I probably do need to find another Dr. He never gave me any exercises, just a boot to sleep in every night, which I always forget. I may have some other issues going on (broken 5th metatarcel bone in my left foot 10 years ago). The Orthopedic surgeon warned me that I may possibly develop arthritis in my foot. I do wear good shoes, but I probably walk improperly on it as I tire which causes the crippling pain.
Perhaps I will consider a second opinion. Thanks!
Yes. I don't want to come off as harsh, but I have 2 different set of exercises that I'm supposed to do 3 times a day, and when I'm having a flare-up, doing them religiously for a couple of days (I do them anyway, but I don't necessarily do all the reps in both feet all 3 times every day) makes the symptoms disappear pretty much completely by the end of the second day.
But if you can't walk a mile without being in that much pain for that long, you might want to also consider that your shoes actually aren't good enough. I don't get flare-ups at all when I wear my custom insoles, only when I wear shoes that are less supportive like my work shoes. Basically I can wear my custom insoles all the time and have very little pain, or I can wear my work shoes and do my exercises and have very little pain. But it took a few months of doing the exercises every day to get to that point, and I have to keep doing them when I'm working (as opposed to on vacation, when I can wear my sneakers/Keens with the insoles and mostly skip the exercises).
These are the exercises I do:
http://www.ehow.com/how_4480004_do-exercises-relieve-plantar-fasciitis.html especially the first two. The towel pull I do 10 reps of 10 seconds on each foot, switch, and do the whole thing twice. I'm supposed to do it at least twice a day. The wall one I do 3 reps of 10 seconds on each foot, three complete sets, at least three times a day. Always make sure your knees are very slightly bent (it says straight, which is okay, but it won't work if you bend your knee backwards, which most people with PF do, so my doctor told me to bend it slightly), and for the towel one you need to really relax your whole leg and keep your heel firmly on the ground (and again, bend the knee slightly). Also, every time you wake up (including in the middle of the night) flex your feet for 30 seconds before you do anything else.
PF is a major annoyance because you have to really watch it, but if it's rendering you actually incapable of doing a reasonable amount of walking, then either you've got other problems or you need a better doctor (or you're not doing what your doctor says). Like I said above, if I started early it would act up by evening, but I was probably getting in 10 hours or so of touring before it bothered me (except on Soarin').
