Plantar fasciitis - waking up in pain

[Aparecium]

My plantar fasciitis has flared up dreadfully this summer. I'm waking up in pain. My feet and heels hurt before I even put my feet down. AFAIK I'm doing all the right things: wearing supportive footwear (Birkenstock sandals), rolling my feet on bottles of ice, warm-up stretches before I get out of bed and while sitting.

Is there any thing else I can do to help myself?

I found wearing shoes with orthopaedic insoles all the time, not sandals, was a better treatment. I also resorted to wearing elasticated socks.

Theragun on the soles of the feet for several minutes each side can help

I had it horribly in both feet.

In the end I fixed it by doing all the things you say, but much more frequently than seems reasonably. Lots and lots and lots of calf stretching. Ice every hour.

I found rolling on a rolling pin and using an icepack seperately better than frozen bottles. You need to keep you feet on the ice as long as you can bear.

All of the above (I bought some trainers from Vionic), and I am also sure that Pilates has made a massive difference - full body stretching rather than just calfs.

Everything everyone else has said, plus compression socks. They really helped when I had it.

I'd ditch the Birkenstocks. I think you need to wear a lace up shoe or sandal with better support. Don't go barefoot at all.

Gel insoles.
ditch the birkenstocks- too flat.

I normally wear lace-ups with prescription orthotics or Birkenstock footbeds all year round, but it's just so hot right now. Maybe I've been away from them for too long.

What are the elasticated socks? (Socks! In this heat 😩 But I suppose I can ice through them.)

I've got a massage thing a bit like a Theragun, but with 3 nobbles. I'll give it a try.

I'll up the ice and stretching.

Is the ice helping you? For me I found it made the pain more intense.

Look at Allegria sandals they have the support and are velcro closing so adjust to your needs.

For me what helps the best is a electronic foot masager. I have the Revitive brand this really seems to get my pain to reduce.

I cant sleep with socks but I found a brace worked better.

I didn't find using the ice particularly comfortable, but I think it's the one thing that made a big difference. I didn't use a bottle though, but 'sat' my foot on a bag of frozen peas!

Cortisone injection in the heel.
It is the most painful thing ever, but works in most cases. According to my ultrasound guided cortisone Injection doctor who was doing my mortons neuroma!

@Mugon Ive tried multiple different ways with ice but I never find it helps the PF.

Stretches work great and like I said the electric foot masager is amazing. But thats for me. We eqch have to find our way with PF

The physio told me you need shoes with backs - as in support around the ankle. As others have said vionics - these were what saved my feet! Can also use a small Pilates ball to roll on the arch (don’t put it under the ball of the foot). Sorry to hear you’re struggling. I know it’s horrible, mine took aaaagea to go away and flares up from time to time

The NHS physio I saw said I was too young (at 48ish) to have cortisone injections because they'll fix the problem now but cause long term problems.

My friend who was doing everything privately seems to have lots of things the NHS says won't help, including cortisone injections for PF.

I'm undecided whether that's because NHS medics are trained to save money or private ones aim to get as much as possible from you, but they definitely give different advice.

I did all of the above. Also got Naproxen prescribed. Mine has improved but I got referred to a clinical trial which helped. It's called Treadon - ask gp or physio to refer you.

I haven't had the injection but I wouldn't rule it out if it got worse.

Well personally I'd be going for quality of life now while I'm young and fit (47!) and deal with pain in the years to come.
If you can afford it, do it.

My neuroma responded brilliantly to guided cortisone Injection. Our local podiatrist does them. Guided with ultrasound.

Get to a (paid) sports physio for advice personalised to YOU.

It won’t just be a dodgy foot, the cause is often further up the body and a physio can help you identify and help that inequality.

I find ice very helpful.

Do the Allegria sandals have substantial arch support, like Birkenstocks do?

I'm not willing to consider steroid injections yet.

I know that I need to work on my core strength, leg strength and flexibility, but I need 'first aid' right now to deal with the flare. I try as much as possible to avoid NSAIDs because in the past they caused me fissures in my oesophagus.