Plantar Fasciitis

[Grniidgrl]

Anyone have this? how long did it take to heal.. any suggestions and remedies besides stay off it?

I injured my foot back in July and really pay the price in pain after a good cardio - walking- jogging session.

Most of the information I found on the web is not promising - as far as recovery and remedies.

Any thoughts or comments on your experience would be appreciated.

[marcella]

Re: Plantar Fasciitis

From what I've heard, the best remedy is a really good pair of shoes. With special support. If there is a "Good Feet Store" near you, I would check with them.

I have the condition, and when I wear good shoes it goes away. But whenever I slip on a pair of flip flops it gets worse.

Hope this helps!

Marcy

[7Miriam]

Re: Plantar Fasciitis

I have the problem - I've had it for several years and it has been very hard for me to get over it. I recently went to a podiatrist, and he had special orthodic inserts made for my shoes that give arch support (I have very flat feet he said). Anyway, it seems to be getting a little better using the orthodics.

Also, when I first got it, I continued to walk on it a lot - which I've been told made the problem more severe and harder to get rid of.

The other thing the podiatrist said would help is to lose weight - but that's hard to do without exercising!!! I've found that running in the pool is the only exercie I could do when the problem was at its worst.

[Grniidgrl]

Re: Plantar Fasciitis

I am afraid to go to the doctors and have them tell me to stop exercising (cardio) I know that after walking/jogging it's so much worse - maybe I'll test the waters on the eliptical only for a week or two.

I have to exercise to lose weight - but I dont want to do more damage to my foot.

[jarvist]

Re: Plantar Fasciitis

Oh my gosh! I have it too. Had it for several months now and I don't think it's one of those things that goes away quickly. I did the internet research like you did, and the one thing that helps me is wearing a slightly elevated heel. I threw out all of my flats.... and that has helped tremendously! Try to protect your feet as much as you can by always wearing supportive shoes and not going around bare footed on hard floors. Think positive and use this as an excuse to get new shoes!! Tennis shoes for runners always seem to have a slightly elevated heel on them as well. It hasn't gone away.... but it is bearable now.

[blueberrylady]

Re: Plantar Fasciitis

I suffered with it for years then I met a refexologist at a party and after 3 sessions with her, my heels stopped hurting and haven't bothered me since. The secret is ice. The pain is caused by inflamation and the ice cools it down.

I also had other foot problems stemming from fallen arches so in '06 I had both of my feet reconstructed. They rebuilt the arches and put in plates and screws to hold them together and they straighten my toes with pins because the fallen arches had pushed the bones out of place. It took me 18 months to fully recover from the surgeries but now my feet don't bother me at all and I'm on them all day long.

I do have to wear arch supports all the time and I paid $300 for custom made ones that don't work at all. Instead I buy Red Wings which only cost $29 a pair. You heat them in the oven then put them in your shoes and stand still for 2 minutes and they take the shape of your foot. I highly recommend them!

[Neecy]

Re: Plantar Fasciitis

I have this and have custom orthotics that I wear with a pair of New Balance running shoes. I also was told to NEVER go barefoot around the house, even if its just to go to the bathroom. I wear Crocs inside as they cushion the foot bed, and a night splint to keep the plantar fascia stretched while I sleep so it doesn't get re-injured by stretching it when I step on it in the morning.

[AnnieX]

Re: Plantar Fasciitis

I got plantar fasciitis years ago. I gained a lot of weight suddenly and was in a job where I was on my feet most of 8 hours. I could actually feel the extra fluid squishing in the soles of my feet when I stood after sitting. I was on Celebrex for months. A massage therapist I met advised that I take Omega 3 oil, which helped a lot more than the Celebrex. I am in a job now where I am not on my feet very much. The oils and being off my feet have pretty much solved the problem, but I still can't be on my feet very long. Controlling your weight is important as well probably.

[Lyssie]

Re: Plantar Fasciitis

They say that switching between heels and flats is really horrific for this. Otherwise, ibuprofen, stretching... taking it easy - I exercised, but would stop about 2 minutes after it started hurting and retreat home for rest, ice, elevation and ibuprofen.

[crystal4l]

Re: Plantar Fasciitis

I had this condition a few years ago, it developed after suddenly gaining weight and not wearing good supportive shoes. I hate shoes. Anyway I was working a job at the time that required me to be on my feet ALOT. I would wake up and hold onto everything to get to the bathroom, I was like what is wrong with me!? I went to the ER even, they took an X- RAY and said I had Plantar Fasciitits, the next day I went to my foot Dr. I also had a heel spur. He gave me a cortisone shot and it felt better. I took naproxen (Aleve) and wore no flat shoes. If it had an incline it didn't bother me as much. Well, I found out I was pregnant a few months later and I thought oh boy this is going to be ****. Well, I don't know what happened but in my 5th month, the pain went away!! Hasn't bothered me since. Even my heel spur doesn't bother me. Wierd.
** please note this is not advice to get pregnant**

[DonnieG]

Re: Plantar Fasciitis

Unfortunately, I am something of an expert on this condition. I have had it on and off for twenty years.

Therapy wise, do the following:

1. Stretch: lots of stretches, and the main one that can help is to sit on the bed or floor, grab your big toe, and pull back. You can also wrap a towel around your foot, grab the ends and pull the top of your foot towards your body.

2. Ice: it will help with inflammation. Secret about ice: when using ice, when you remove the ice feel your skin. Your skin should feel like an ice cube. If you can't make the skin feel like ice, then you are not getting to the problem. Make sense? Ten minutes on one foot, then ten on the other, etc.

These may help with your condition, but they won't come close to helping your body heal itself. The number one thing you can do is buy "space boots". Google "plantar fasciitis night boots" or something like that, and you will see lots of pictures and prices. What these boots do is keep your foot in a neutral position while you sleep. When we sleep, the adrenal glands go off line to regenerate. (Ever notice how you swell up at night, and with this condition you sometimes have to crawl around on the floor in the morning? Get the boots and stop this.) These glands work during the day and keep us from swelling so much, but they recharge when the rest of the body does. So, at night, with your feet in other than a neutral position, the swelling and inflammation greatly increase.

What you have are thousands of micro tears in the tissue. By keeping the feet in a neutral position you reduce the stress on your feet, allowing healing to take place. I have had to wear boots twice, and each time I wore them for EIGHTEEN MONTHS!!!!!!!!!

They also work great for sprained ankles: keep your foot in a neutral position, and it helps in healing. By the way, neutral means with the foot at a ninety angle from the lower leg, like standing straight up.

Additionally, you may need custom orthotics: I have been wearing them for fifteen years or more.

I have had cortisone injections, which didn't work for me. Nothing worked but the boots.

Donnie

[Aways2Go]

Re: Plantar Fasciitis

Just stumbled across this post. I developed a case of this many years ago, sort of out of the blue. I couldn't figure out why I would wake up in the morning and for the first 5 or 10 minutes I couldn't hardly walk - a bad thing when the dog is frantically whining to be let outside, and I was hobbling around just trying to get to the door.

Turns out my case was being caused by a change in footwear - it was summer, and I had started wearing a pair of loafer type shoes almost daily (boat shoes, docksides, topsiders, whatever you call them) that had nearly no arch support.

Once a sports medicine buddy pointed out my recent change in shoes, I immediately switched to tennis shoes with a lot of arch support, did some stretching of my feet throughout the day and in the evening, and in a few weeks it went away and I haven't had it since. I also picked up some shoe inserts and put in all my shoes that I wore regularly - decent ones that ran about $20 a pair. Seems like I got one pair at a medical supply type store and then found very similar ones at a good shoe store.

Hope I never get that again - what a pain, literally and figuratively!

[Kntrylady]

Re: Plantar Fasciitis

I guess it makes sense that so many of us have dealt with this since our weight can be a main aggravation.

I was surprised that Donnie was the only one that mentioned stretching. The first time I had problems I was working where I had to stand in one place alot. The Dr told me that the pain is caused by the tendon shortening, and then re-stretching it. That's why first thing in the morning, after the tendons have shortened up a bit, you can hardly stand. Also, the ice help reduce the inflammation from re-stretching the tendons.

My Dr suggested stretching every hour or so, by placing a board (a 4x6x12" works or even a couple of hardback books) flat on the ground, putting the balls on my feet on the board and dropping my heels off the back. It took about two weeks for all the symptoms to go away. But tell you what.... if I don't continue to stretch at least a couple times a week now, I start getting twinges to remind me again.

[blueberrylady]

Re: Plantar Fasciitis

I suffered with bone spurs in my heels for twenty years and nothing I tried worked until I met a reflexologist at a party. I was desparate so I made an appointment with her and after just 3 treatments of ice, massage and readjustments, the pain went away and I haven't had any problem since! And that was about 8 years ago!