Plantar fasciitis- help!

[springtimeishereagain]

I'm pretty sure I have plantar fasciitis - pain in one heel, worse first thing in the morning and after I've been sitting, gets better with exercise.

If you have this, what has helped? I know I need to lose weight. What shoes/footwear have helped you? Anything else? Does it get better?

Thank you!

Avoid flat shoes and bare feet and get some insoles made for you if you can, mine much better since I got them

Yep feel your pain, took me months to get over mine, i purchased some proper supportive insoles, also tried a support thing off amazon to wear at night - but i found it too uncomfortable but it could be worth a try? Also do stretching exercises, found these via google !

You tube.

Bob and Brad.

Plantar F exercises.

The only way I've ever been able to end the pain.

I suffer from this and it can be so painful. I bought a roller/massage thingy from Boots which is designed for help with this. You just roll it under your foot and although it's really painful to start with after a few minutes it really eases my pain.

I also wear special insoles in my shoes but that's not always possible in summer footwear.

The only thing that worked for me was doing the stretches 4-5 times a day for months. I tried all the shortcuts but after lots of physio consultation I just had to put the hard work in! I’m ‘cured’ but I can’t run as it aggravates it.

Crocs indoors, insoles with arch support, never barefoot and roll your foot over a tennis ball. There are videos on YouTube. The tennis ball was the best help for me.

Thanks! I'm always barefoot, so this is a bit of a bummer, but needs must. Roller and exercises sounds great - will check them out.

Insoles - will they fit in trainers? Are they special PF insoles or just standard ones?

I had it bad and FitFlops fixed it for me.

I have suddenly got this too!

I bought some Adidas sliders for round the house - they have really good arch support so stop the pain quite quickly. I have New Balance 940 v3 for wearing day to day when it gets bad.

I’ve also ordered a tens machine!

Only thing that keeps it at bay for me is insoles in shoes (from Amazon) and walking/running 40-50km a week minimum, preferably in 1 x 20-30km walk and 2 x 5-10km runs depending on what I have time for.
The longish walk keeps it at bay for 7-10 days roughly and the short runs just make sure.

Yy to sliders - have been wearing the dc's sliders, and they help!

Really to all the running and walking? The NHS site says to rest...

@HorribleHerstory - a 20-30k walk?? How long does that take?!

I thought I had that, turned out to be referred pain from a couple of slipped discs / sciatica.
Look up the simplistic mobility method, the chap, Tom who invented it is hilarious. I've seen it on Facebook and the many reviews are very positive.

Resting it isn’t possible for me and exercise improves it so I do that. This mornings walk was about 24km, we set off at about 9am and landed in a nice pub for lunch just after 2pm. Then got the train home! The short runs are often harder to fit in around meals and work in the week - that’s why they are runs so faster!

if you don’t feel up to exercise that’s fair, I just shared what I do as you said exercise improves it and I agree.

Does it hurt only when you put pressure on it? So, if you're sat down, does it still sometimes hurt?
I was misdiagnosed with PF and spent so long trying to treat it, when actually it was a torn calf muscle.

It’s a small tear in the tissues and needs to heal. Avoid flat/no shoes at all costs. (Pounding the hard floors at work in ballerina type flat shoes caused mine.). Time will heal it but it can take a while.

I only wear vionic shoes since I had it. And I've had no issues since.

I would see a Podiatrist for an assessment. You may need some type of supports that you can put in your shoes.

Calf stretches and insoles. I’ve got slightly heeled indoor shoes with inbuilt arch support. Podiatrist appointment was worth every penny .

Gel heel inserts and shoes with well padded/memory foam soles were the only thing that helped mine (had it in both feet). I use the Mumsnet-hated Skechers Go Walks for slippers around the house, and generally FitFlop type shoes for 'out'. If I'm wearing boots or other types of shoes, I always use the heel inserts.

Roll a tennis ball around under your feet.

Always wear shaped insoles
Never ever wear flat shoes /flip flops , no bare feet

Birkenstocks. Straight on first thing in the morning.Don’t walk round bare foot.

l also bought some slippers for winter. Being barefoot is the issue.

Wah! No barefoot, no flip flops, flat shoes - but they are my only shoes!! I do have Skechers fit flops but sliders seem to be more comfortable. Will look into making a podiatrist appt - although it makes me feel about 150...

It's generally only sore when I start walking. Fine after I've been walking for a bit. But today it's aching as I'm sitting down.

Thanks all - really helpful posts!

Solidarity, OP. Currently experiencing this again and its utterly miserable.

I tried the insoles and always wearing shoes etc... the only thing that worked for me was stretching my calves 4-5 times a day. I would stand on the stairs and edge my heels off the stair so I would get a really strong stretch. At first I would want to cry and could only hold for few seconds but I kept going multiple times a day aiming for 30 seconds each time. It eased within days, and was gone within about 10 days.