Plantar fasciitis

Wear supportive shoes.

 

Patients should avoid open-back shoes, sandals, "flip-flops", and any shoes without a raised heel.
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So now that you have to redo your wardrobe...
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To relieve pain and inflammation, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as aspirin and ibuprofen are often used but are of limited benefit.[5]. Patients should be encouraged to lessen activities which place more pressure on the balls of their feet because it increases tension in the plantar fascia. This is counter-intuitive because the pain is in the heel, and the heel is often sensitive to pressure which causes some patients to walk on the balls of their feet.

Local injection of corticosteroids often gives temporary or permanent relief, but may be painful, especially if not combined with a local anesthetic and injected slowly with a small-diameter needle.[6] Recurrence rates may be lower if injection is performed under ultrasound guidance.[7] Repeated steroid injections may result in rupture of the plantar fascia. This may actually improve pain initially, but has deleterious long-term consequences.

In cases of chronic plantar fasciitis of at least 10 months duration, one recent study has shown high success rates with a stretch of the plantar fascia.[8]

Pain with first steps of the day can be markedly reduced by stretching the plantar fascia and Achilles tendon before getting out of bed. Night splints can be used to keep the foot in a dorsi-flexed position during sleep to improve calf muscle flexibility and decrease morning pain. These have many different designs, some of which may be hard and may press on the origin of the plantar fascia. Softer, custom devices, of plastizote, poron, or leather, may be more helpful. Orthoses should always be broken in slowly.

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Try using heel cups. You can find them in any sporting goods stores. Premise is simple: It takes the pressure off the ball of the heel and spreads it to the sides. Avia tennis shoes/sneakers have the same principle.

 

Definitely try new shoes. And do the stretching exercises, they really worked for me.

A few summers ago, my plantar fascitis flared up while I was covering NFL training camp. A few hours watching practice and having to stand absolutely killed me every day.

Once I got a new pair of shoes, and I started doing the stretching exercises, the pain slowly went away.

I feel for you, because it's a wicked pain sometimes.

 

Orthotic inserts worked for me...

 

Mine only hurt when I woke up. Once I started stretching my feet before bed, that helped immensely.

 

I have suffered from it in the past, to the point where I couldn't walk when I woke up. Heel cups are definitely what worked for me.

 

My condolences, Moddy. I have severe plantar fasciitis in both feet and it is extremely painful. For me, the following have helped.

1. Rolling my foot over a frozen bottle of water.
2. A night splint like this one:
http://www.footsmart.com/P-A-Force-Dorsal-Night-Splint-10140.aspx
3. Arch sleeves like this one:
http://www.footsmart.com/P-FootSmart-Arch-Brace-10079.aspx

Be aware, though, that everyone's plantar fasciitis is different, depending on the structure of your foot and the cause of your plantar fasciitis. I have extremely high arches, so what works for me might not work for someone with flat feet.

Hope this helps. Feel free to PM if you have more questions. Unfortunately, I know way too much about this.

 

You need to get gellin, Moddy. Dr. Scholls are what my dad used, and he said he felt better in about three days.

 

STRECTH STRECH STRETCH
I agree with the frozen bottle of water. I had a really painful bout of PF and I already planned a trip to Disney World with the wife and Kids. I walked painful mile after painful mile. At the end of the day my arch would be hot to the touch. Rolling my feet over ice cold water bottles wold help. I would stretch constantly. Find a step and raise and lower yourself using your toes below the step.

I found Teva hiking sandals to be great. Also arch supports in shoes also help.

 

I blame those blasted Crocs.



(Is this the reason I feel like I have two club feet each morning? I thought it was just getting older. Hmm...)

 

Echo the advice here: Arch supports, stretching, rolling the arch of your foot over a golf ball, arch massage and different shoes worked for me.

Tigers (Asics) gave me PF. Changed to Adiddas and Saucony, added the arch supports, and never had a problem again. It did take a while to go away, though, and did flare up occasionally when I was training for a marathon.

A podiatrist or an athletic trainer can also tape your foot to pad/alter your footfall and take the pressure off. That helped too. Head over to the gym and see if you can find a trainer to do a qick tape job for you.