Plantar fascitis

[aprilgail2]

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

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.

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I have had a few episodes of PF- noting helps but getting new custom made orthodics from a podiatrist. My Dr also recommends New Balance sneakers and to never go barefoot! I wear sneakers from morning through night most of the time. He said he also loves crocs because they keep him in business causing foot problems LOL! They are on the top of his do not wear list!

 

[kacaju]

those of you who wear new balance...do you get a special kind or canI just go to kohls and get a pair? I have dansko clogs for work which I LOVE, I have been bad this summer and have been going barefoot or just my croc flip flops and now my feet are hurting again. We go to universal next week and i NEED to find something that will not kill my feet. I have a pair dansko sneakers I bought, but those killed my feet.

 

[anniemae]

I had pf in the past. I went to a podiatrist he gave me a couple of cortisone injectons to calm everything down. then he wrapped my foot. I think I had to keep it wrapped for a week and a half. I had to use heel cups and he gave me naproxen (I think), which is an anti-inflamitory.

When I went back after the wrapping came off, he gave me inserts, I think they are called "Power steps" and gave me a night splint to wear.

He said to freeze bottles of water an ice my foot by rolling the bottle with my foot. He said not to go barefoot at all. I even wear crocs in the shower so I don't stand barefoot. I found merrills help me and I wear them a lot, I even bought a pair of merrill slip ons to wear as slippers.

 

[Cee]

I haven't read all the responses so I don't know if this has been mentioned yet. I had a podiatrist also suggest to freeze a bottle of water and then roll your foot over it at the end of the day to reduce the inflammation. It feels GREAT.

I know how much this hurts. Good luck to you!

 

[jen42002]

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.

Funny you mention Cipro. I too was taking it this past spring. I started having foot pain about 7 days into the prescription. Dr. told me to stop taking it immediately. Fast forward 4 months and I am wearing a walking boot due to a partial tear in one of my tendons. I have worn it for 3 weeks but WILL NOT wear it to Disney with the heat. I would much rather be in some pain and have to put it back on when I return.

And to the OP, please go to a Dr. I have a history of problems with my left foot particularly PF. Twice it just wouldn't go away. Xrays showed nothing. After and MRI it turned out that I had a stress fracture the first time and partial tears in 2 tendons the second. Better to check it out and address the problem rather than suffer longer than needed.

 

[NY Disney fan]

VIBRAM FIVE FINGERS! Yes, they look silly. But the technology WORKS. Rather than cushioning your feet, it forces the foot muscles to get stronger to resist strain. Seriously, they've been a miracle for me. I cannot recommend them highly enough. It's better to fix the problem than to mask it.

As crazy and wacked out as this suggestion is, I have to agree with it. I'm a flat footed PF victim as well and sometimes when I do cardio (usually barefoot) my feet get stronger and I can deal with the pain much better. Stretching is key! Sometimes the orthodics in my shoes just exacerbate the pain.

Also, a frozen juice concentrate can works well when rollling the foot on it.

 

[Bren's Mom]

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

Not everyone responds to the same treatments but I can tell you what worked for me.

First, I am never ever barefoot except in the shower. When I get up, my feet immediately go into Crocs Prepair flip flops or warm slippers with good solid soles on them.

I required 3 sets of cortisone injections over a year, in both feet. It's been a few years now and I have not needed them again. I think part of this is because I'm almost never barefoot.

In the course of that year I also iced my feet every night. I had 2 water bottles for this purpose. They came out at night while I was watching TV, I put them on the floor and rolled the arches of my feet over them back and forth.

I also began stretching before getting up. As soon as I woke up I'd spend a few minutes flexing my feet to stretch them out, did this 5 or 6 times every morning.

I only wear things with supportive soles and mostly heels. So no cheapie flip flops, I love my Prepairs with the molded foot bed. I have chunky heel shoes for work. I buy inserts only for my sneakers, and buy the ones at the sneaker store per my Dr. (No expensive orthotics needed.)

It did take a year of treating and changing my barefoot ways, but since that 3rd set of cortisone shots I've been completely pain free.

Good luck!

 

[Jeafl]

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

Podiatrists are usually more helpful in these cases.

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.

when you figure it out let me know-ive been struggling for 3 years. See a podiatrist, wear new balance, spent 400 not covered by insurane for orthotics, stretch, ice, went to PT for a year-and my feet still hurt like a fiend ever single day. Ive come to the conclusion its just going to hurt at some level forever. Because of kidney risk i talk NSAIDs as infrequently as possible. Just go prepared to be in pain if i walk much and drive on cause nothing seems to make a difference.

those of you who wear new balance...do you get a special kind or canI just go to kohls and get a pair? .

The New Balance at Kohl's are not the same thing. You need the higher end shoes with a "roll bar" in the sole. I went to an actual New Balance store, but most good running shoe stores will have the higher end New Balance.

I am the QUEEN of PF. I had it for 10 years in both feet. I had many pairs of custom orthotics, physical therapy, did stretching exercises, had several cortisone shots, ultrasound heat treatments, and NOTIHNG worked permanently. If they had a "cure" believe me, I tried it.

About 8 years ago I finally had the surgery. My doctor told me I must have an extremely high tolerance for pain because normally a fascia is about 1/8 to 1/4 in. thick. Mine was over 3/4-in. thick! Mine was so bad that the doctor got my permission to film my surgery as a training video for other podiatric surgeons. I guess that is my claim to fame.

Long story short, the surgery was done by making two tiny incisions on either side of my heels. He went in there with a microscopic scalpel and loosened the tendons. I had one stitch on each incision. It was done outpatient and I was home in less than 4 hours. The first week or two it still hurt, but then I was pain-free for the first time in 10 years! I still have NO pain, and it has been about 8 years. It was the best thing I could have done.

 

[miralys]

I have several friends with PF. One of them swears by ART treatment (which is how I found out about it for my achilles issues).

http://www.activerelease.com/

 

[Beezle2]

I havent read the whole thread yet but I have had plantar facitis SO bad! It is under control now and the thing that worked best for me was my night splint. It took awhile and I have been wearing it every night for over a year but I get up without pain in the morning I ordered mine from Ebay and it was about $35.

 

[Beezle2]

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

YES!! Thats what you want! I tried everything except surgery for my PF and the night splint is the only thing that really fixed the problem. It helped stretch the tendon back out over time. I still wear mine though, I've gotten used to it and I dont want the PF to come back!

 

[Mom2Angels]

I to tried everything and nothing worked, I finally had surgery on both my feet, six weeks apart, that was 8 years ago and haven't had a problem since.

Debbie

 

[SHAYMARAYSMOM]

What works for me is never going barefoot and also I wear a brace at night.
I ordered mine from a company footsmart.com I also use ice twice a day

 

[minkydog]

those of you who wear new balance...do you get a special kind or canI just go to kohls and get a pair? I have dansko clogs for work which I LOVE, I have been bad this summer and have been going barefoot or just my croc flip flops and now my feet are hurting again. We go to universal next week and i NEED to find something that will not kill my feet. I have a pair dansko sneakers I bought, but those killed my feet.

I used to buy the New Balance shoes you find in Sears or Kohls, but last year i couldn't find even one pair that fit without hurting my feet. Finally, I went to a New Balance store and they measured my feet. Turns out, my feet are MUCH wider than I realized. Wider than the wide width $59 shoes you find in retail. The guy put me into an E width size 9 with heel support(about $130) and I couldn't believe the difference! Ahhhhhh....i wore those shoes out of the store! Lesson learned: always have your feet measured by someone who knows what they're doing.

 

[Music City Mama]

I'm happy to find others to commiserate with.

I haven't been formally diagnosed, but I'm certain I have PF. My feet have never been the same since this last Disney trip in June. Those first steps out of bed each day were excruciating (but I was fine as the day went on).

I was okay for the first couple of weeks after being back, but then it got worse last month. I've been doing stretching in the morning before getting out of bed and that definitely helps with the morning steps, but I find myself having to stretch my calves and do other types of stretches multiple times a day.

I saw a video of how to tape your own feet, so I plan on doing that. Wearing shoes around the house has helped a lot. I think if I do that, continue with stretches/massage and perhaps invest in the night splint, I should get better in a few months. I'm not in severe enough pain that I've even taken anything for the pain -- it's just very bothersome, kwim?

I think what did me in was the shoes that I wore most of the time I was there -- Teva Tirra hiking sandals -- they were super comfy, but I guess just not enough arch support.

When I work out, I have always had to stretch out my calves big time and I can pretty much bet that I didn't take care to do that every morning before we left for the parks, so now I'm suffering the consequences. :sad2

I really want to try everything I've learned online first before paying for a visit to the podiatrist who will pretty much tell me what I've already learned. I don't want to invest in any expensive orthotics until I see if I can treat it on my own first.

I agree with everyone else that what works for one person may not necessarily work for another, so I guess I'll have to just see how it goes.

 

[lucas]

Has anyone tried this splint?

I've tried this one but it doesn't help:

 

[CaliforniaDreamin]

Is this related to plantars warts? Does having those mean you are more likely to have PF? I know nothing about anything. And I don't want to gross anyone out, so I'll just leave it at that.

 

[Beezle2]

Is this related to plantars warts? Does having those mean you are more likely to have PF? I know nothing about anything. And I don't want to gross anyone out, so I'll just leave it at that.

>..

Nope, not related at all

 

[klmall]

I have PF in both feet and had tendon release surgery for the worse of the two feet which helped enormously.

First, definitely visit a foot doctor. No use buying expensive supports, splints etc. before seeing a doctor. Even Crocs designed for this problem made my feet feel worse. I need to go back and get need new orthopedic inserts since mine are worn out and I can feel the difference in my comfort. I can't go barefoot or wear shoes without good support anymore. Stretching in the morning and whenever you think of it does help but again, see a good doctor.

 

[minkydog]

Is this related to plantars warts? Does having those mean you are more likely to have PF? I know nothing about anything. And I don't want to gross anyone out, so I'll just leave it at that.

Not related. The word "plantar" refers to the bottom of the foot. The plantar fascia is a length of tough tissue that runs over the sole of the foot, under the skin. If it gets inflammed it can shorten, causing pain. Plantar warts are just a type of wart on the bottom of the foot. They also cause pain, but for a different reason. Plantar warts are caused by a virus.