I would go back to the foot Dr either 1 week or 2 weeks before you go to Disney and get a cortizone shot.Also buy epsalt and Johnson foot soap.One before you go to bed soak feet in epsalt one night and next night Johnson foot soap do that every night you are there.Walmat sells foot massgers it not the kind you saok with water,its batery operated.The ones that take water aand you plug in don"t last very long.
Walmart has the foot massegers out now for christmas and they are only $9.84
I had this same idea with the cortisone shots, and it isn't always the best idea. After heading to my doctor with a new flare-up of PF about a month and a half before our WDW trip, I had the idea that I would get shots in both feet even though this flare-up was only in my right foot and had spread into my ankle. My doctor is crazy honest, and does not have a problem setting me straight. He didn't want me to get a shot in my left foot b/c sometimes cortisone can actually CAUSE a flare-up where one wasn't present. I did some research and found out he was right. He was perfectly willing to give me one once the left started hurting due to overcompensation b/c the other one hurt so much!
You should actually be fine in your flip flops on many of the days. You should also break in your favorite brand of sneaker in advance. "Hot and stuffy" = "nice and warm" when it's colder. Also, if it's cold enough for you to wear your sneakers, it's going to be too cold for the water rides. If you insist on doing wet rides, do them as the last thing before leaving the park.
If you have a plantar fasciitis flare-up, I would recommend some Ben Gay or Icy Hot for your feet and ice. I bring some ziplock bags that I fill with ice and rest my arches on the bags and then I follow with some nice Ben Gay. It really helps!
I myself am not a tennis shoe wearer-much to my doctor's consternation-if I can help it. I had invested in a pair of $150 Nike Bowman (I think) Series during my second and worst flare-up of PF. After my first trip to WDW where I cried from the pain and could barely walk to my room at night, I decided to bring them. I hate sweaty feet, so I thought I'd be miserable. I bought moisture wicking socks with built in arch support from Target. They were wonderful! I usually wore my tennies till about 3 or 4 then switched to Crocs. The biggest problem I had with my tennies was my arch supports. They rubbed the bottom of my foot, and I never thought to do anything to prevent it b/c I had never experienced it before. A little moleskin stuck to the bottom of my sock fixed that! Icing is very important BTW!!!
Get a pair of the fur-lined crocs. They are the same as the regular ones, but there is a lining inside that protects your feet from the holes, lol.
Oh I hate them!!! My feet slide around inside and they don't provide me with near enough support b/c they are much flatter to accomodate the fur lining. I also found that my feet sweat so bad, and even though they say they are odor resisitant...they are not. I don't usually get foot stink, but ugh.
I have plantars fascitis too. I must've had it for years, but had it diagnosed in July. We returned to WDW in late September.
I went from having very painful Disney trips filled with hobbling from one bench to the next to actually having very few problems at all.
Here are all of the things that I did to have a successful trip. (I do not know how effective any of these things actually were.)
1. I bought the most comfortable athletic shoes that I could find 3 months prior to the trip. (Skechers Premium Kudos -- Absolutely love the shoes...but they are falling apart...so...I can't recommend them.)
2. I put BOTH Dr. Scholl's inserts and heel cups in my shoes. (I think the heel cups were key.)
3. I wore my shoes very loosely.
4. I took ibuprofin everyday. (I know this helped because I didn't take it one morning.)
I kept an extra dose on my person too.
5. I walked 1 to 2 miles a few miles a week before the trip.
6. I did exercises specifically for pf. If your pf is flaring, you will notice that the back of your legs are very tight. Start doing stretches to loosen the muscles in the back of your leg. Every morning on our trip. My dh would take my feet and press them towards me to stretch my pf, and muscles on the back of my legs. There are a lot of resources on the web about dealing with pf.
7. Drink water!! It helped me to drink a lot of water during the week before our trip.
I cannot tell you how wonderful it felt going to WDW relatively pain free. I foolishly waited in line for 40 minutes to see Little Mermaid, and had not taken the ibuprofin. I took the meds, and was fine for the rest of the day.
I wish you the best of luck!
I just wanted to back you up on the stretches. That is how I manage mine. I took the stretches I learned in therapy and continue to use them today. Mine are mostly band stretches, and help tremendously. I would watch the Ibuprophen. I was on it during my worst flare, and it destroyed my stomach. Now I have to deal with ulcer flare-ups as well. It is so painful. My recipe for pain free days (and it was amazing to be without pain b/c I don't just have PF, I have a lot of other conditions as well. My achilles is too short for starters. It gets bound up in my calf muscles and I had to go through very painful therapy, ultrasound therapy, and shots to help it) was: frequent shoe changes between my Nikes, Crocs Capri (they are amazing, and were my best Disney shoes), Crocs Malindi, and occasionally the beach Crocs or Off-road Crocs, some kind of painkiller as needed, stretching every morning, massaging my feet in the hottub, Iron Man cooling gel at night (that stuff is amazing. I rub it onto an arthritic spot of my foot that hurts constantly and the pain is gone for days), and recognizing my limits.
I like the regular crocs with the holes in them to help vent. I often wear ankle high socks in the morning and then if it gets warm or the feet might get wet, I take the socks off and put them in my bag. The crocs dry really fast. I think they are much more comfortable then even the croc flip flops. I would be afraid your feet would ROAST in the crocs lined with fur or even the ones with no holes in them. Plus the fur would take forever to dry if they got wet.
I don't have much luck with my beach crocs at Disney. I can wear them everywhere else, but there isn't enough cushion for WDW for guarding pain level. I had to go to the Capris and Malindis to make sure I had enough cushion. Capris were the winners!
I put the Dr. Scholl's massaging insoles in, and put the massaging heel cups on top of the massaging insoles.
Do you know if you over pronate? Look it up.
I found the heel cups really helped with my over pronation, which caused all of the other problems. Also, if you are a over pronater...then you will want to get shoes with "motion control." If you run on the front of your feet...you may be a supinator. Read up on what all of that means.
One another thing...I didn't try this...but you can purchase some kind of tape...its basically dancers tape. It is white, and cost about $4.00 a role at the drug store. There are directions on how to tape your feet for plantars fascitis on the web. The directions on the web state that you can keep the tape on your feet for up to 1 week. I didn't do it. I asked hubby to pick up the tape...and he picked up the wrong stuff. I didn't have the heart to tell him.
I tried this, and it didn't work for me. I mentioned it to my doctor, and he said that in order for a PF wrapping to work best, it needs to be done by someone else. The muscles (at the time of taping) have to be engaged to have the wrapping provide relief. I've had my feet wrapped by the doctor repeatedly, and it does provide a welcome rest for my muscles. I love it. When I went through therapy I took family members with me to learn how to wrap me. By the time I actually had them attempt it, they didn't do the best job. I had to go back to the doctor! The only bad thing about being wrapped is that you can't get your foot wet. I have a special boot, but I still got it wet sometimes. Oops.
I hope you are able to find what works for you. I hope I didn't sound too argumentative, b/c that was not my intention. I've just been dealing with this for way too many years, have spent way too much money trying to get healthy feet again, and have made too many mistakes to not share what didn't work for me. I am honestly surprised you are able to run! My doctor told me never to run again. I have had to find other ways to exercise. Being a sensei makes that easy b/c I just up my training. If I hit my foot too hard I can be set back for months, so it is a really delicate process. Running doesn't necessarily hurt me while I am doing it, but the after effects are pretty bad. I guess I would say you are lucky to still be able to do so. I think you are probably better off making sure you exercise your feet (I can give you my tried and true exercises if you need some), medicate if needed, ice, massage, apply a gel if needed, and take it easy. As for the shoes, if you decide against the Capris, and decide to go with another style of Crocs you can wear with socks, just don't wear them too much before WDW. Of course they need to be broken in, but not too much! If they are broken in too much you will probably have pain. Good luck!
that take forever to dry.
My feet at comfy in flip flops...mind you i do have flip flop socks as well...they could keep my toes warm in the morning if the need be!
