Is this plantar fasciitis and what do I do?

[tobyj]

A couple of months ago, out of basically nowhere, I developed heel pain in one foot. I'm not a runner or anything similar - in fact, I don't do nearly enough exercise at the moment. It seemed to be triggered initially by running around in the garden with my son. Was a bit sore, then went away. Then I went away for a city break and did a lot of walking, and it was horrendous - I could hardly put my foot on the floor by the end of the day.

Since then, it hasn't been quite so acute, but it generally seems to be getting worse - it's basically just painful to stand or walk, and I can even feel it just lying in bed and moving my foot. My heel feels very slightly swollen and firm to the touch, but there's no redness or specific lump. No pain from mid foot forwards. Main pain is on base of heel at the back and sides.

I wear mostly sensible shoes, always now wear supportive slippers in the house, have tried stretching, spiky roller etc. Wear shoe supports and have now added gel pads. Nothing seems to make a blind bit of difference. I'm despairing a bit now - although I'm not a runner etc, I love to walk, but at the moment even a few hundred yards is really painful.

What do I do? Podiatrist as first step??

Hi ! Plantar fascitis is pain into a certain part of the sole of the foot. Generally can come on with overload e.g running around the garden. However not common for it to be painful in bed or when not moving. Main symptoms are acute pain on waking in the morning and when standing from periods of rest. I am wondering if this is an insertional Achilles tendinopathy rather than a plantar fascitis pain. Very rarely is can also be coming from the spine , do you have any back pain ?

I have had plantar fascilitis. It sounds similar apart from the pain in bed. Where is it hurting when in bed? Is it still that spot on the heel or up your leg? I would see a podiatrist for sure but perhaps try some stretches for plantar fascilitis, you can easily google them. I found standing on the edge of a step with the ball off my feet and then letting my heel drop down very helpful. It really stretches the calf muscles which are usually very tight with PF. I also use a massage gun on my calf muscles.

Thanks. No pain in back, or in back or sides of heel - only on base. If I lie still, I can still feel a very slight ache in the 'ball' of my heel, but I don't know if that's residual from walking around. It also hurts if I flex my foot while lying, particularly if flexed on a slight side angle. It does hurt when I first stand up in the morning, then eases slightly, then gets worse the longer I walk on it.

I had to strap mine....went to a sports therapist who said my shoes were too small and taped with kinetic tape once it settled I had exercise to strengthen arch and massage now I wear trainers most of the time and crocs indoors no pain after 3 years

Plantafascitis is where the plantarfascia muscle is overstreched. The muscle runs along the sole of the foot ans attaches to the middle of the underside of the heel.

The pain you feel in your heal is the muscle straining/tearing due to the over stretching. The over stretching is usually caused by the foot arch dropping. The best way to treat it is to start using goid arch supports.

My PF was triggered by long walks in flat sandals esp on holiday. Usually it last a day. But one time it was 18 months and still flares up now and then.

It is much much worse in the morning and I can not weight bear initially as the bands (the PF) shrink overnight

Mine is also incredibly painful in bed especially if I wake in the middle of the night.

When I sit down at work then stand it can be painful.

The pain can be excruciating.

I find a cool glass bottle helps to get the foot going by rolling it over. Also dink in cooled water or ice pack.

After 10 Months k went to the GP for a steroid shot. it was a bit annoying - one gp said to book in with the GP who is trained to do it but he didn't want to do it. So he gave me co codamol and ibuprofen. Eventually it is manageable now but not full gone

Decent shoes are key and the best thing is my hoka recovery slide. I love them and wear them as slipppers.

I've had the similar thing, waking in the morning and sometimes during the night with heel pain, feeling like your heel is tender and very swollen but it isn't. I was wearing flat shoes, slippers or flip flops all the time & think this might have been the problem for me ,Now everything I wear has a slight heel & more arch support and the pain has stopped .

Yes, see a podiatrist.

I had something similar. He diagnosed bursitis and recommended these, which worked. They are also available from Amazon. But you might not have the same thing, so it is important that you see a podiatrist 😃

Scholl heel pain relief insoles medium - Boots

When you say flex do you mean point the ankle up or down ? 😃 Sounds like irritable plantar fasciitis and/or/with heel pain . There is a fat pad in the heel that can cause similar symptoms but hard to know the exact point of your pain. Doesn't matter anyway as treatment is the same . Off load with medial arch support insoles , pain medication and paced walking / activities. Physios and podiatrists can both advise and treat with LL strengthening exercises and taping to off load if needed .They can be injected but for most services this is last resort ( unless you pay for it ) Can take anywhere from 6 months to 3 years to settle completely if true plantar pain.

I found the scholl insides are ok but not B a miracle cure. At home I permanently wear OOFOS sliders, they are superb. Keep them at the side of my bed at night and step straight into them. Some days I wouldn't he able to put my heel on the floor from the pain.

Achilles - tendonitis?

I developed this in September. Then one day a few weeks ago I realised I was no longer hobbling in the morning. It went as quickly as it came.

You need to go to a podiatrist, and get assessed for some orthotics to place inside your shoes to correct your foot posture.

Nothing else will help, ultimately.

I've been there.

Thanks so much. I already wore insoles, but only over the counter ones. To answer the question, the pain when flexing is when pulling toes back towards the knee - no pain when pointing toes. Will definitely book podiatrist appointment. Good to hear that it can get better... NB I do a little bit of yoga - not sure if that would make it better or worse!

If it's tendonitis and you get a referral from the NHS, you'll end up with physio exercises to strengthen the calf muscle and dry needling (which works for some but hasn't worked for me). They'll avoid a cortisone injection as the achilles could rupture entirely. An operation is to be avoided where possible as you'll be off your feet for months.
I'm living with chronic pain 18 months on from first diagnosis. But I think I can feel a heel spur formed so not sure what I'm doing next. Good luck with it x

I had it, the podiatrist was useless. What cured mine was rolling a tennis ball under my foot. I did about 20 rolls five times a day.

I wear a special elasticated sock I bought online (usual place). That, plus insoles, exercises and wearing shoes indoors, seem to have cured it. But it will come back!

As pp it doesn't sound like it from where you describe the pain as coming from. I had PF for two years following a bad ankle strain. The pain was in the sole and up into the foot but from where the heel ends. You can see on diagrams of the foot where the plantar muscle is.

Also, when you stand up (usually first thing or if you've been sitting for a while) does your foot almost "give" briefly?

For those who do have PF, apart from the rolling and stretching exercises, the one thing that cured me were Skechers and Fitflop Rally trainers.

If you can't get in straight away look up kinetic tape for PF it really helps while waiting boots do tape.
Sketchers are rubbish as too spongy.

It could be PF or a heel spur injury. Both take months to go away properly, I'm afraid. I'd advise getting PF insoles in all your shoes, they cost about £8 a pair on Amazon. The only shoes I couldn't wear them in were sandals in summer and I had to buy FitFlops as they were the only ones that were comfortable and gave enough support.

I got mine from being overweight (in the obese zone at the time) picking up an injury in Body Attack with shoes that had been recommended to me but were nowhere near bouncy enough and wearing shoes that were very flat, probably too narrow and not supportive (was 2016 and ballet flats were still the thing). It took about 12 months to go completely.

Doing stretches helped as well:

https://www.versusarthritis.org/media/21790/plantar-exercise-sheet.pdf

Plus ibuprofen when it was very painful.

Not long after I started doing yoga regularly. My teacher is quite keen on foot stretches and foot strength, among other things and it has never come back. I'm also two stone+ lighter these days. I still buy and wear the insoles in most of my shoes- in fact they have saved me buying expensive stability shoes (which do very little) for running and anything high impact. I just buy a good cushioned shoe in the sale (Brooks Revel 5 are the current ones- got them for £50) and replace the shoes' insoles with the £8 Amazon ones.

Hi just wondering if you have an update on your pf symptoms. I'm currently suffering for exactly the same reasons and wondering how you are now? Thx 🙏

It's better now, thankfully. It took a long time to go though - several months. I'm not really sure what cured it in the end - I did wear squishy heel protectors, which helped, and reduced exercise for a time. I tried some stretches and a roller etc, but they didn't seem to do that much good. I think it was mainly just time, in the end.

I'm so encouraged you have recovered as some can suffer for years. Sensible measures and patience seems to be the way forward. Thanks for your update 🙂

It’s really unpleasant, isn’t it.

You can buy specific insoles for the condition that do help.

Just google or whatever “insoles for plantar fasciitis”.

Hi
Yes Thank You Mrs White, I hope Walt is keeping well! 😉 I've got insoles although my heel feels on fire so any enclosed footwear is uncomfortable. I've sticking with Crocs and oofos ATM, my chiropractor who's started shockwave treatment says Crocs short term is pretty normal and ok.
Incase anyone else is reading I'm also doing
Heel dip stretches
Raised toe stretches
Rolling an iced water
Sleeping with foot splint
Reduced walking and standing as much as possible.
Calf and hamstring massage.
It's very time consuming and only the foot splint provides temporary relief.
I'll update my progress as it seems so common and little is helping in the short term.