Plantar Fasciitis

[Marylou62]

I've had plantar Fasciitis for over 2 and a half years..It has been crippling, depressing and I'm fed up!
BUT..after trying everything I think I have finally found something that's slowly but surely easing it..
I've spent a fortune on sketcher shoes, chiro, strapping, insoles etc Physio was finally offered but then came CV! I was at the end of my tether about a month ago and came across 'Plantarcare'..
It's a small battery operated device that pulsates..I found it on Amazon but you can buy it direct..Costs about £42..it's completely painless (a bit sore to walk after), you use it 3 times a day for 10 mins each foot.. and (whispers) I think it may be working..I got out of bed this morning with minimal pain whereas before I hobbled..I was dubious but by this point I was willing to try anything..
I would recommend it and will continue to use it because even if it doesn't completely cure it it has helped reduce my pain...

Glad you've found something to help. Can you link please? I've just searched and couldn't find it.

It’s horrendous isn’t it. I had laser and shockwave therapy in the end, expensive but got me 90% better. Then I started turmeric supplements which have got me to 99% (still dodgy first thing when I wake but totally fine after a couple of minutes).

Thing about PF is the solutions are so diverse. Glad you found yours, OP & sleepwhen.

I'm glad for you OP!
I've had it for 8 months now and am waiting for an ultrasound with a view to shockwave therapy.
In the meantime, I wondering whether applying my Hitachi magic wand to the foot might help?

Oh that’s interesting! I’ve had it now for 6 months after starting in pregnancy and it doesn’t seem to be going away

Have the ugliest Oofos for wearing around the house which seem to help but every time I wear shoes it’s painful again.

Good news! Milne was a result of very tight calf muscles, I now massage the muscles every morning after my shower, and that seems to help keep it at bay.

That's it.! The Dr who invented it based it on shock wave therapy.. saying he wanted a home based portable device..don't know how to link but I googled PF treatments and it came up..didn't trust site so went to Amazon and there it was.. will be back in a minute when I've found it again...

Right I didn't buy it from Amazon after all!!
I googled 'Plantarcure' and it came up as Plantarcure.com..
good luck..they recommend rechargable batteries but I just make sure I change batteries often..
They recommend starting slowly but by day 4 I was on level 6..I also moved the device around to on my foot a lot.
.it's been a slow realization that it's working but when I got up this morning without the usual (agonizing!) hobble to the loo I let myself think that this might be it...

Forgot to add the £40 calf muscle stretcher to the list of treatments I've tried..I did it religiously throughout lockdown and made no difference.. I'm a nanny and have a 2 mile walk to school and back twice a day so rest wasn't an option..I just got on with it, but my goodness the pain..one step in front of the other was my mantra..
Can't take turmeric as I'm on blood thinners after a DVT and multiple blood clots in my lungs...Bit of a mess really!

Have you tried exercises for PF Marylou? There’s a guy on insta who posts excellent stuff for sports injuries generally. Trouble with PF is that it can be caused by lots of different issues - could be tight calves, weak glutes, tight hipflexors....a good sports injury therapist should be able to identify the problem and recommend exercises to help. Where are you? I know a fantastic one in Central London (he did my shockwave and laser therapy - I believe the only therapist I’m the UK that does both together but he also does exercise programme alongside). I can PM details if you could get to him.

I can believe that shockwave therapy works. What cured mine was inadvertent DIY shockwave therapy - I jumped into a pool that was shallower than I though, really hurt myself, was convinced I'd broken something, but by the time I was off crutches and walking normally again, the PF was gone. A bit drastic, I wouldn't recommend it as a strategy, but I was glad to be rid.

Omg pointy that sounds horrendous! But effective, probably because you were able to completely rest it while on crutches...once the inflammation becomes chronic it’s very hard to get rid of as we all have to walk (somehow) on the painful foot/feet every day so the healing process can’t happen. The laser/shockwave apparently kicks that into action, the body responds as if to an acute injury rather than low level/chronic condition.

I'm in Cornwall..I've had expensive chiro, expensive insoles, expensive memory foam shoes (these ease the pain)..Tried nearly everything..
If I'm honest I didn't go to the Dr for ages because I'd been quite ill for a few years (terrible menopause followed by a terrible multiple bone breaking accident then blood clots!) and as I got better I found I never wanted to bother the Dr again!
To be honest I'd given up...
The imfo given says that the shockwaves break down the tendons then blood rushes in to repair them so I could see how hurting your foot like that could work!

Makes sense Sleepy

@Marylou62 Hi Mary thanks for the recommendation, I have been suffering with the dreaded PF for a few months now and nothing seems to make much difference. I have bought the machine and tried it for the first time yesterday. Can I just check, can you actually feel anything happening when it is on? There's no light to say whether it is on or off and I can't feel anything, so I don't know if it is working. I also have no idea what level I have it on as I can't remember how many times I pressed the button. I wonder if that is why the batteries drain so easily, because it gets inadvertently left on?

Hope you can answer my questions. I so want it to work. Thanks in advance!

They recommend starting slowly and build up but after just a few days I whacked it up to 6.(6 presses of the button ) are you using rechargeable batteries? It does work better with a new battery. You should feel the device vibrating? It never hurt just a pleasent tingle.. I can't recommend it enough! Took a few months.. Don't give up.. I took mine to work (nanny so if any sitting down I put it on) also I used a wheat pillow (microwave one) so I had one foot vibrating and one foot heating! I got Into a routine.. I also moved it about.. ie recommended time in 2 or 3 areas on the same foot.. I'm not cured but it makes me cry thinking about how much pain I was in to now.. I walk the nannied kids to school.. Hour round trip twice a day.. I was the only one happy when it rained! (I could drive) it was only last month that I suddenly thought my feet don't hurt! Also I investigated Shock Wave Therapy.. Google it.. I was willing to pay £400+ but I couldn't have it because I'm on blood thinners after multiple blood clots in my lungs after breaking 6 ribs! Good luck.. I was sceptical but it really did work.

If you have a daily walk to school, which is aggravating it, can I just jump in to say a cheap bike? At least on the journeys where you're going to and from sans children. You could leave it locked up near the school, so you can cycle back on it from school drop off, and to school for school pick-up again.

Appreciate it may sound insane, but reducing journeys on foot during the recovery period was essential for me, and that is how I did it.

Hahaha! Did I say I live in Cornwall and it's a steep hilly seaside village and I have to walk the family dog at the same time.. She's a newfoundland and 75kg.. And I'm nearly 60 and haven't ridden a bike for 25 yrs.. Good suggestion tho.. I can see it now. She can pull me up the hill and she can be my brake on the way down!

Bugger. Bin that idea then! Any possibility you can ride on the dog?

I had this for nearly a year. I bought some pads for the arch that strap round your foot. Was gone in a couple of days and never had it since.

What pads and where from please Adora?

I've developed PF, I suspect from over enthusiastic daily lockdown walks, possibly in knackered trainers but I'd really like to keep walking so need to do something. I need to do some physio type exercises, but your arch pads sound good too.

@Marylou62
Thank you! I have tried three different new batteries and some rechargeable ones, but still nothing at all. Spent the evening getting the kids to try it to see if they could feel anything, but no! I have emailed them to ask if they will send a replacement as I can't see what I could be doing wrong, so I assume it is just a faulty one. I have big hopes for this machine!

I think I caused my PF wearing cheap wellies after getting our puppy. It seemed so easy just to slip them on to trudge out to the garden in the middle of the night, but then the pain arrived. Obviously, puppy walks have meant I have not been able to rest it, so I have tried all sorts of different insoles and trainers, fitflops, but the pain just won't go away. Hoping PlantarCure comes through!

All feet vary, and I am not medically qualified.

That disclaimer out of the way...

In the morning, do not stir a step out of bed until you have written the alphabet twice through in the air with your toes.

Overnight, the tendons tighten, and you have to loosen them before you set your foot to the floor.

Also, do standing calf stretches against the wall.

@BarbaraofSeville I found these and they worked for me. Obviously everyone’s feet are different but they worked and it’s never come back. I’ve had to screenshot, it kept taking me to the app which I can’t link to.

Plantar cure have just bought out a newer device with a USB charger for anyone who might be interested.. I'm still mostly pain free.. Can't believe it but this device really does work..