Plantar fasciitis

Plantar Faciitis can be agony. I had it years ago, and was told to wear trainers (I had to get rid of all my high heels, which the GP said was the cause). My job then involved a lot of driving, and I had to have 9 weeks off work.

I tried various painkillers, exercises, insoles. In the end, the only thing that helped was steroid injections.

I had it for months before i saw my Doctor and was sent to the Podiatrist, he gave me inserts for my shoes and told me not walk around in bare feet, through out my beloved flip flops and stop using any sort of memory foam in my shoes and only wear lace up shoes, all of which i did. I also found that a tumble dryer ball ( with little nodules) was much better than a tennis ball for massaging the foot.
I done everything i was told to do and it worked until i started wearing my flip flops last summer !
I found Clarks Trigenic lace ups to be the best shoes for me.
Hope you get rid of it soon.

It is absolutely awful. You have my sympathy. Here are a number of suggestions.
Before you get out of bed in the morning lie straight and point your toes then bend your feet as far as you can go so that your toes are pointing towards your head. Hold that while straining to bring them up even further with your legs rigid. Hold for as long as possible and repeat if necessary.
Don’t go barefoot, don’t wear slippers, flip flops or ballerina flats, put on trainers or similar immediately before your feet touch the floor. Get orthotic insoles (the ones from Lidl and Aldi are just as good as the Scholl ones) and use these in all your shoes.
Keep off of hard floors. Carpet or grass are much kinder to walk on.
If you can afford it Fit Flops or similar are wonderful. The deep cushioned footbed makes walking painless especially first thing. Without these I was in constant pain.
Look up exercises on line and do them religiously. For me the best one is a hamstring stretch.
Roll a golf ball or similar under your foot, or a chilled can.
I did have a steroid injection in January which worked in three days but the effect seems to be wearing off slowly.
A friend had a vibrating shock therapy which cured hers. I am going to ask for that if it returns.
Your doctor will refer you to a podiatrist and because of lockdown you should get an appointment when things get back to normal.
Best of luck.

What a nightmare when your feet ‘don’t work’. I tried everything, the pain didn’t reduce much even when I put my feet up and rested.

With hindsight, problem was probably not helped by scoliosis at base of spine...therefore leg length, gait affected. Bottle exercise regularly works well, never wearing flat shoes or completely flat sandals but find a good recommended Acupunturist. ✅✅ That was finally what cured mine after GP, Shiatsu, Osteopath, Hospital referral, exercises and on and on......good luck.

A good idea is to wear a pair of trainers that runners wear. A dr at the hospital once told me this, it seems they have the support you need.

I had this and my doctor told me that it goes away eventually but it does take around twelve months there food exercises that help a bit if you look online. I found placing a ball under my foot and rolling it around helped a bit but it was time that cured it.

I have a stretch ankle support from Amazon which I wear most of the time. It was one recommended here. I also have a stretch board from Amazon recommended by my podiatrist. Previously I did stretches several times a day. I used to wear very soft Clarks Trigenic lace ups but now wear firm Ecco lace ups. A combination of these things cleared it up but it has returned due to wearing lighter shoes during the current warm weather.

My daughter had this after pregnancy. I showed her a You Tube video of a couple of easy exercises . It involved straightening your hip and posture I think. She said it helped.
My OH has orthotics made by the students at the local Uni but ever since buying Skechers has had no foot problems. ( He was always moaning before ! ?)

I started suffering just after lockdown. I had it many years ago too. I am doing some exercises I downloaded from Arthritis Research uk. Trouble is I think I have been walking with my foot bent to one side to relieve the pain and it now hurts along the side of my heel as well. I have ordered some support socks, which are said to be for P F and also some shoe inserts so I am hoping that these will help. I cannot go for my daily walk at the moment which is bothering me as I usually do about 4 miles but it’s just too painful. You have my sympathy.

I have had this several times in the past. Both my GP and podiatrist recommended getting a ball or bottle and rolling it back and forth along the arch of the foot. I used to do this when I got up and while watching TV and it worked.

I used to freeze a small bottle of water and roll it under my foot, especially first thing in the morning. Exercises can be found on YouTube.
I know Skechers shoes don't have a lot of support, but they are the only brand I could wear, and still do to this day.
I used a Heel-Ease at a later point. The condition improved, but I can't say that it wasn't about to get better anyway! However, the device has a money back guarantee, so may be worth a try, there is nothing to lose. You don't have to pay VAT, just have to state that you are a PF sufferer. I hope you find some relief soon.
heelease.co.uk/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwhZr1BRCLARIsALjRVQNDd-_6_N-ek2Ri607Gz2-umYvOIbypl1nR5oyjp8wMrP1H4dteAIIaAjDXEALw_wcB

My X had it for a while nd it went by itself.
Fingers crossed for you.

I've had a couple of bouts of plantar fasciitis and it is horrible.
The best advice I had was to do foot exercises. When sitting move your foot up and down and then in a circular motion. Really stretch it. This will help to strengthen the weakened muscle on the sole of your foot.
It took a while but it did get better. I didn't know then that you could buy I soles, I just persevered with the exercises.
Have a look on YouTube, there are videos showing foot and leg exercises for plantar fasciitis relief.

Suffering with it at the moment. So painful. I had it once before about 10 years ago and it lasted for around a year. I'm doing calf stretches, icing and wearing a night splint to try and help relieve the pain. Hopefully a combination of treatments will help a bit.

Hello, Ive suffered from this extremely painful often long lasting condition on a couple of occasions over the years. You have my full sympathy as it can be disabling. I learned to never go barefoot as this makes it worse. Ensure you always have inserts fitted in your shoes. I was reduced to wearing trainers as they are more supportive. You should probably ease up on walking too much and rest raising your foot. I used both heat and cold for the pain. It’s alway worse first thing on waking and when you rest can slightly improve. Even after it gets better it’s wise to continue with shoe supports and sensible footwear and avoid going barefoot as it does reoccur. To compensate I was unknowingly stooping one sided when hobbling along which caused backache. This can be a problem. Good luck and here’s hoping you feel better soon.

I have had this twice so you have my sympathy. Not only me but my dh and a couple of good friends have had it too, so it is more common than one might think.
It can take up to 18 months before it goes. I did stretching exercises and had steroid injections at the surgery which helped initially.
I wore normal trainers all the time, and bought an ordinary insole so all it cost me was time and patience.
Good luck, i am a walker too so understand.

My brother has this and always wears gel pad inserts in shoes. He can now walk many miles. If you would like more precise info PM me and I’ll find out from him. You could probably order them online.

The insoles I had 1Appleby were from an NHS podiatrist took a while but I was referred from doctor they are interchangeable so I can use them in different shoes (flats) and I use them all the time to prevent a recurrence.
I spent a lot of money on different ones from chemists but they didn’t help.

I have no idea about shoes but I know my husband rolled a can of beans under the foot every evening which seemed to help!

Horrible, you have my sympathy!
I had it several years ago, could hardly walk.
After self-diagnosing via google, I bought some Scholl arch support insoles from Boots - about £25 IIRC. I wore them continuously for several weeks. They helped enormously, it was eventually cured and I’ve never had it since.

Might add that 2 BiLs also had it (officially diagnosed), both spent ££££ on specially made insoles, with no better results.

Posted too soon , I had some custom made orthotic insoles made by podiatrist one was built up as it seems I have one leg slightly longer than the other they really helped not much help in lockdown I know. Good luck it is a horrible pain I had it for a long time.

You do need a shoe with good support, apparently completely flat shoes like ballerinas are really bad for your feet.
I also found that putting a towel or something like it under your foot and stretching the foot exercise really helped, and putting your foot on something cold ( bag of frozen peas) helps relieve the pain.

Not good news in lockdown but mine was eventually cured by custom made orthotic shoe inserts. About £200 and from Canada. I was working on an exhibition stand in the UK and their stand was nearby. I stood on a pad and a few hours later the orthotic inserts were ready. This was several years ago. expensive but they worked.

I completely sympathise 1Appleby it’s a very painful condition. I suffered from it for most of 2018 and some of last year too, it was like trying to put your foot down and walk on broken glass .

I found that Sketchers sandals with the memory foam supports were amazing and were the only things I could find that gave me any relief .

When lockdown is over find a good acupuncturist.
Mine was treated successfully in 1 session.