to wonder how people cope with plantar fascilitis?

[shewhowines]

On the back of another thread, just wondering how people have cured plantar fascilitis. Will be looking at mbt shoes.

Warning : I am one of those weirdy minimalist shoe wearers so you may wish to ignore me - however, if you have tried everything else...

Plantar Fasciitis is caused by overstressing the Plantar Fascia

One of the contributory factors is weak foot muscles.

A major cause of weak foot muscles is overly supportive footwear which is not dissimilar to wearing a cast on your foot (think of the muscle wastage that occurs when you have a cast on arm or leg for any length of time) (arch supports are also a bad thing arches are designed to support weight from above, supporting arches from underneath totally weakens them)

To permanently cure PF you need to permanently strengthen your feet. You can do this by gradually transitioning into wearing minimalist footwear or better still barefeet.

Good article here:
www.toesalad.com/articles/plantar-fasciitis

Valium - yes, the removable cast is good too, especially if your PF is worse in the morning. It keeps the ligaments in the stretched position so that its not completely relaxed overnight and then shocked when you stand up in the morning.

I still have mine incase of future problems.

I had pain killers of varying strengths, ultrasound therapy, steroid injections, tried massage, physio, saw a private podiatrist, tried MBT's had strapping (which was good actually, temporary relief) heel lifts, the lot. Nothing helped. I would have happily hacked my own foot off at times.

Now I am confused, lol.

I got it after being in a cast last year. I use Scholl heel insoles. I used to wear FitFlops all the time, flops in summer, boots in winter... oddly enough it was the lack of tread on the boots that lead to the cast!

The FitFlops were brilliant for my posture as I have a tilted pelvis... joint pain was a thing of the past when I discovered them. However, they aggravate my PF.

Agree that weight loss helps (but not if you're already skinny obviously!)

As a waitress, I suffered terribly. I found that Crocs helped greatly, and also DMs. Mine was so bad after work that I couldn't walk in the mornings. For me, it was the cushioning action of the Crocs/DMs whilst I was working that made the most difference.

I had 12 sessions of acupuncture, with exercises to do in between. I only wear DMs or fitflops (shoes, boots, sandals, I own them all). After more than a year of pain I am now reasonably comfortable most of the time.

I've suffered PF in my right foot for about six months now. Worst times are when my foot has swelled up so I can't get my shoe on. And at the moment getting a lot of discomfort on the outside of my foot as well. I use a golf ball under my foot whilst I work(spend a lot of time sitting working on the laptop at home). As others have said the worst times are either first thing in the morning, or right now!

Mine flared up a couple of years ago whilst I was on holiday.

I got some insoles in a branch of Scholls - they were about £20, and are hard plastic. I have worn them religiously in trainers, etc. (I don't wear 'posh' shoes at the moment), and tend to go barefoot at home to vie my feet a rest.

I was recommended to put a drink can in the fridge and get it really cold, then roll my foot across it (sort of rolling the can along the arch IYSWIM), and to do stretches as have been described by several people.

I've actually lost about 1.5 stone since then (despite having had a baby), and I don't have as much trouble, but, when I have been overdoing it, I get pain in the arch of one foot, and the length of my big toe in the other.

First appeared in February and is now nearly gone.

Get to the GP asap, you can get proper anti inflamatories, mine advised me to use a stick on the other side as that is 3 points of balance and they will also direct you to the podiatrist who will give you insoles or, if you got your own (I got hard, half insoles for about £12 of Amazon) they will stick pads on to tailor to your individual foot. Best to wear in both shoes.

I lived in proper walking boots during the cold months and am now wearing walking sandals (which you can put the insoles in) and Fitflops. I explained to work it was a medical condition and this was the type of shoe I had to wear - it was either this or trainers.

Do the physio regularly; the towel stretches before you get up, pushing against a wall with one foot back and the hanging off the steps. Do the exercises for both feet as sometimes it can spread to the other foot. The podiatrist also advised lying on a settee sideways and opening and closing my legs using the top one . You are doing foot exercises, calf exercises and this works the muscles a bit further up - equals it all up so to speak.

Yes to rolling the feet on a frozen can of beans and rolling your feet on a tennis ball also helps.

No to walking in flip flops or bare feet (I was told by GP and podiatrist) and yes, for me, that's why swimming didn't help - walking poolside and also pushing off or going down the ladders. Ironing was something that caused me agony - so I either had to sit down or limit it

You work out when you have overdone it and so have to try to limit what you do to get to a level (if at all possible). I was reduced to bussing everywhere (very expensive) and picking the flatest routes when walking.

According to the podiatrist it was to do with a) age b) gender and c) size of calves. The larger the calf the more you are predisposed to get it.

I got it in both feet while pg with DS 2 years ago and spent about 4 months going to.twice weekly physio, using ice and heat packs, rolling my feet over a frozen bottle of water, rigorous stretching morning and night, and the key for me was these night splints that hold my foot at something close to.a.90 degree angle to my leg while I sleep. I used to point my toes and wake up in agony!

I dont really suffer from it anymore but still use the splints(hilarious passionkillers) and strech if I feel it coming back.
I have very tight hip flexors, they throw my whole achillies tendon out of balance, so I try to stretch those regularly too.

Well, I can confirm that complaining about it hasn't fixred it

I've had it for years and have tried all sorts - the only think I find helps me is wearing gel trainers/crocs as often as possible.

I haven't done the exercises in forever, but I will read the thread again tomorrow and start doing the exercises

I have been suffering for months, it is still no better :(

Has anyone tried the Strassburg sock?

I have tried rigid boot type splints and they are hard to sleep in at night, but I thought this might be better.

But I'm not sure if it would fit. I have huge calves, so I'd have to get the bigger size, according to the measurements. But I also have tiny feet, and very pointy, too, so I can imagine that if it was too big, the extra material would just flap up and it wouldn't end up providing the right sort of tension to keep my foot at 90 degrees anyway. I haven't seen any in shops that I could try, so would have to order online, so it would be useful to know if anyone has tried them and how they fit.

I've found fitflops work very well for me particularly on days when my heel is painful. Also changing shoes around. I used to wear very flat shoes all of the time. Now I vary between trainers, flats, heels and I've found that helps. I also stretch out the heel and achilles by straightening my leg and flexing my foot up and down as far as I can. This is a good one to do in bed before you get up or if you're sitting watching tv or reading.

I'm going to try some of the other exercises suggested here though.

I'm sure this is what I've got. It started a few months ago and has got gradually worse as my pregnancy has gone along. My GP told me it was tendonitis, but reading this makes me wonder. Some days I'm literally housebound, and can only get around by holding on to furniture, and walking very gingerly.

I can only fit my converse on at the moment. Their probably not really helping are they

McPhee I feel for you, it is so painful! If/when you rub the bottom of your foot hard, does it feel sort of crunchy? Mine was that bad, I could barely walk.
Don't wear anything flipfloppy, even fitflops, if it's really bad. You 'claw' your feet to keep flipflops on and that's not good for the PF. Can you get yourself a super-humongous pair of crocs on ebay or something? My feet went up 2 sizes in my last trimester- grim!

Start by stretching out the backs of your legs as much as you can - when pregnant I just sat on the floor with my legs out in a V and flexed my feet, using a scarf to pull the top of my foot back towards my body. That's a good start. Also keep a cold can of coke in the fridge and roll it over your feet, putting a LOT of pressure on it. Some docs will give you anti-inflamatories when you're pregnant, if you're pretty far along. First trimester it's not considered a good idea.

Why do I keep seeing people on MN saying you should avoid Birkenstocks with this condition? They have the correct arch support for this sort of problem. Just Googled and everything I see seems to support this. I also see people talking about 'flip flops and Birkenstocks' as though they're in some way similar. Not really - flip flops have no support, Birkenstocks are specially designed orthopaedic shoes (unless people are talking about the cheap imitations).

Birkenstocks may have arch supports, but depending on the style they may not stay on your feet without you "clawing" your toes (like flip flops)

Love that everyone is ignoring my post about how arch supports/orthotics can make PF worse :)

I'm not - I should wear arch supports (because I have flat feet due to the HMS) but that just causes extra pressure on my heels which just makes the PF even worse. I've been told to avoid inserts and the like until it's gone Trainers hold my feet comfortably and are softer to walk on, so help alleviate the pain.

A&E told me I had plantar fascilitis, turned out I had broken my toe. Not very helpful, sorry, but your post brought back bad memories of a very painful summer.

The problem with Birkenstocks is that the heal is too low. To solve the problem you need a bit of a heal (i think).

itsallgoingtobefine I ignored because it was a poor article with no value and no research to back it up. I am a specialist in this area and I only look at evidence based research. My advice comes from that.

Have just ordered, thanks to Pointy kindly steering me in the right direction of the least offensive looking Fitflop sandals for work, after a really achy day on my feet.

Am not sure I am doing the exercises correctly, foot aches more than before, so am off to youtube or something!

Admittedly they weren't custom fitted, but the only inserts I've tried that had very good reviews hurt like buggery after about 10 minutes.