Plantar Fasciitis

I sympathise pinksweetPea as I have this too in my right heel. Its been going on now for over 6 months (longer even) . Its horrible and feels like my heel is pressing on sharp stones or broken glass, its pure agony. I can not longer wear flat shoes and am having to wear sketcher wedges almost all the time although I am supposed to wear safety shoes at work (engineering environment) I can't bear the pain. I've spent a small fortune on shoe inserts that help a tiny bit but not much. It's really ruining my life at the minute as I can't enjoy my usual walks. getting out of bed on a morning I dread putting my right foot to the floor and have to prepare myself for the sharp pain.

I wish I had some practical advice but sadly I don't. Just wanted to say I understand what you are going through.

I sounds like Policeman's Heel which is linked to Plantar Fasciitis. I had a recurrence of it two years ago because I foolishly wore really flat shoes on a day when I had to do a lot of walking on hard surfaces.

Yes, it feels like walking on a drawing pin and the only answer is orthotic insoles and/or a heel pad. I have fallen arches so I also wore an ankle support that pulled up the instep.

It was a few months before I felt it was going. Resting the foot helps a lot so does acupuncture.

I think more carefully about my footwear now.

I have had this in the past but fortunately it only laster about a week and I found it wore off about an hour after getting up. My sympathies to those suffering.
DD is currently suffereing with it as she fractured her ankle and tore a tendon in a fall (they discovered previous undiagnosed fractures too) she is having physio which has helped with PF slightly. I have seen various adverts on FB for special supports and socks to help with PF I don't know if they are any good.

I've had plantar fasciitis - your condition certainly sounds like it. See a podiatrist - he/she can organise a pair of orthotics which are worn in the shoes and really help to relieve the pain. Or even just buy a pair of Orthoheel orthotics from the chemist - they are made by Scholls.

The best things you can do are 1) freeze some plastic bottles of water, and roll them under your foot when it is painful. 2) Put the shoes ( with orthotics inside) on as soon as you wake up , before you put your feet on the floor.

Good luck with this - it does ease off but it takes weeks or months.

I've had PF in the past, including in both feet at the same time! Ouch!

Never wear flat shoes, always have a small heel, even in slippers. Before getting out of bed in the mornings stretch your feet. Sit up in bed with your legs straight out in front of you and toes pointing up. Lean forward and pull your feet towards you. Do this a few times. It does something to the muscles which helps with the pain first thing.

Also orthotics may help. Places like Home Bargains sell reasonbly-priced ones. Try a sports therapist, too, if that's affordable.

Thanks for the advice everyone, will try the frozen plastic bottles Stella1949 and those exercises SueDonim.
Sounds like it's a common thing, I had not heard of it until my friend at work has been struggling to walk with it.

I have just ordered some special insoles off EBay, Boots wanted £20+ so will try these EBay ones first.

Gillybob sorry you have it too, it's not nice, like you I enjoy walking and dread putting my feet to the floor at the moment. Got work later too, but hoping my Skechers will be ok, Im going to bike down to work, as its easier than walking at the moment.

I had really bad pf for many months - I tried all sorts of things including special shoes and insoles but nothing helped.

However I found a pf taping tutorial on youtube that showed how to tape to relieve the pressure and it started to improve almost at once

Ouch - painful isn't it? When I had pf my lovely lodger made me an appointment (and paid for it too) with a podiatrist friend of hers who taped it up for me and gave me an insert for my shoe. It made a huge difference. I had been walking with a stick for some time by then and that was also a real help.
Hope you pf sufferers get better soon.

My doctor recommended ‘Crocs’ or ‘Fitflops’, they worked wonders, I wear them all the time and if I’m wearing a proper shoe, slip on or lace up I put a gel heel pad in them.

I had the same problem, tried lots of different inserts. The insert I found best to stop the pain is "heel cups" which you can find on Amazon or in a pharmacy.

I’m wearing spongy flip flops around the house but find they are only okay for a short while.

I paid £28 for a set of heel protectors from Boots to put in my work shoes and they are absolutely useless. Will look into the heel cups though.
(Thank you pageturner) I’m lying on the top of the bed as I type and my foot is burning up and throbbing like mad.

Wish I could pass you a couple of my gabapentin gilly. I am nursing calcification tendonitis in both shoulders (week 3). I am due a couple shortly, great for the pain but turn me into a space cadet?

That aside, do you have any painkillers that could ease things a bit until you get some treatment?

Gillybob, here is a website that explains how heel cups work.
( sorry I forgot how to underline the link)

shoesthatamuse.com/heel-cups-for-plantar-fasciitis/

Hi, I had this a couple of years ago.Try everything mentioned above, but if it doesn't work, the Dr can give an anti inflammatory injection into the tendon, it is quite painful, but does work.Good luck .

Oh and Vionic footwear available from qvc they have built in arch supports .

Thank you for the valuable advice everyone. I am finding that because of the way I am forced to walk my calf and both hips are aching like mad (which is apparently common) . I am just taking Ibruprofen Agus but have spoke to the GP about something stronger (I need to be able to drive, work and look after the children, so nothing that makes you spacey) and also the injections if it goes on much longer. Definitely sending for some of those heel cups, I’ll try anything for some relief.

Once had this many yrs ago (put it down to all the linedancing I was doing) unfortunately it lasted almost 12 months.
If you google it will give you excersises to do, must say they didnt help me much, apart from one where you

Stand with your tiptoes on the edge of a stair step(the bottom one) and sort of bounce up and down. hope it eases soon it is very painfull .

I wear these Crocs

They're lightweight, smart, comfortable and great for times when you don't want your feet to feel too enclosed (Skechers) I wear the standard Crocs for gardening and Skechers trainers for walking the dogs.

I also have heel cups and orthotic insoles for other shoes and boots. Anything that helps keep me on the move without pain.

Don’t suffer too long Gilly. I can highly recommend the steroid injection having had a fair few. The blessed relief is almost instant in many cases. Good luck

I had the same problem and like you never bothered the doctor but googled the symptoms!
I told my acupuncturist who sorted it in two sessions.

I have had acupuncture in the past for my MS missfoodlove ( funded by the NHS back then) and I’m interested that it helped your PF . Will look into that more . Thank you .

I had it a couple of years ago.
The best things were rolling a golf ball or similar under my foot, keeping my legs up in the evening, and wearing an orthotic in proper shoes. In fact I hardly ever wear anything but properly supporting shoes now unless I need to look smart. That includes good trainers, but definitely not completely flat shoes.
It lasted about six months but it did eventually go and I have had no recurrence.

Hello. Have you tried looking for gel insoles? There are different ones with different thickness and softness. Moreover, you can look for specific footwear filled with gel and extreme interior cushioning. Check for yourself here. I hope it helps.