Shockwave treatment for plantar fasciitis?

[puzzlepetal]

Has anyone had this treatment? Did it hurt and more importantly did it work?

Puzzlepetal, sorry to bother you but I think I have plantar fasciitis, what are your symptoms?

No problem. Have had this for 21 months now... Pain under and on inside of heel like walking on an upended pair of scissors. Not so bad in morning because I wear a night splint but excruciating towards the end of the day sinceI have a long commute with no opportunity to sit down and work in healthcare so am standing on hard floors all day and have to bear extra weight from moving patients. It makes me feel sick and tearful. I hate having this!
Have had every treatment available now except shockwave and surgery.

Poor you.That sounds awful. Perhaps time to try shockwave or surgery?

I have plantar fasciitis and it's get me down too. I wear fitflops and that helps but doesn't cure it. I'm a little scared of surgery and I have never heard of shockwave. Look at this thread with interest as like you I walk for a living and love hiking (maybe the job and hobby don't go together)
I haven't worn a nice pair of shoes in years now

It's a miserable existence for sure and I just want to be back to normal asap. Am on awaiting list for shockwave but the medical evidence is poor. My orthopaedic consultant seems very reluctant to pursue the surgical option. He is one of the UK's best so I trust him 100%.

puzzlepetal Has he suggested exercises? Does he think they should work?
I'm going to try going to the gym and exercising my legs gently and seeing if that helps. What do you think?

Had this for about a year, 14 years ago.
I am a health care professional too, but I was OK on my feet, but it really killed me when I got up from resting. Ie out of bed in morning, up off sofa in evening, and at work if I had had any sort of sit down or rest.
GP said I could have an injection, but it would hurt like hell.
In the end it ran its course, I had nothing done and it disappeared and never came back.
I wear slippers in the house as I felt my cold hard tiled kitchen floor may have started to make me feel once that the problem could come back.

I know this sounds cheeky, but I'm a HPC graduate podiatrist and when I worked in the NHS we used to use totally different insoles from what physio used to give patients for the same conditon. I just wondered if you had seen a podiatrist. I'm thinking along the lines of underlying bio-mechanical issues.

I really hope your not lifting patients, I was always told the first rule of manual handling is DONT, get the patient to move using transfer boards etc. Could occy health examine you and put restrictions on how much manual handling you do?

You are not being cheeky! I saw a podiatrist first and had custom made orthotics which have not helped. I am careful. Biomechanics have been addressed by the podiatrist and physio.

I only asked because I had a patient once who presented with classic pf but she worked for physio who could examine higher up the body than us (we stop at the hip) so the physio said its your back.

I cant remember what the problem was but she had a back op so it must have been bad to warrant that.

IME pf doesnt always respond how it ought to.

I have a pair of MBT's now and I find them much kinder to the foot than normal shoes. Normal shoes now feel like I am really jarring my bones whereas the MBT's feel like your rolling from one foot to the other. I got mine for £75 two years ago and they wash brilliantly. I put a layer of 5mm poron in to replace the insole to make them extra comfortable.

Our department always said black lace up shoes but most of the younger pods wore trainers.

Tried it, didn't work, didn't hurt!

Have you tried the steroid injections? I had plantar for around 18 months, the pain was excruiating and thought it was never going to go. First steroid injection wore off after a few weeks, but second one did the trick, and touch wood don't have problems now.

I do also have an insert that was specially made for me by the school of podiatry which I wear in one of my work boots.

If you're in pain at work having to stand all day have you tried crocs? They were the only thing I could tolerate wearing on my feet. Ugly shoes, but so comfy. A lot of plantar sufferers say the same thing.

I don't really like crocs, they don't really grip on the foot over the bridge like a lace, buckle or Velcro strap does so your toes will automatically grip by curling over, which is going to aggravate the plantar fascia area.

Plus you can't expect insoles to work in a shoe like that as your foot would slip off in stance position rendering them useless.

The only advantage I can see with crocs is for hygiene as the proper crocs are washable resin and to let air get to skin with eczema. They don't qualify as a supportive shoe though.

Could you have your injections mixed with some lidocaine?.

I tried everything as I had PF for about 2 years it is truly miserable. Injections didn't work. I had a custom made insole which helped a bit but I still couldn't walk without it. I opted for surgery in the end. i got to the point where I didn't care if it worked or not . I was of the opinion that I just couldn't take any more pain and things couldn't get any worse. Surgeon was reluctant as success is a bit hit and miss.
I'm so glad I had it as am now pain free.