plantar fasciitis - what helps it to eventually go away?

[mummypig]

I have had plantar fasciitis since about February this year. I am not sure what brought it on, but it might have been something to do with wearing some crappy shoes with thin soles and little support. I usually walk A LOT as I hate driving and would rather walk/take public transport even if it takes ten times as long. I also was in the habit of carrying ds2 on my shoulders quite a bit so it's not as if I suddenly started carrying more weight or anything.

Anyway, I have been to see a podiatrist, physio and someone at Scholl shoes, I have stopped walking so much, I do stretches in the morning and evening, I have worked at improving my posture (including doing Pilates twice a week) and I have orthotics plus shock absorbing inserts in my shoes. I only wear trainers or walking shoes outside. When I'm in the house I wear Crocs with extra shock-absorbing heel inserts, as we have wooden floors in most of the rooms and I know it's not good to walk around barefoot on them.

Despite all these measures, my left foot still hurts if I walk for more than about 10 minutes.

This is so frustrating as walking used to be my main exercise, plus now I am pregnant, and I really don't want to be an unhealthy pregnant woman who can't even walk anywhere. (p.s. if you know me in rl don't tell anyone else I am pg as only dp knows at the moment.)

I have read about pf online and it seems like it's one of these conditions that can linger for ages. So if anyone can tell me what worked for them I would love to know... please

Did your physio show you how to do any soft tissue mobilisation techniques?

I can't explain how to do it online, but a physio with a special interest in sports injuries will be able to show you.

I used it many times with patients with pf to good effect.

HTH

oooh i just made a programme about this

here

Ds had PF earlier in the year- we had about 4 sessions with the poidatirist, who gave him ultrasound, put gel insoles in all his shoes, and he did the excercises, and it cleared up totally within a few weeks.

Hope yours gets better soon

Ouch!! I too had pf earlier in the year and did exactly what you've been doing - orthotics, sensible shoes even indoors and lots of stretching exercises. For me it went away after a few weeks. One other thing that I did was massaging my feet a few times a day with Weleda Arnica massage oil - I don't really know how much this helped in clearing it up, but it did seem to provide temporary relief at least.

Sorry I can't think of anything else useful, and hope it gets better soon!

oh thanks everyone, esp bundle, I shall listen to that programme sometime soon - must go and watch Heroes now though

My physio didn't say anything about soft tissue mobilisation, she mostly focussed on my posture and was very keen on Pilates. Maybe I should look for a sports physio nearby instead. I found some exercises described online where you roll the foot over a drinks can or something similar, is that the kind of thing?

thanks v much for your speedy responses.

I ice my foot with a bag of peas when I come back from a run. This helps stop the niggle developing into something more. Yours sounds like it has become a chronic condition so it might be beyond the icing stage. It might be worth a go though. (This is completely not a professional opinion - I'm just a fellow sufferer.)

what's plantar fascitis like? i have a burning pain in my heel but it doesn't seem to match the description of PF that i've read on the internet.

um, well for me it's just rather painful, especially in the morning when everything is tight, or after I've been walking around and putting weight on my foot. It particularly hurts on my heel, but sometimes also round my achilles tendon and up the side of my foot towards my little toe. If you've read about it you probably know that the plantar fascia stretches right from the heel to the toes so all these pains are connected. I know I also have somewhat fallen arches, and often have tight calves, probably both due to adjusting my gait because of the pain. When it's really bad, it hurts even if my partner just touches the sore area. It doesn't have a swollen or inflamed appearance, though.

Hi,
i has same issue, my mum is a sr podiatrist abd acupunctured it for me,,,fantastic result very quickly cleared up, walking to work again after 3 ttments

My mum had this and had a steroid injection into it...a scary thought I know, but it cleared it up straight away and she said it was well worth it...

thanks. it doesn't sound like what i've got but PF is all that comes up if you google burning heel pain.

I've had PF a couple of times. Things like stretching the foot regularly are ok but I found it was only time which really helped, which is annoying when you want it to go away now. The last bout I had I think lasted between 18mths-2yrs before it went. Tbh, I didn't really notice it going, I just realised one day 'Oh wow, my foot doesn't hurt!!'

Can I join...mine came on in May as a result of running. Purely self diagnosed as I went through this all once before in 1996 (again running related). It's a real pain (excuse the pun). This time round I stopped running but still do Nordic Walking (strange I know). It hasn't gone completely but has been made 80% better by buying a pair of these www.yoursole.co.uk. I really rate them, particularly as in the past I have spent alot of money on custom orthotics just to keep running.
I've started running again once or twice per week and know that I ought to do more stretching as I supect that really helps.
Good luck fellow sufferers.

wow those look good, might well give them a go. Thanks for that, (not so) lapsedrunner!