Planters Fasciitis

[SlottedSpoon]

I have it. It's killing me. Four months now and no let up. It's in one foot only which is now starting to have a knock on effect on my knee and hip alignment, lower back pain etc, where I am often walking oddly for prolonged periods. I tend to stay on my feet as long as possible because once I've sat down it's agony to get going again.

I can only seem to be comfortable in high-ish heels, which is impractical for everyday wear and rather annoyingly the balls of my feet are now burning and aching and feel like I have a pebble underneath, so I can't win.

Which shoes will help? I did an AV and saw FitFlops and Skechers mentioned - anyone had any experience of these? My worry is that they will be too flat. I can't wear trainers or anything very flat - I think it was triggered by my doing an awful lot of walking and being on my feet more than usual over the summer months and wearing Havianas. I never had it before that. Walking barefoot or in anything too flat is complete agony but i feel daft in heels all the time and that can't be good for me either in the long run.

Even driving seems to irritate it as the angle my foot is at sets it off.

I find an ice pack helps, but it only gives temporary respite. Can I do this by myself or should I ask for a referral to a podiatrist? Can I buy some sort of orthotic insoles online or are they only any good if bespoke?

i have heard about cortisone injections but I am a coward but have heard they have mixed results so would like to try other things first. Any ideas?

TIA

I've had it for years.

I really, really, hope you can rid of yours quickly.

Cortisone seems to work for some, but not others. I can't remember now as it was a long time ago, but I decided it wasn't for me yet. Vague idea you can only do it so many times, or it can cause bigger problems.

Orthotic inserts seem to be a rip off. I was very very close to paying stupid money for some, but soon after the company went under & it was proven all the 'testimonials' were fake.

But on a slightly more positive note...

Buy yourself some crocs, I find the 'cheap ones' better than the 'genuine ones' as they're softer, but still very supportive & spongy. I ONLY wear them in the house well, mostly, occasionally I decide not to give a fuck & wear them out TRY not to walk around barefoot, especially on cold floors.

I've just bought some sketchers. I bought them in the US, I was bold over by the size of the range there. I got the GoWalk4 but there were others that had a higher heel than toe that I found weird but might suit you. I bought the ones with laces and they just look like trainers.

I wish I'd had more time to shop because their boots were AMAZING.

My feet still hurt, BUT, I wouldn't have been able to do half as much as I did in the US without them.

I buy Asics with GEL HEELS - for me the cumulus range is the best. It was better when Sports Direct sold them though!

Dense, but squishy flip flops are great in summer.

You can try the exercises -

1: Use a very cold can, put it on the floor and roll it the length of your foot, slowly, back & forth until it's no longer cold.

2: Put a tissue on the floor in front of your foot and use your toes to gather it towards you, straighten it out, do it again, rise and repeat.

3: Rotate your ankles & do exercises to stretch out your foot & calf muscles.

4: Rest.

5: Don't be afraid to take pain killers. My doctor had me on industrial strength & industrial doses & I had to take them on time, no waiting to get the pain.

I do know people who got rid of it quickly, so I wish you lots of luck.🌸

I wear Skechers Go Walk with some heel supports I bought from Amazon. Might not be the best option but they worked for me, I can at least walk without it leaving me in agony for the rest of the day. I wear (fake) crocs at home too, they have a slightly built up heel and they're fairly soft to walk on.

I hope you find a solution, the pain sucks

I had it in my left foot for months until I bought off the shelf orthotics from Boots. What a relief to have my arch supported. No need for expensive bespoke ones. I just wore the orthotic inside every shoe I had and it eased immediately and was gone completely in about 4 months.

The exercises helped me. Also once I lost a couple of stone (stopped carrying the kids everywhere) that seemed to help a lot. I think the weight of kiddos plus that it throws your hip to one side wasn't helping my feet.

I had it last October. it lasted 11 full months. I saw a gp who referred me to a podiatrist.
I did have custom orthotics that fit in a variety of shoes (although I wore trainers almost exclusively for the duration).
there are some exercises that are suppose to help, along with some bracing to better position the foot at night while in bed.
I tried; ice, heat, exercises, shoes, anti-inflammatory medication (topical and oral) sadly I can't say if much was helpful.
I think 12 months is the general timeline then it was just gone....just like it came (well 95% gone)
good luck you have my sympathy

This is all SO helpful, thank you all so much.

Will promise to update once I've tried all these things!

with regard to painkillers what did you take Ilove? I need an anti inflammatory presumably, rather than paracetamol, or should I mix/take both?

I'm trying to avoid going to the GP, daft I know but it's such a faff. If he's just going to tell me stuff I can learn for myself then I'll just buy my own over the counter pain relief!

This is going to cost me a small fortune in fugly shoes, I can tell.

Totally worth it if they help though.

I find Sketchers with the memory foam in them really comfy. Clarks have something similar for work shoes which are soooo comfy.

Do the exercises, especially the standing half of a step ones. Stretch begpfore getting up or getting out of a chair. The supports helped me.

Also a sports massage on your calves if tight can help and Pilates once a week helped me too. Lots of stretching. It's going now and I've had it since April.

The sketchers with inside didn't help me, Birkenstocks did, really helpful for winter, sorry...

Frankie 4 shoes for public, crocs for home. Your days of any old shoe are behind you!

Crocs! Please God tell me it's not true. WAAAAAAHHHH

I was diagnosed about a month ago. Mainly in my left foot, but themright one twinges a bit.

I've found wearing swapping shoes a help. Often the Fit Flop clogs, followed by trainers, followed by my Vionics flip flops.

The podiatrist I saw recommended stretching before you get out of bed. Sit up, reach down and grab as much of your toes as you can , then stretch out your calves. You'll find your trip to the loo less painful.

Then, 3 or 4 times a day, hang your heel off the back of a step. Stretch both sides.

He said that orthotics only helped about 20% of his patients, so to wait 3 months before going back to see him if the stretching wasn't working.
He also said that wearing heels was a no-no.

Voltarol gel is also my friend.

I am now starting to feel an improvement, although I cannot excercise as much as I would like.

Good to hear of other experiences.

If fake Crocs work and its only going to cost you £3 for a pair, I would say its nothing short of a miracle.

Report back please, as I have it & want to know

Buy insoles for arch support. I bought some and they just sit in the back of my shoe. best 22 pounds ever spent. I went from agony limping around to being absolutely fine in less than a week.

Stretching, stretching and more stretching. I got a foot stretcher thing like a slanty board as recommended by someone here and my pf eased up within 3 weeks and I'd had it for months. The stretcher made me flex my foot further than I had with normal exercises I think. I wear an off the shelf orthotic for fallen arches and that should help with the pf as well.

I was just taking paracetamol & ibruprofen. One then the other two hours later all day and a ton before bed. It was a few years ago so I don't remember how many of each, but WAY more then a std dose.

Crocs, scary but true. I wish they were less socially unacceptable because they are SO good. Definitely just get cheap ones, give it a go.

It's just a matter of trial & error. Boots used to do a gel heel which worked quite well for me, but of course they've stopped doing it. There's NO WAY I could wear birkenstoks, that hard base would kill me. We're all different.

Right, just got back from the shops, (was waiting on their doorstep for them to open like a sad sack) and I am now the proud owner of some dubious coloured Skechers. I went for a trainer type pair to go walking in as walking is the only exercise I really do and I can't afford to stop doing it. I also bought and an open backed pair to wear around the house in place of flat slippers. I tried to find the ones with a reasonable rise on the heel, so let's see how it goes.

Will also look at Crocs and all the other brands mentioned and try to get a range of suitable shoes in varying heights to swap back and forth from. If I wear the same one pair for too long I imagine it then becomes difficult to switch to anything else.

greedy can you see your way to finding a link for the stretchy implement you describe? That would be most helpful.

Thanks everyone, I am feeling much more hopeful now. I never realised it was so common!

I bought this book after reading a recommendation on her. All pain went after a few weeks before of doing the exercises and I felt relief in just a few days. The exercises are boring to do but worked for me and if I feel the pain returning I do a few of the stretches for a couple of days and it goes again, so I couldn't recommend it enough. The book is on Amazon but I couldn't copy that link. breakingmuscle.com/reviews/book-review-every-womans-guide-to-foot-pain-relief-by-katy-bowman

Good shopping slottedspoon! The rise in some of them (in the US) was really high, so hopefully they had those where you went.

abear. Thank you for posting a link, I'll go and have a look 😊

My son uses this slant board

www.return2fitness.co.uk/rehabilitation/stretching/adjustable-plastic-slant-board-calf-stretcher

He stands on it for 30 seconds about three times a day or each time he goes to the toilet.

I had PF last year too. Went to podiatrist and ended up wth custom orthotics. She also made me some temporary ones from foam that I still have and use in trainers.

Completely flat shoes are a complete no. I have some black Vionic flip flops that I wore all summer in the house. Really comfy. In winter I wear Fitflop felt clogs as slippers.

Stretches and massage def helps.

A particularly good one the podiatrist showed me is sitting on a chair and putting the affected foot on the opposite knee. Pull back the toes of the affected foot with one hand and feel along under the arch of the foot. You will feel a really tight tendon. Massage that out with both thumbs regularly.

Stretching before you get out of bed really helps. I can't touch my toes so use a resistance band loops around my feet.

Massaging your calves helps too.