I need some positive plantar fascisis stories!

[Firefly45]

My heel is killing me! Sat here rolling a golf ball and stretching my calves on naproxen.
I wear hoka trainers

Has anyone a positive story of this being cured?

Positive stories only please....

Never go barefoot. I wear very cushioned trainers if I’m outside (I even have a pair that’s black all over so they can not attract attention if it’s somewhere where trainers are inappropriate). No fashion trainers. Only proper cushioned running trainers. And crocs of some description in the house. I take these clean crocs to other people’s houses if I’m going to be there a while, but make sure they are spotless. Crocs are great as you can scrub them.

I haven’t had a flare up in more than a decade.

Deep tissue massage has rid me of PF.

This 👆🏼. I’ve kept the insoles and put them in whichever shoes/boots/trainers I wear.

Using zinc oxide tape and cohesive bandage, I built up the arch on my shoe inserts until it took the pressure of the fascia and that allowed it to heal.

The beauty of this is you can keep adding a layer until the pressure is off. You have to add a new layer as it all gets squished down but once you get to the sweet spot, it starts to heal.

I also made a padded horseshoe to go under my heel but with nothing in the middle to take pressure of the heel spur.

In combination, both worked really fast and once it got to a point where it's not so painful, you can massage it which really helps.

I still wear these raised arches in all my shoes.

Stretching properly cured mine. These two stretches in particular:

The straps etc. you can buy didn't work for me. Probably my ankles are too flexible? They didn't stretch enough. (Same for the stretches above: I had to stand farther back from the wall for it to work, etc.) For me, PF only went away when I started stretching properly without help. But since then, I have had no problems, even though I now run three times a week. If there is a niggle now, stretching always fixes it.

I think barefoot shoes may also have helped but not sure about that.

I wear HOKA trainers as slippers around the house and orthotic insoles whenever possible out of the house.

I stretched a lot, used frozen water bottles as rollers, never walked barefoot … but what cured it for me eventually was 6 weeks off exercise with a broken coccyx 😣

Nothing worked for me. After many months of pain I went to a podiatrist and had 6 sessions of shockwave therapy.
cured after 5 sessions ! It was a bit expensive but worth it. That was 2 years ago and it never came back.

I had it about 15 years ago. Went to the GP, who advised me to wear Fit Flops. They have lovely padded soles which act as shock absorbers (I imagine there are many alternative brands).

I haven’t looked backed since!

obv different things work for different people, but I have just come back to thank @SoftIce for the links above. I have been doing the first of the two stretches you suggested (toes against the wall) and it’s really helped. Not completely gone, but the difference is astonishing.

I can’t do the kneeling one, I’ll never get up again!

@MerelyPlaying That's fabulous, I'm so glad! Hopefully it will continue to get better. And on the first point, I agree, I also think different things work for different people (as can be seen in the thread - maybe it depends on where exactly in the chain the problem was caused to start with?).

I found downward dog really helped too 🧘‍♀️

and calf stretches

I had it badly for years. I had the full range of treatments and it was PRP injections that sorted it in the end.

Had a bad case. Because I walked in a weird way, my knees started to go as well. Because I compensated for my bad knees my hips started to go too. Doctor was useless. I walked with a walking stick for 18 months.

Then lockdown happened. I essentially sat for over a year. Gained a lot of weight but the enforced rest cured the feet, knees and hips. Go figure.

I had to buy a pair of braces for my feet and wear them at night. It kept my calf muscles stretched while sleeping. Other than that I would roll a tennis ball with my foot which was painful but really helped.

I tried everything for over two years
even an electro thing
the thing that finally worked was a sports physio stretching and massaging my calf muscles and NEVER walking barefoot

I tried pretty much everything, but it was a foot massage machine that sorted it out for me

Mine went away after buying trainers with arch support and using a tennis ball under the arches to stretch. I have a job that involves a lot if standing. Making sure I'm off my feet during breaks has helped too.

Positive story! My colleague really struggled with PF for a number of years. She now runs marathons! :O

I had it for ages a few years back. I wore inner soles for arch support constantly and my big squishy NB trainers. It eventually got better and I’m now fine.

So I once saw a YouTube video of someone explaining why we get it. The gist is that when your calf muscles get tight they start to pull on your sole muscles as your calf muscles are very close or attached to your sole muscles on your heel.
Pulling on them even slightly causes the pain. So the fix is to stretch your calf muscles to stop the constant pull on your sole muscles. Test it by stretching your calf muscles and you will feel that they feel really tight.
I started by gently stretching up to six times a day until my calf muscles stopped feeling tight. The pain went away as the tightness did. I now make sure my calf muscles never get tight.
I may be slightly off with the details but viewing it this way for me has meant I have never had any pain since.

I used to have it then I started walking, at first 20-30 minutes/day, then more than 7k steps/day, and it has disappeared. I know this is unusual but walking was the only thing which I added to my daily routine.

I have no expertise in this area but my theory is that people get the same problem for different reasons so different solutions will suit.
I’m very flexible and never had particularly tight calves so the exercises never felt like they were doing anything.
I have almost no arch and rigid arch supports helped immediately. I have them in all my shoes except for Birkenstocks.
I very occasionally wear unsupportive shoes and haven’t had a recurrence.
ETA: I tried the brace but where it fastened around my leg would become painful and used to wake me in the night. I couldn’t make it loose enough to remain comfortable.

One word.

sketchers

(specifically 'GoWalk' )

having tried exercises, various shoe inserts etc etc sketchers changed my life.

For me, it's caused by hypermobility in my ankles putting strain on my feet. Physio to fix my ankles fixed my feet