Plantar fasciitis is back :(

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I first had this in 2018. Lasted three whole painful years and then suddenly - poof! Gone! I tried everything last time… stretches, rollers, orthotics, supportive shoes ALL THE TIME. Yesterday the heel pain started in the afternoon, and sure enough, when I got up in the night it was horribly painful. It’s not as bad as last time yet (I used to hobble everywhere and couldn’t walk for any length of time, to the extent that all exercise stopped and I put on two stone!)… so wise people of Mumsnet - what are your tried and tested remedies? It’s so debilitating and I can’t bear the thought of it lasting so long again :(

The thing that worked for me was strengthening the muscles, so lots of calf raises, and standing on the stairs with my heels down and then doing a raise. It takes some time but helps address the root cause rather than the symptoms.

If you have a good level of fitness, standing in a wide-ish squat and gently doing little jumps can also help.

A night sock, it has a strap on it which keeps your foot stretched up towards your shin overnight so the fascia cannot contract on your sole. Get from amazon.
Wear shoes all the time, supportive trainers outside, crocs inside. Not slippers.

Forgot to add …. think of it as a lower body problem rather than a foot problem.

Orthotics in your shoes, elastic socks, do the exercises (on the internet). Sit with your feet up when you can. Always wear shoes with a back, even in the house. It’s horrible but it does go eventually.

Agree with calf exercises. I get PF sometimes connected to my insertional achilles tendinitis.

My osteopath goes hard on my calf muscles. Then I do a lot of standing on the toes of that leg with my other leg off the floor, leaning at an angle into a wall.

Do this regularly and it really helps.

This is being discussed on BBC1 right now! I just turned over.

I had terrible PF after changing over to barefoot shoes and overdoing the exercise in them. What worked for me is all the rolling and stretching and barefoot walks on the beach. Bad time of year for that though. After you loosen it up with the stretching then do some strengthening exercises. I would avoid supportive footwear unless you really need to walk somewhere and it helps. But in general it's far better to strengthen the foot than constrain it.

Downward dog stretch in yoga made a huge difference to my pf

Absolutely this. Mine was caused by tight achilles and calves. A calf stretcher sorted me out in a couple of weeks. As recommended by someone on here.

i keep mine away with a power plate. It’s basically what the osteopath did but for free (now I own the handheld device). Whenever I feel a niggle I go back to the power plate. I have a vibrating roller and one with a ball attachment I push into the heel (painful but does work).

Thank you for all the advice. Sounds like stretch stretch stretch. I will be doing them religiously! 🤞🤞🤞