Plantar Fascitis treatment

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Cup of Joe

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I have been suffering from it for a while now. I have a night split, do stretches, changed my shoes, I already had orthotics and I have been icing my feet. Short of buying medical walking boots or injections I am not sure what else to try.

Any additional reccomendations?

I feel like a bum sitting around but my heels start killing me if I'm on my feet to much. As long as I'm moving my feet are fine but any standing and its all over.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0004438/

19568.jpg
 
I was getting this sometime back. My wife stretched my feet. She is a DPT.

Ill check with her.
 
Paraphrased from your article:

"Treatment can last for up to 2 years..."

My ex had this condition, and through the stretching, staying off of it as much as possible for a few weeks, taking the anti inflammatories and massaging it, it got better in a couple of months.

How long have you had it? Keep up with the stretches, and make sure your shoes are supportive. If you stand at work, try and get one of those cushioned pads for your work area.
 
I have a desk job. This has been going on for nearly 1 year already. It started with the left foot, now my right foot is hurting just as badly.
 
I am a PTA. Freeze a long water bottle and do roll outs on it once frozen to relieve the area of pain and deep massage the area. Also it is important to do 30 second stretches 4-5 each of the gastrocs (calf) and soleus. One is done with the knee bent and one straight. You can do them against a wall, off a step or phone book, or in a sprinters stance. Google them. Ibuprofen or Naproxen helps too.
 
Originally Posted By: dwcopple
Ibuprofen or Naproxen


Naproxen is Ibuprofen, Aleve, Proxen, etc...
 
Aleeve helps the wifes pain with ms so it should help you out at least some.
I agree that getting off it will be the best solution but if u cant I have used anti fatigue mats and they are awesome. I imagine rolling the iced water bottle would be the best after work treatment cause of the cooling and streching.
I hope you can get through this without going the pill / chemical route. See if there is some natural remedies or things that will help. Im gonna check in a bit for some.

I have an old skiing injury from back in the day and my shoulder starts to hurt bad if i use it too much but since favoring the one my other shoulder is getting pretty achy so im kinda chapped about that. I have to push back against about 50 pounds of force all day so it gets a little strenuous. Kinda like a foot i imagine. It has to support alot of weight (no offense) for what it is.
 
Extracorporeal Shock Wave Treatment, ESWT for short.

I've been dealing with PF for years, started back in '97. Injections, orthodics, therapy, stretches, the works. Things helped for a while and then it would flare up again. Finally in 2007 my podiatrist said we need to try something else.

Long story short, they shave the tendon down using ultrasound, similar to what they do to break down kidney stones. The thought behind that is that they basically damage the tendon and trigger the body to heal the damage and fix the problem.

It worked in my case. I had it done on my left foot and have not had a problem since. It's non-invasive, so basically I took the day off work to have it done, and was back the next day. Doped up, but I was back. The downside is that not all insurance plans cover it; mine didn't and if there wasn't some seed money available from the firm that owned the equipment I'd have been on the hook for over $10K. As it was, I only paid the doctor's costs, about $300.

Oh, and the ankle-block they gave me to numb the foot before the procedure hurt like [censored]. Be prepared for that.

I had a similar procedure done on my right foot last year, EPAT, or extracorporeal pulse activation therapy. That's a weaker version of the ESWT procedure done over 3 sessions. The jury's still out on that one, it seems like it helped, but the foot still bothers me a little, however it *is* improved over what was.

Hope this helped.
 
I went through all the steps, frozen water bottle, stretching, painful cortisone shots over the period of a year. Had severe cramps in the arch almost nightly.

My podiatrist finally said, I need to release and flatten the tendon in my right foot. Twilighted me, 2 quarter inch incisions, and I was back on my feet in less than a week. No special boot, crutches, nada.

Well worth it! the old school surgery would put one out for a month. The new scopes are awesome.

P.S. I walk about 6-8 miles a day for my job (carts are available, but I prefer to walk).

Dave
 
Originally Posted By: TaterandNoodles
I have a desk job. This has been going on for nearly 1 year already. It started with the left foot, now my right foot is hurting just as badly.

google wooden feet massager
see an accupuncturist/chiropractor (bonus if you find one with both specialties)
loose some weight (if the case)
get more active
(on the crazy side: chinese taichi, yoga, spetznaz/systema stretching, naphratic medicine)
try to alternate ice/hot or cold/warm (please do it on a weekend, just in case you get an inflammation or not tolerate the cold or hot part)
easy on the antiinflammatory meds: at some point they don't work (you have to increase the dose) or give you liver/kidney problems
change shoes. in the worse case find a shoe maker and make them custom.
source: my mom's arthritis attacks
hope this helps. good luck. been there with a bad back.
 
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This caught my attention.

Quote:
People who develop plantar fasciitis may have less flexible feet and ankles, and weaker foot muscles. Their feet may tend to flatten and roll inward (pronate) more when they walk or run.


I had a bone scan 10 years ago. The radiologist had them re-shoot my feet and ankles then asked if I was a marathon runner. I'm not, never have been. I have copies of the images and a disk I believe. From the radiologist perspective my ankles and feet are already hammered, that was 10 years ago. All of my joints light up on a bone scan.
 
I have a "cure" that worked for me, my wife and everyone I've told (that listened). I make no promises, but it does work!

Insert a quality lateral heel wedge (generally a 3 degree one) in each shoe/sneaker. A quality walking shoe/sneaker is generally best.

The wedge must be inserted with the "Higher" section inboard. In other words, the RH shoe must have the wedge higher on it's left side.

This forces the foot muscles into a different position causing them to re-accommodate and strengthen. The result is a lasting cure.

My suggestion is to find a wedge that also provides mild arch support. Then simply cut to shape and tape it in place, inside your shoes.

The cost is minimal and it's often the only solution needed.

It's also what many doctors will suggest, in concert with other treatments and exercises.
 
Originally Posted By: Cujet
I have a "cure" that worked for me, my wife and everyone I've told (that listened). I make no promises, but it does work!

Insert a quality lateral heel wedge (generally a 3 degree one) in each shoe/sneaker. A quality walking shoe/sneaker is generally best.

The wedge must be inserted with the "Higher" section inboard. In other words, the RH shoe must have the wedge higher on it's left side.

This forces the foot muscles into a different position causing them to re-accommodate and strengthen. The result is a lasting cure.

My suggestion is to find a wedge that also provides mild arch support. Then simply cut to shape and tape it in place, inside your shoes.

The cost is minimal and it's often the only solution needed.

It's also what many doctors will suggest, in concert with other treatments and exercises.


Isnt that what "stability" sneakers are supposed to do?

Good idea though. Ill bet it is 95% of what a custom orthotic would be without the cost!
 
I had it bad about 4 years ago and what worked for me was getting fitted by an actual Podiatrist-not a nurse-for a quality pair of ridged orthotics. I remember it took the Dr. about 10 minutes to smush my feet into some rigid foam in boxes. They set me back about $400 but it was the best money I ever spent. I had gotten a junk set from another Podiatrist which were way to flexible. I still have the good pair and wear them every day in what ever shoe I have on and they are still in great shape.

Another thing of great help was not going barefoot around the house anymore, I always wear flip-flops now. This helped a lot as well. It took about a year and ahalf before it got better and now only bothers me if I stand in the shower barefoot for any time.
Sorry for the rambling and hope it feels better for you soon.

P.S. Walking in the sand barefoot is a great exercise though and really made/makes my paws feel great.

P.P.S. You can lightly wrap you feet with a reusable ace bandage, much in the way athletes do but not as tight. ( ankle & arch, but not ball of foot). This helped until I got the orthotics. I remember when the Dr first wrapped my feet I wanted to kiss him, and I'm not that kind of feller if you know what I mean.
smile.gif
 
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You really need to find a good doctor. My mom has suffered from this for years now, and various doctors have advised all sorts of remedies, everything under the moon, from stretching, icing, physical therapy, etc. The only doctor who's been able to produce any results is a doctor from the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix. They went through about 3 or 4 different orthodic inserts for shoes before they found the right one. She also wears very specific Vasque shoes, ones that don't bother her feet.

She has these Vasque shoes on all the time. Even at night. Never barefoot.

She's gone from as bad as needing to ride the handicap cart in the supermarket to being able to walk for about an hour before having to get off her feet. It's not "cured", but it's much more livable.
 
I suffered from this about 8 years ago. Went to the podiatrist, and he fitted me with this rigid boot that kept my foot at 90 degrees.

But the problem didn't go away, so I went back to the Doc and discovered I was wearing the boot wrong. I would put it on when I got home, then take it off when I went to bed. Turns out it needs to be left on as long as possible so the tendon can heal with your foot in that 90 degree position. After keeping the boot on all weekend including sleeping with it, the pain was gone and has never returned.
 
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