Plantar Faciitis---Any Tips?

[TammyAlphabet]

If you have a Walgreen's near you, or another drug store, they sell boots that you can wear at night to keep the tendon from relaxing totally and causing pain. They sell them in the same place that they sell wrist and knee splints. I saw them the other day.

 

[crw]

Night splints! These are widely available and really have helped me. All the rest of the advice I've read is also excellent.
Chris

 

[3DisneyKids]

You have already received lots of good information here. You may also want to post this over on the Events/Competitions Board (part of WISH) where all of us crazy runners post. This is a common ailment among runners and there will be TONS of support and advice there. Hope you heal quickly!

 

[DisneyCrazyX5]

I found a flip flop I could wear at Kmart called TheraShoe. I wear them as my house shoes and they make my heels feel much better. They also have a athetic shoe I am going to try.

 

[Tink rules]

Birks... worked for me...

 

[mjtm610]

I know this sounds crazy---but it worked for me. I put a tennis ball in the freezer and then would "roll" my foot on it a couple of times a day. The cold helped. I had it in both feet and it took a while for it to go away...but atleast it was tollerable when I'd "roll" them

 

[ms*mountaineer]

Just one question: I don't seem to get a whole lot of relief from Aleve? It's supposed to be the best NSAID that you can get OTC. I took it at like 10:00 a.m. and I didn't really get a lot of relief until about 2:00 p.m. Does anyone else seem to have a "big" delay in pain relief with this. It's working pretty good now, but it sure does take a while to kick in.

When my podiatrist said I needed to take ibuprofen twice a day every day - he said it needed to "get in my system" to get the inflammation of that tendon to go down. I am not the type of person that like to take a lot of medicine. I don't usually head straight for the tylenol when I have a headache - so this is unusual for me to take something like Advil on such a regular basis. But he explained the need for it to get in my system to help "break the cycle of pain".

I'm sure it's not something I want to be taking twice a day forever! That can't be good for us. But to get over the pain so you can get some relief, you might try that.

 

[Nutty4Disney]

Wish I had found this thread BEFORE I went to WDW. We just returned on Saturday (10/3). One night my foot hurt so bad I woke up in tears. By Friday I had to rent a wheelchair. (Nothing was going to stop me from enjoying my vacation ) Mind you this was a combination of the PF and blisters. I got two new pairs of Crocs and broke them in before I left but by the second night I was in agony. At home I find the tennis ball works well. I keep one on my nightstand, one at work and one by the couch in the family room. I have to admit I am bad about wearing shoes all the time. I usually go barefoot April through October. I do find an Ace bandage around my arch seems to help, as well as an arch support (one or the other, not both). My doctor told me not to wrap it too tight though. I have trouble with my feet swelling and that was a lot of my trouble at WDW. My feet were so swollen that they rubbed places that they don't normally. I had blisters on my heels and my shoes didn't even have heels, they were backless sandals!!

 

[SamIAm21]

Well I've switched from Aleve to Advil. At least with Advil, you can take it several times a day. You can only take 2 Aleve a day and if that don't help, you're shot. I also found different shoe inserts from ProSport. They are way better than the Dr. Scholls. I wore my flip flops on Saturday because I was going for a pedicure, but by the end of the day, I was limping again.

I also got the brace for at night and it was difficult to sleep in. The brace itself isn't uncomfortable, but the blankets kept getting caught in it and I woke up a lot when I tried to roll over, so maybe I need some pajama pants now, so I can stick my leg out from under the blankets?? The brace was pretty pricey at $30.00, but I woke up this morning and was able to get out of bed without a lot of pain. So, it's worth it and it is very packable and is going with me to Disney.

Thanks for the continued ideas and thoughts about this nasty little condition. Someday, this will get better, I just know it!!

 

[KarlaG4Kids]

Mine are WAY better now. So there is hope. I do know that when I start feeling aching feet, I immediately start doing some of the things I know I should do, and I don't go barefoot hardly ever anymore. That is some of the worst pain ever and I felt like I was 100 years old by not being able to move when I would stand up. Good luck to all of your fellow PF sufferers.