Plantar Fasciitis, aren't we lucky!?

Foot care
1

Well I have a story and a half which I feel I have to share as my family and friends are fed up of hearing it!! Please feel free to give me feedback or join in my hatred of the NHS!!!

I started to get Heel Pain July 2007, literally as I graduated. I decided to have a year off working in a shop to save up for a master's the following year. I think this is what was the cause of the initial pain, a job where I stood for 8 hours of the day (when as a student lets face it, I sat in the Sport Science labs running tests on blood lactate all day!!!)

I first went to my GP in September 2007, where she thought I may be PF in my left foot. She told me to get heel supports and better shoes. This did not help so I went back. She prescribed me NSAID's and told me to do certain exercises and stop playing rugby.

After no joy from a third trip to the GP I sought help from a Chiropodist who gave me custom supports (no help) and gave me near identical exercises. After 3 visits I conceded defeat and went back to my GP but saw a different doctor. She was brilliant and gave me my first injection (November 2007) which led to 3 pain free and blissful weeks.

On Boxing Day 2007 I developed the same, yet worse PF also in my right foot (hooray!). By January after numerous sick days and a disciplinary hearing at work I quit to get some rest and further treatment. I went back to my GP in despair where she said she wouldn't give me any further corticosteroid injections so would therefore refer me to a specialist.

I got an appt in February 2008 with an Orthopaedic Dr. He was brilliant at first, gave me a second injection in the same foot and sent me for a blood test to make sure I didn't have Rheumatoid Arthritis. 2 blood tests and 10 weeks later the NHS finally found my blood test results. By this time I had returned to work (temping in offices) as rest was not easing the pain and I gained a lot of weight from being so inactive.

By the end of April 2008 I had my third and final injection which didn't even give me pain relief this time which really got me down. During all of this I was also seeing a chiropractor to try and re-align my now out of alignment pelvis. With the pelvis being out of alignment and me limping on both feet I had now started to regularly use crutches. My specialist then said he would refer me to a physiotherapist.

My condition really hit home when in May my boyfriend took me to Florida and I couldn't even walk around the theme parks. I had to use a wheelchair for the whole two weeks which was pretty embarrassing as I just looked like a lazy overweight kid not wanting to walk. On the plus side I hardly queued for anything!

Whilst in Florida my housemate called me overjoyed because she had received news from the hospital that I had been placed on the waiting list for surgery. Although surgery is risky the success rate is good I am told and anything by this point to ease the pain as I start a trainee teacher course this September. By the end of June 2008 there was no letter from the Hospital or GP to inform me about the surgery which surprised me so I started to make some calls to the NHS and my specialist.

So, finally make some headway with the NHS where they inform me I am now an outpatient and not on a waiting list as my specialist has deemed me to have had satisfactory treatment and made a good recovery; what a joke!! So, I have had to go back to my GP to get another referral to my specialist. This appointment is in 13 days and I cannot wait for it so I can give my specialist A) what for and B) maybe a couple of right hooks!!!!

Fingers crossed I will get some physio or something as I follow all the exercise, I wear good supportive shoes, I have custom orthotics (all £40's worth!) and I regularly ice and heat my feet. I am really at the end of my tether. I am at Weight Watchers losing weight steadily and I swim twice weekly. I just don't see what more I can do to help myself! Surely it is for the NHS now to provide me with some bloody decent care and treatment?!

Watch this Space!!!!

2

I have also been to the doctors and been diagnosed with pf. Ive had it just over two months which is a drop in the ocean compared to you. you have my sympathys

im trying to be hopeful but part of me is a little worried. My doctor has given me loads of information to look up and ive been doing my homework and as far as i can read its a bit of a mystery that could last a few months or years and will dissapear as unexpectedly as it arrived. I had been wearing quite flat shoes for a while and wonder if that bought it on but i dont do a lot of walking and i work at a desk so im not sure. it sounds like you havent had the best advice from your doctor but i do get quite incensed when people slag off our free service and how awful it is......i thing you are blaming your doctor for not sorting out the pain you are having (and it does sound terrible to me) but if you were unhappy with your doctor, you need to change and see someone else. Your final comments say that youve done everything you can and now it should be the responsibility of the nhs...... I think you are being very hard on the fantastic service the nhs provide....yes its slow but there are people being treated for far worse conditions that take priority....people like my sister who has breast cancer and has been treated within 2 weeks of finding it......i personally think the nhs is fab and people with far worse conditions need to be treated before we do......

Its horrible pain...and you've endured it for a long time and i hope you get the treatment soon....

3

Hi. What a distressing experience. My heart goes out to you. I have just been diagnosed with plantar fasciitis a few weeks ago. I have done a lot of googling and the following web sites i found seemed the more intuitively right to me. Correct toes and 'soc doc. I would check the shape of your toes and whether your muscles in the front of your legs are soar. Also checking with the health food shop for supplements for plantar fascia problems and foods for this. this condition is meant to be called plantar fasciosis since it's about dead tissue not inflamation. Therefore it must be a circulation problem. Massaging legs with rolling pin. Alkaline cooking is another possibility. I'm just at the start of this so cannot tell you what has worked for me but this was the information that made the most sense to me. My wild card has been looking at foot chakra. Not my usual line of enquiry and my knowledge in this area is very limited but hey. . Worth a shot. You have gone through a terrible ordeal and i hope you find a solution sooner rather than later. All the best.

4

I was diagnosed with PF about 20 years ago. I had 3 cortisone injections which did not really help then the pain just went away on its own after about 3 years. Then in November 2011 the pain came back in the same foot and just keeps getting worse. I have had 3 more injections which offered no relief whatsoever, I have carried out the suggested excercises every day, have used ice and a night splint, all to no effect. I also have various insoles in my shoes ( I should say that I only wear trainers as they are the most comfortable things I can bear on my feet.) Nothing seems to help. Walking anywhere is agony and has had a great impact on my life as I have dogs which need excercise every day. I have also recently had to give up my job as it involved long periods on my feet. I'm not having a "go" at the NHS as I was a nurse for 19 years, but I feel that this condition is not taken seriously enough. Each appointment is months apart and in the meantime I'm left in agony. At my last appointment, I took a cutting from the Daily Mail newspaper which outlined a treatment where blood is taken from the arm and injected in the heel, the person I saw had never even heard about it! I have done everything in my power to avoid bothering anyone else with this but it has completely taken over my life. The good news is that I have another appointment with a specialist tomorrow, god willing he will be able to suggest some positive treatment. Will keep you posted.

5

Sorry to hear about your pain - I had a similar experience and tried just about anything to take it away.

The only thing that's helped me - like someone else who has replied is support in the heel arch.

There's a technical term called - heel strike, this is when you put 2.5 times your bodyweight through your foot - and the plantar muscle. This is when walking become very painful and sore as the weight is put through this part of your foot. The only thing that worked for me was when a podiatrist recommended an insole called orthoshock insole. It cost under £20 and the reason why it worked for me is that it absorbs the impact when walking which was my problem. I don't know if it will help your foot pain but that would be my advice - hope this helps

6

Sue,

Many thanks. Since writing in 2013, I have had the procedure where blood is taken from the arm then plasma is injected into the heel. That was in February 2013. Initially, there was no improvement but then I was given insoles with arch supports by the hospital. Something worked, though I don't know what. I also stopped doing the excercises and this seemed to help, contrary to what I had been told about the benefits of excercise! By November 2012 I was almost pain free and continue to be so. Long may it last. I actually think that the heel supports supplied by the hospital should have been the first line of attack for this condition. Prior to that I had bought every insole on the market with no effect. Luckily, I finally got referred to a Podiatrist who had an interest in my pain, what a relief that was, hope you remain pain free.

Glynis

7

Glynis, any idea what make of insoles the hospital gave you? I am truly fed up pouring money down the drain buying yet more insoles that promise to relieve the pain in my heel. Doing exercises but do not feel they are helping but that's what the doctor said to do as he also had PF and he said they worked for him. Any help would be much appreciated.

AnnB

8

Ann. I have had a look at my insoles and there is no writing at all on them. All I can tell you is that they were suIpplied by Northumbria Healthcare Trust. They have a built-up arch support and the heels are also built up. They actually look cheap and nasty but have worked for me. My feet were measured before the soles were made to order. Please don't mistake these insoles for the ones which are shown in hospital brochures, (the ones you have to pay for). I have to repeat that excercises made my pain worse and it is since I stopped that I have got rid of the pain. I hope you get some relief soon as I also was fed up buying insoles that did not work at all.

Glynis

9

I feel your pain. I really do. And it sounds like you have done all u can do. It could be worse....you could be like me and confined basically to my bedroom bc I can barely get around at all. The pain is unbearable and my life has been on hold now for about 8 or 9 months. I've almost lost count. All I can do is pray at this point since He is the only 1 that can truly take this from me. I wish you the best and keep us posted. 

10

I feel your pain, I'm 29 years old with a 3 year old and a 5year old I work part time, I suffer with this but on both feet only been a few weeks but I'm in so much pain I can brarly walk.😭 I've ordered crutches now so see if that helps I'm already limping around on top of that I suffer from migraines every day as well as lower back pain. I'm at that point that I just want to brake down in tears I can't take no more I'm 29? And I have carpal tunnel syndrome in my left hand! If I have any thing more with me! I said to my husband I will end up in a wheelchair by the end of the year, 😭😭😭😭😭

11

Hi your not the only one last )ct0ber 2015 told to take pain killer and on second appointment given sheet with the  condition five GP's later. I did manage after shouting in doctors surgery saw  my Gp given sterold injection which did not work but good he tried and refered at last to consultant  that took 10 weeks after that now in 2016 report gps to paitent association and CQC and not further along. Finally after seeing consultant again good phsio but still in agony and wish could cut my foot off and go to  Fitz Patrick the bionic vet round the corner. Due to pain and trying to work self employed life is bloody miserqable has your condition got any better.

 

12

Hi Emily,

I have a sever case of plantar fasciosis, it's been less than two months and despite rest and taking many precautions it's getting worse and worse and I can no longer walk or stand more than one hour a day. I can only walk very slowly with small steps, every step with discomfort. Although in my case the pain is only in the arch of my feet and not in the heel at all.

Anyway, your post is from 10 years ago but it would be nice to know if you recovered or ended up in a wheel chair like I probably will.

13

Hi Mo,

I have a sever case of plantar fasciosis, it's been less than two months and despite rest and taking many precautions it's getting worse and worse and I can no longer walk or stand more than one hour a day. I can only walk very slowly with small steps, every step with discomfort. Although in my case the pain is only in the arch of my feet and not in the heel at all.

Anyway, I saw your post is from a year ago but it would be nice to know if you recovered or ended up in a wheel chair like I probably will.

14

Hi Ladyjack,

I have a sever case of plantar fasciosis, it's been less than two months and despite rest and taking many precautions it's getting worse and worse and I can no longer walk or stand more than one hour a day. I can only walk very slowly with small steps, every step with discomfort. Although in my case the pain is only in the arch of my feet and not in the heel at all.

Anyway, I saw your post is from 4 years ago but it would be nice to know if you recovered or ended up in a wheel chair like I probably will.