about 130.00 and I absolutely love them. I never went barefoot for about 2 months and I no longer have it.

I also quit doing anything high impact. Runnig is a huge no no for me. I cannot even do the treadmill anymore. I bought me an elliptical and some work out dvd's and they are working wonders.
Hope this helps because I knnow how awful this condition is.

I haven't had this, but if you for some reason can't run or walk for a while, try cycling..less pressure on bottom of feet. If you can even go to one spin class it will change you. You burn 600 to 1000 calories a work out