Be at wdw and in a lot of pain

[anniemae]

Can you take anti-inflammatory drugs? If you can tolerate them, see if your dr. can write a prescription. I think it was Naproxen (I may have the name wrong, but I think it was naproxen) that helped my PF. The podiatrist wrote it out for me.

 

[Love Tink]

I've had PF for years and some of my best advice is the same as others on this board (ways to alleviate the pain - for my situation, with kids and at my age, I would honestly rather not go than rent a scooter or wheelchair for PF):

1) Wear either inserts or shoes made with supportive arches. PF flares up and gets worse based on how inflamed the tendon gets. Good support keeps the tendon from getting inflamed.

2) Take prescription Naproxen or, if you can't get a prescription, the over-the-counter version (i.e. Aleve). This, again, keeps the inflammation down.

3) Here's advice I haven't seen in the thread - it sounds weird, but if you are staying where there is a hot tub, go to the hot tub at night and stick your foot on a jet. Let the water massage your foot right where it hurts. This massage is more powerful than what you can probably do by hand, and it loosens up the tendon and lessens the inflammation. It kind of hurts, but that good hurt where you know it is loosening things up and helping.

 

[finngirl]

I have had this for years, but no flare ups for the past couple. I know you can get expensive orthotics, but what really helped me was a shoe insert called "2 oz miracle" (I think). I know they have changed the style now, and aren't as good, but if you can find memory foam inserts, these are fabulous! It made all the difference for me.

I also second the "good shoes" suggestion. My doctor told me to wear them in the house too - no barefoot stuff. The cold/frozen coke bottle worked wonders too.

 

[MOM POPPINS]

I had a flare up in May on our trip, I was out of my prescription meds proxicam. I thought oh I will be fine... NOOOOO I wasn't and I ended up in horrible shape.. I limped horrible and put so much pressure on the wrong parts of my foot by walking awkwardly... I ended up damaging the tendons on the outside of my foot. I got a cort. shot in June, helped some but not the tendon side... I have been in a foot boot for 4 weeks and I have to wear it for 4 more. I am also having orthodics made currently.

Don't try to go walk on it when it is already flared up.. it will only make things much worse. I started having PF about 4 years ago and as long as I take the proxicam daily while at Disney it doesn't seem to flare up. I will never go to Disney again without it! I only take when I know I am going to be walking a lot

 

[OZMom]

Birkenstocks!!!
I have had PF for over a year now and they were literally the only shoe that helped!
Also, as others said, ice at night and the jet on the hot tub does wonders. A friend of mine recommended the elliptical which is what I'm doing to prepare for my trip in November. Also, lots of Aleve Good Luck!!

 

[donac]

Keep a couple of plastic bags in your day bag. Then as you are going back to your room you can stop and get ice and you won't have to go back to the ice machine.

I have been through the parks with PF, a bad knee and recovering from bunion surgery that caused the bad knee.

 

[CaryHaven]

Going to the World in a few day and I have severe plantar fasciitis! I have had this a few times and once at disney but not this bad. I am concerned I will not make it the whole time.

Anyone else had to suffer through this and how did you come through it?

 

[PryncessChrysty]

I have PF, bring a tennis ball and roll it under your foot each night. It'll hurt, but it's almost like a relief pain, if that makes sense. Also, bring some comfy slip-on shoes for around room - slippers alone won't cut it, and it will REALLY help with taking that first, incredibly painful step in the morning. Just step right into the shoes and it'll be so much easier. Crocs work best for me - I only wear them around the house, never outside. I've found that since wearing them it has really helped alleviate my PF as a whole, and it hardly ever flares up anymore.

Also, we bought this massage roller from Mitsukoshi in the Japan pavilion and it works wonders for ALL of your aches & pains. It doesn't feel like a huge relief when you're actually rolling it, but you'll feel it afterward. We bring it on every trip now.

It looks like this - and has one single roller on the handle:

 

[brownhaired_girl]

Hi.
Im a nurse and had suffered with PF for many years. I got injections a couple of times before our Disney trips and was able to get by. I had read about peppermint foot soaks and decided to give it a try. I got some Dr Teals peppermint foot soak. (foot area at Walmart) I believe it is probably just epsom salts with some peppermint mixture in it. I soaked my feet in hot water. Very hot water and for quite a while, then I rubbed them with a lotion. I know everyone says to use cold but that didn't work for me. I think the hot water improved circulation to the area for that time and loosened things up to stretch. When I rubbed my feet it was not a nice pleasant rub like a massage. It was a rub meant to help stretch things. As I was rubbing it felt like rice crisps up in the arch area and towards the toes of my feet. It was kind of creepy feeling.
I think when we cause damage to tissue in our body, like we do with PF, our body sometimes creates calcium deposits at the site of the damage. I think that what I felt as I was rubbing was the calcium deposits being broken down. When these calcium deposits are broken down your body is able to clear them. I don't know this to be a fact, but I do know that within 2-3 days of soaking and rubbing about 20-30 minutes/day I no longer limped when I got out of bed in the morning or every time I got up from a chair at work. I still get sore feet at times if I work to many long shifts in a row but it is nothing like what it was 2 years ago. A day or two of soaking and I'm better again.

 

[ttintagel]

I once broke my foot within an hour of checking into my Disney resort. I had to rent an ECV and was on pain medication the whole time. It was still a magical trip.

(And it's a small world on opiates is a whole 'nother trip, I can tell you. Feel better soon!)

 

[DeAnna4140]

Great advice from everyone. Ice is very helpful at night!

I bought and broke in a pair of Brooks Adrenaline sneakers before I went and wore those. They are highly rated for PF. I took little breaks throughout the day and didn't have any problems.

 

[Micca]

I once broke my foot within an hour of checking into my Disney resort. I had to rent an ECV and was on pain medication the whole time. It was still a magical trip.

(And it's a small world on opiates is a whole 'nother trip, I can tell you. Feel better soon!)

Honestly, this is what I would do. I don't sufffer from PF, but I used to get gout attacks that were incredibly painful. It just plain hurt no matter what--until I got the meds.

I realize many people object to taking pain meds, but until a more permanent remedy can be found, I'd def. take the pills and stay off the foot as much as possible.

 

[stpats317]

My husband has extremely flat feet and was suffering horribly with PF. He had been to the doc several times with no relief but on one visit the nurse practitioner said "you have flat feet - forcing your feet into shoes or orthotics with an arch is dumb." She recommended New Balance 1540 shoes. We had to order them online but when they arrived he put them on and the pain relief was instant and complete. He has never had a single problem with PF since that day. However, he had a double his replacement last year and can no longer wear them. I guess the hip replacement changed the way he walks now but he still has no issues with PF.

 

[ekidwell0001]

God love your heart! DH and I are here now and I am having trouble with my PF as well. One of the best things you can do is the frozen water bottle at night, even my Dr. recommended it. Other than that I stay in my gym shoes, take ibuprofen when it gets to bothering me, and I also purchased strength tape for $10 back home but have yet to try it. Try not to worry too much before you get here! I worried myself sick that I wouldn't be able to enjoy myself and I have! Take extra breaks if you need them!!

 

[pmcneff]

Got the shot again but instead of going in through the heel he went in the side and going back the day before we leave for another cortisone shot. I feel about 70% better and so happy.

I can function again and believe I am on the right path! Sooo ready for mnsshp! First time to do this

 

[Disneylover03]

Stretches and ibuprofen are the best thing I've found that works for me.
I've also purchased Kuru footwear, sold online that is made for PF.
Hope it gets better for you!

 

[cgattis]

Try sitting in the hot tub with the jets blasting right into the sore spots (like 2" from the jet, I mean!). It really helped me when I was having pain around the time of the ToT 10-miler. That and Aleve kept me on my feet through the whole trip.

 

[dani7776]

Just did 10 days in Aug with same prob took Advil 2x a day and iced my feet every night in the tub it helped a lot ! No flip flops wore my sneakers with orthotics and had some pain but was able to manage fine =) good luck take it slow and have a blast !!!

 

[Karlzmom]

I was in the same boat last trip....still suffering from PF heading into this one. Doc did the cortisone shot, put me on Meloxicam (higher dose of an NSAID than motrin) gave me the advice to freeze a water bottle to roll under my foot (helps alot!) an good shoes.

Lets talk shoes a minute...I have always tried to wear "good" shoes at the World. Every trip my feet ended up sore despite my best efforts. Last trip I tried orthoheel mules and voila! No pain in either foot. Seriously. I have custom orthodics that I put in my non-Orthoheel shoes, but like the shoes the best. I also took arnica gel with me and rubbed it in at night.

I hope it all works out for you. I know PF is incredibly painful and the dread of hurting really can put a damper on the enthusiasm. If you find yourself hurting, don't hesitate to rent a scooter. Don't wait until you can't move anymore before taking care of yourself.

 

[Dreaming~of~Disney]

I had severe PF in both feet and ended up having surgery on both but I would recommend freezing a bottle of water and rolling your feet on it every night. Also try stretching your feet(sit with legs straight out and pull your toes toward you-use a band or cloth to pull them back as far as you can). You could try cortisone shots but I had them several times and they didn't help me at all and they really hurt!