Hi David. I wear Merrell Jungle Mocs most of the time. I add ProFoot Plantar Fasciitis three quarter orthotics to them. They provide good arch support and have a gel heel. This is what is most comfortable for me.
I am very happy to have found this forum but sad that so many of you share my condition (bilateral PF) which began 1 year ago after spending 2 weeks walking in Paris in not very good shoes. I have tried almost everything and my doctor now wants me to try shockwave therapy. Has anyone in this group had positive results from it? Here in the US it costs $800 for 3 sessions. I guess the next step is the myofascial release which the doctor said could be done in the office and that I would "walk out" which sounds very different from the months of recovery that people are reporting here. I assume he is talking about the endoscopic vs. open surgery but wonder if that has easier recovery time. As far as shoes go, I too have spent a small fortune and have to rotate them regularly. The ones that seem the best for me are Hokas as they have a huge cushion. Lately I have also been wearing Skechers memory foam, and surprisingly my garden shoes, Sloggers which are super light (similar to Crocs). God forbid I should ever need to wear anything formal. Also wondering if anyone has had luck with specific exercises to strengthen the feet, or no weight bearing activities like swimming. Thanks for any information and good luck to all.
Erika, I had two shockwave treatments and seven laser therapy treatments. My podiatrist charged me $60.00 for each one. I would say that they helped me about 50%.
I had a cortisone shot that did not help me at all.
Do a Google search for an article "The Running Doc on Plantar Fasciitis". It was in the New York Daily News dated April 4, 2016.
This is what he says:
"Good arch supports or orthotics are key: full length, flexible, no hard plastic! Stretches of the calf relieve arch tightness as the heel bone acts like a fulcrum pulling back the arch tissue if too tight. Perform the gastroc and soleus stretches regularly - you can’t do them too much.Finally, the magic cure is to roll a golf ball under the arch for a half-hour once a day. This may hurt the first week. Keep going because by week two the pain will be gone!
Really! "
I followed what he said about rolling a golf ball under my foot for half an hour each day. (I used a hard massage ball with spikes). I did it for two weeks and it helped me tremendously. You must do it for half an hour every day.
Also, try wearing the ProFoot Plantar Fasciitis three quarter orthotics. You can buy them in most drugstores or Walmart.
I have had plantar fasciitis for eight months and it is finally starting to get better.
Thanks lucy, I just saw your response...for some reason I missed it before. I appreciate the tips. The orthodics make my feet hurt more so I stopped wearing them. Same with the golf ball. maybe I need to try again. It is frustrating to do something that is supposed to help and feel worse. Then you wonder if you should keep it up. I am scheduled for the shock wave therapy in January. Good luck to you!
The ProFoot Plantar Fasciitis three quarter orthotics are only about $10.00, so give them a try. They are soft. You can buy them on Amazon if you can't find them locally. The golf ball (I used a hard massage ball) does make your foot a bit sore, but it would feel better in the morning. It really helped me after two weeks of doing it. I only wish that I had read about it when I first got plantar's fasciitis. I don't think I would have had it as long. It's just starting to go away.
Hi Angela (and anyone else who's interested!) So it's been 6 weeks since my bilateral plantar fascia release. I think my right foot in terms of original PF pain is a lot better. I'm not walking on the outside of my foot as much to help ease the pain in the morning. The pain has by no means entirely gone but it is better. My left foot, is maybe even a little more better, although it was always the less affected foot. That is why the next point is so frustrating because I kind of feel like I wish I hadn't had my left foot done. I have blogged about this pain before. It is in my little and next toe, it's starts in the toes, shoots to the back of the heel through my calf and my thigh. It's like a cramp, spasm, nerve pain and takes my breath away at times! Also my little toe, part of the side and sole of my foot are numb. It is a lot worse after walking, having said that I can walk for an hour or two until the pain gets too much, although it's always there. Anyway I saw my podiatrist yesterday even though I'm not supposed to have a follow up for 6 months! I wanted to ask about this pain. He said he wasn't concerned but thought I had been doing too much and I needed MORE time off work. He thinks the pain is caused from walking too much on the outside of my foot to compensate for pain from my incision site. I'm not so sure that's it as my incision site is only a little bit tender but I'm concentrating on walking 'properly' now. He told me to do more calf stretches and I've also got some quite firm/rigid shoes from Clarks and Shuropody. So if I have another 3 weeks off work that will be 9 weeks in total! That's a lot more than the original 3-4 weeks they said I would need. So I'm going to do some intense rehab on my feet and and build my strength up. Sorry for the long entry but hopefully it might be of interest to someone. Amy X
Hi Amy nice to hear from you ,,glad your feeling the benefit of your surgery, I think it takes a lot longer than we think to get over the operation but long term we will feel like it was worth it. My first lot of surgery I thought I would be ok 6weeks after my surgery,,, so I booked 2 holidays one was 6 weeks after surgery one was 3 weeks after the first holiday ,,,boy was I wrong I could barley get around I was in so much pain my surgeon made me take my crutches for the second holidays which did help but was so inconvenient,,,. This time I'm not booking any holidays until I feel able to get about as normal,,,I think like my surgeon has warned me don't try to do do too much to soon it takes time to heal and lots of physio, I'm just impatient and want results to soon but it's not going to happen ,take the time and get yourself better before jumping back into normal routine and work ,I no it's not easy as I work for myself so I don't have to have time of from an employer. I hope you feel better every day keep me posted good luck.xx
Hi Angela, so 10 weeks after my surgery I have been back to work for two, 3 hour shifts. In my last message I spoke about starting to walk 'properly' through my left foot. Having poo pooed my podiatrists advice, I thought about it and yes I have been walking too much on the little toe side of my left foot which has caused this nerve pain and numb foot. I haven't had the shooting up the back of my leg for a few weeks now and the toe pain has decreased also. It comes back when I have been walking for more than about 4 hours or so. I have had two shifts at work and my feet have been ok. My feet have been a lot more tired than before the operation but I guess that's just a case of building up strength again. It's still getting me down because I can't imagine doing a 12 hour shift at the moment but work have been really good and I'm just going week by week. It must be very hard to be self employed because any time off is lost earnings. Have you got an operation date yet? Amy.
Hi Amy nice to hear from you ,, good to hear things are improving slowly.i have my operation on Saturday I'm a little nervous as the last surgery didn't work but I have to try Just hope it works as I've got no other option. I'll let you no how it goes keep strong I think it's just a long road we're going down but chin up 🤕😉xx
Hi all! I have been dealing with the same thing in both feet for some time. I'm an ex-pro athlete who actually injured the plantar tendon and put on IR list. Well, many years later it came back to roost and I pondered surgery. I rested, did shots, orthotics, stretched and other stuff already mentioned. Pain in arch on my L got better but the heal on R persisted until I figured out something on my own which may help some of you. I found out that high top basketball shoes were the best because of no heals, rubbery hard sole and tight high shoe laces were key in keeping it snug. You don't want the heal to ever separate from orthotics or sole for that sake if you want it to start healing. I know work gets in the way but there may be a medical exemption for this if you are on your feet a lot. If not, find a real tight sock and put it over the orthotics and foot to hold in place so a least the separation while walking is with the shoe and the orthotics and not foot. And I used a cane around home to relieve pressure, just for the time being to give it a chance to heal. It took a good amount of time however now I walk without pain but it is always there and I have to be careful. Oh ya, I used a small tubular pillow to keep it elevated during sleep. And I would take one Duexis at night on bad days. Hope that helps someone!
Hi Lucy, Thanks. I did buy the ProFoot on your recomendation and it made my shoes more comfortable and softened the heel impact. Just had the shockwave therapy for the first time yesterday so the jury is still out on whether that wil help. My theory is that the therapy itself hurts so much that just regular old PF doesn't feel as bad!
Hi angela - platelet replacement was my miracle. After years of suffering and having the same treatments as you i had this done last january and it changed my life ! Never thought it would work but i am now pain free, back to exercising and normal footwear. Good luck xx
Hi kurt ..I've tried all the shoes possible for many years of expense believe me it's been a long road ..I had more surgery 8 days ago and so far I have surgery pain at the site of the cut but already feel so much relief from the nagging excruciating pain I had constantly ,,although my other foot is extremely painful as I have it in both feet.so it's taking a real bashing at the minute. When you've lived with the problem as long as I have and have tried everything medical and non medical thing possible sometimes you have to put your trust in a surgeon who specialises in the problem .hopefully things will continue to improve as time goes on I'm not pushing myself and are doing as my surgeon has advised . Shall be having my other foot done in 6 months when I have recovered enough as I can already feel the benefit after just 8 days although a littl sore there's is definitely a difference. My advice is everyone has it at different stage so do what's best for you and find a surgeon who knows what they're talking about it makes the world of difference xxx
hi Amy ..well it's been 8days after my surgery and although I have pain at site of surgery I definitely can say I feel so much relief from the nagging excruciating horrible pain that I had constantly. My others foot killing me because I'm putting all my weight on it but the crutches help. I'm not taking my pain medication cause I'm ok without them so hopefully will continue to improve ...How are you doing have you had some relief how are you doing are you walking in normal footwear yet .. xxx
Hi Angela I didn't get an alert about your previous message so I couldn't say good luck. Looks like you don't need it though if you are feeling the benefit already! I'm glad to hear your pain has improved. May I ask are you in the UK? It's just that I was told I could not/didn't need to have crutches or pain relief. Well I have been back at work for 3 weeks and it is going ok. I went to see my gp two weeks ago and I am taking Amitriptaline for this nerve pain in my left foot. I think it has improved the pain but I still have pain. So I'm just taking it day by day really. Keep me updated on your progress. Amy x
Hi Amy, yes I'm in the uk .i have had my treatment at a private hospital not the NHS so not sure if the advice is any different .I was given Codine Ibuprofen and paracetamol, but I only took it tor the first three days have crutches so that I don't put any weight in the surgical site and wasn't allowed to put it to the floor for the first three days so not to thicken the wound site .Im now putting it to the floor but not putting weight on it as such just using it more for balance but putting more pressure on it every day.I can definitely feel the difference ,yes it's sore but as long as I don't do too much the pain. Has definitely improved ..Are you in the U.K. .xxx
Hi Angela,
I too had PF for over 12 months and now it's gone. I tried ultrasound, physio, Vionic shoes which did help relieve the pain, PF socks, jel heels, 24 hr pain relief cream which also helped although you can only use it for 10 days with 10 days rest before you try again all of which gave relief from the severe pain. Now it has gone! The only thing I can put it down to is the manipulating of the calf muscles with real vigour until you feel the tightness of the muscle in the backs of your lower legs, you can feel the pain in the muscles and it does hurt, you need to relax those knots in there.... and then massaging it afterwards with body cream to relieve your vigorous manipulation. I read an article that said if you have pain in the foot it is the leg you have to deal with. Pressure points in the calf muscle areas relieve the pain in your feet. Anyway I did all of this this and it worked! Give your calf muscle real working over firstly just with your hands and dig down deep in that flesh and you can feel the pain/knots in the muscle. Then massage normally with cream. Repeat each time you feel pain in your foot for a few days, eventually it will go. I now use a loafah when showering and give my calves the most roughest rub each morning and it helps relax those muscles and I no longer suffer with PF. Very, very occasionally I feel a slight swinge in my foot just as I step out of bed but once showered and rubbed with loafah I am back as normal and don't suffer at all now. No pain at all and haven't had for quite a few months now. All I ask is for you to have a go, it's worth a try before you opt for surgery! You have nothing to lose!
Yep I am in the uk too. Any reason you decided to go private? I had mine on the nhs and I was told to weight bear after the first 24 hours and wasn't given any crutches. Maybe it's because I had both feet done. Anyway that's all in the past now! I'm starting full time hours at work next week and I'm going back to the doctors to see if they can give me anything else for this nerve pain. Glad to hear you are doing well xx
Hi Amy. I didn't decide to go private on my own I did go to NHS specialists first in the MICATS. Department but after 2 rounds of cortisone injections and ultrasounds they referred me to go private hospital as they said they didn't have the expertise or the most revolutionary equipment to deal with the problem,I must admit I'm so glad I did it as you would not believe the difference in your care and the knowledge that they have and how different the treatment is .Im glad your ok and getting back to normal even though it's a long road,I've only had one foot at a time done as my surgeon wouldn't do both of them for this type of procedure as he said it wasn't suitable doing both at the same time not for this op .im having the others one done in 6months when I've fully recovered from this one ,take care xx
Custom orthotics form the doc are key if they are done right. They will make any shoe a custom fit. It'll cost about 400 or so but worth every penny. I had them made in the Eighties and they were awful but now they are awesome. Find high top basketball shoes and strap them down so that the heal doesn't separate from sole and orthotics.The shoe, foot, ankle, and orthotics will absorb the shock evenly allowing you to heal. Worked for me and I had to figure it out myself!!