Plantar fascitis

[Rafiki31]

Anyone have it? Any relief? Nothing seems to be working for me and I can barely walk! Help!

 

[crz4mm2]

You need to take pressure OFF the plantar fascia, so you need a very good arch. It will take weeks for it to feel better. Anti-inflammatories will help.

Good luck. Don't go without your shoes at all. wear them all the time (with the good support!).

 

[LuvsDragonflies]

I got some relief by stretching the feet against a stair, but orthodics helped the most.

 

[Rafiki31]

My Dr suggested I get shoes with more of a heel like Danskos and they are hurting so much worse! I need to see an Ortho! My Dr totally blew me off when I asked for a referral she said try the new shoes. So now I spent 120 bucks on shoes that made the pain worse.

What kind of shoes seem to help the pain? I am trying to make an appointment with an Ortho this week. My Sketcher Shape Ups seem to help a little but when I take em off the pain comes right back.

 

[vakamalua]

You will need custom orthotics (from a podiatrist or orthopedic doctor) to wear in your shoes to support the arch and take the pressure off the Plantar Fascia.

Take anti-inflamatories (ibuprofen) regularly--2 pills, 3 x a day--for at least two weeks. Be careful, though, if it usually upsets your stomach or you have bleeding problems.

Stretch your arch before you get out of bed every morning and last thing at night: sit on bed or floor with legs out straight in front of you, wrap a towel around the arch of the foot and gently pull the towel toward you, hold for about ten seconds.

It can take several months before the pain goes away. Wear your orthotics and stretch to prevent a reoccurrance.

Good luck.

 

[daannzzz]

I bought Birkinstock inserts. They were $65 a pair but they worked. it took a few weeks for the pain to begin to subside. I also froze water bottles and then rolled my foot back and forth over them on the floor, as directed by the doctor.

 

[luv2sew]

It takes along time for this to heal. It sounds like you have a pretty bad case and may need to go to a foot doctor for some relief. I have had it several times as a result of jobs that I had that I was walking on cement floors with the wrong shoes on. Flip flops, flat sneakers, some sandels and bare feet waking is not good for this problem. I have never gone to see a doctor but I flex and stretch my feet while I am in bed and before I get up out of bed (which is something I have read that helps) I always wear good shoes with a small heal and put Dr Scholls inserts in my shoes designed for this problem always. Once I get a flare up (which is always from wearing the wrong shoes) it takes a bit of resting my feet and keeping my shoes on till it feels better. Buying good shoes and wearing them is not going to give you instant relief it takes time. My MIL did go to the doctor for this and they gave her a shot in her heel which helped.

 

[Rafiki31]

Should I see a podiatrist or an orthopedic doctor? My PCP seems useless.

 

[pixiedustaholic]

I have been suffering with PF for over a year in my left foot. It is so painful that I cannot imagine having it in both feet. I am seeing a specialist but nothing has helped thus far. He even gave me a Cortisone shot which made it hurt worse. I will tell you the things he has suggested for me. Resting my foot on ice pack 2x/day everyday for 20 min at the end of the day, stretches (google some), he prescribed inserts that I wear in all of my shoes, don't walk barefoot even just around the house, stretch your foot before standing especially in the morning before you get up...He gave me two different anti-inflammatory Rx but neither helped.
My next option is physical therapy. I am overweight, so I am planning to get some pounds off after our trip to WDW next week. I am dreading trying to walk around WDW b/c I know it is going to cause it to flare up even worse.
The doctor also told me to rest as much as possible...no exercising, just do what is absolutely necessary to get by at work.
Good luck. I hope you get healed up quickly.

 

[torinsmom]

I have this in both feet. I was put on Cipro last spring for a Sinus infection and it had a black label warning about possible damage to tendons. I did everything I was told to avoid it and was also told it was very rare, but a month after I finished the pills, my left foot started hurting. Doctor said it was tendonitis and told me to stop wearing Crocs and wear good tennis shoes with OTC inserts. I did and it would come back on and off. Now, it is in both feet and the doctor has confirmed it is PF He has recommended my seeing a foot doctor and getting insoles. He also suggested I wear hiking boots on my Disney trip(we are here now), but I didn't have time to break any in. I am hoping the insoles help.

 

[MrsPete]

My case is quite mild, but two things have worked for me:

1. Exercises that my doctor gave me.
2. Never, ever again lying on the loveseat with my feet hanging off and my toes pointing -- this position definitely aggravates the condition.

 

[DVC-Don]

The only things that work for me are custom made inserts and never walk around without shoes (with the insert in them).

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

I have had it in both feet, at separate times. Inserts did nothing for me. I took 4 Advils at one time twice/day when I needed to do a lot of walking. Got rid of the severe pain and was able to walk normally (even spent 2 weeks at WDW this way).

It takes about 18 months to heal completely, but you get past the worst in a few months if you limit your time on your feet. Stretching your toes up towards your shins for about 5 minutes before you put your feet on the floor first thing in the morning lessens the severity of the painful first steps of the day, but not by much.

I tried all of the other things recommended by doctors (rolling tennis balls, frozen water balls, etc). None of it helped. Only Advil and time helped me.

Good luck.

 

[lucas]

I have been suffering since April with this. I've tried all of the above (not the shots) and nothing has helped.

 

[chabs]

Had the same thing. Went to a podiatrist and he had custom orthodics made for my shoes ($400 oop). I only had to wear them for a few months and now I don't need them at all. He also gave me a prescription anti-inflammatory. Ice helped at night too.

He taped my arches for about 3 weeks while I was waiting for my orthotics to come in. I would go in twice a week and have them re-taped. This seemed to help almost immediately. Once your arches stay back up where they belong, the problem goes away.

In the meantime, I found these Dr. Scholls blue gel heel insert things at Target (Walgreens has them too) that helped for a little bit. My problems actually started when we were at Universal one year, so I tried these in my sneakers and they seemed to help a lot. I would not wear anything without arch support for now either, like flat flip flops.

Edit-forgot to say, I also went to an orthopaedic, but liked the podiatrist's answer better. Ortho wanted to perform surgery that it turned out that I didn't need. Taping seems weird but it really did work.

 

[momtoprincess A]

I had planter fascitis about 5 years ago and tried everything (even the custom made orthotics) and nothing helped. I was getting worried because we were planning on taking the kids to Disneyland and knew I couldn't walk very far at all. My doctor finally suggested getting one of these from a medical supply store. I had to sleep with it on for a couple of weeks and my foot was fine. I haven't had any problems with it since.





http://www.orthomedicalsupplies.com...oduct_Code=50023C&Category_Code=NIGHT_SPLINTS

 

[whatsup]

Go out and buy a pair of BIRKENSTOCK sandals. Wear them for a few months or longer if you wish. Then you can go back to your regular shoes and when the Plantar acts up wear the Birkenstocks again. Cured me 5 years now. Won't hurt to try them out.

 

[wobblez]

My DW has this and she went to see the doctor and she got 3 shots in her foot. That worked a little then he told her to tape up her foot and that did not work. We were working out at the Y and she was jogging on the tredmill and she hurt her foot. The doctor did an MRI and she tore a ligament and she had to wear a boot (cast) for 2 months and that fixed her foot. The Doctor said that where she tore it was where he was going to cut it to fix the planters. Hope this helps ya'll.

 

[minkydog]

My Dr suggested I get shoes with more of a heel like Danskos and they are hurting so much worse! I need to see an Ortho! My Dr totally blew me off when I asked for a referral she said try the new shoes. So now I spent 120 bucks on shoes that made the pain worse.

What kind of shoes seem to help the pain? I am trying to make an appointment with an Ortho this week. My Sketcher Shape Ups seem to help a little but when I take em off the pain comes right back.

I had the same problem with Danskos. Everyone raved about how great they were, but they just killed my feet. I see a sports medicine ortho yearly, more often when it's flared up. I went through a really bad patch of it about 6 years ago. I could hardly walk. In fact, the ortho gave me cortisone injections directly into my heels and post-tibial tendon(the one that runs from the back of your ankle to the underside of your inside arch~ow!) then he put me in a removeable cast & crutches for 2 weeks. After that, I had to wear custom orthotics with New Balance shoes and do calf stretching exercises several times a day. What a mess! But it worked.

I still wear the custom orthotics and New Balance athletic shoes. I wear them with everything, even to church, weddings and funerals. If i try to wear pretty shoes even for an hour I can hardly walk the rest of the day. At this point, my ortho says the only other option is to have my foot reconstructed, a very painful, gruesome kind of surgery with a very long recovery period(6-12 months!) So i'm trying to just baby the foot and not ask too much of it.

 

[poohfriend9]

I suffered and suffered in pain, then I did the following.

Seen Podiatrist
Got Semi-Rigid Custom Orthotics
A pair of New Balance Sneakers for Plantar Fascitis/Good Arch
A pair of Orthaheel Shoes too that relieve plantar pain.
Never go barefoot any longer
Stretch arches every morning when getting up & every night at bed time
Wrapping & Icing foot
Freezing Water bottle and rolling under bottom of foot a few times a day
Advil to help with immflamaton
Rest when can and stretch, stretch, stretch everyday

Was in desperate pain, but with doing the above everyday and getting shoes for plantar fascitis doing alot better. Still get pain when doing alot of walking or standing, back to stretching with the activity or after.

Hope things improve for you soon!