OUCH!

I think I stressed my left foot this year by walking too much? Weighing too much? and Aging too much? Playing my guitar too much? lol

I am experiencing severe, heel pain when first waking up and trying to walk. I cannot put my full weight on my left foot. I actually grabbed for a cane this morning. (OMG! I'M FREAKING OLD!) It gets better as the day goes on but I must wear comfortable shoes if I even want to entertain the idea of walking.

Then I can walk 18 holes of golf, which equates to just under 6 miles, up and down hills, and not feel a thing until I go to get out of car upon arriving home. OUCH!

WebMD says, to use NSAIDs to reduce inflammation. I prefer Ibuprofen but am open to newer NSAID's only if they actually work better. I know I am relatively safe with Ibuprofen. My stomach handles it well. I also know that it doesn't really become an effective anti-inflammatory until the prescription dosage of 800mg. So I usually take 4 200mg gel-caps, again, without problems. I do not usually take medication for anything. When I do, I want it to work. I will do 800mg twice a day over the weekend and try to see someone next week if it doesn't get better.

Anyone else ever suffer this annoying condition? What did you do so that you could carry on with normal activity? I am not giving up my golf game. I will probably walk at least 9 holes later today.

This morning the pain was worse than ever. I first noticed this pain about a week ago. It was very low grade so, it is getting worse. I know that "Rest" is the best treatment. Maybe I will ride in a golf cart today. lol

I haven't had plantar fasciitis, but have had occasional problems with a bunion that would flare up and cause incredible pain. I realized in my case that some shoes, specifically those with the cushy foam or gel insoles that are supposed to be so comfy, trigger the problem.

What I did:

1) Saw my acupuncturist for immediate relief
2) Stopped buying shoes with foam/gel insoles
3) Am very careful to monitor how my feet are reacting to new shoes in a style I've never worn before. While the foam insole ones are always out, I've also found that some shoes just don't work for me and there is no such thing (for me, at least) as breaking them in. If I get the least bit of bunion pain, the shoes are immediately gone.

But back to your problem, have you heard of the Golf Ball Remedy?

https://heelthatpain.com/plantar-fasciitis/golf-ball/

There are also small exercise balls with nubs on them that are sold specifically for foot rolling exercises.

https://www.amazon.com/Massage...973&s=gateway&sr=8-7

There are other stretching exercises that might help. Here's something from webMD; there are tons more out there:

https://www.amazon.com/Massage...973&s=gateway&sr=8-7

This advice from webMD stands out:

quote:

Stay away from high heels.

Losing weight did it for me.

There is anecdotal (as in not scientifically proven) evidence for the benefit of CBD oil and/or ointments on plantar fasciitis. You could research this online if you’re inclined to experiment with the unproven but maybe interesting.

Ugh. I am so sorry, what you describe sounds like PF to me. I had it perhaps 10 years ago, and it's awful.

It did go away, for me. I wish I could be more optimistic about some magic cure, but I don't have one. What helped me was:

-rest (as in, avoid excessive walking/hiking when you can)
-ice or cold water foot baths (a real morning wake me up as well!)
-stretching (nothing exotic, just flexing the bottom of your foot, holding your toes and pushing your heel down)
- always wearing shoes with good arch support (no barefoot for awhile)
- no heels (I think this one you could manage easily)

It took awhile, as in several months, but it was gradual and at some point I realized it had gone away. In my case, it hasn't come back. Knock on wood.

I know that you can do more intrusive things like cortisone injections into your heel, etc., but I never did that and don't know anyone who did.

Good luck!

I had it a couple of years ago. Nothing I did seemed to help and eventually it went away on its own.

Hope yours goes away quickly.

I've had tendonitis issues and have found that my body responds well to the slush bucket cure.

I probably have a PDF on a drive here somewhere, but it is based on the idea that tendons don't often get enough blood flow to heal in a timely manner, so this method was developed to use change in temperature to "flush" the area.

Anyway, you will want to get a cooler that you can fit your foot into - probably half way up your calf. Fill it with ice and to that level, then water to cover.

Here's the important part: Dump your foot in there for 10-15 seconds only, then let your foot fully warm before doing it again. I aim for maybe 10x/day. I usually get relief after the 2nd day, but continue while reducing the number of treatments for about a week.

Our family calls it the slush bucket cure because the first time I did it was during winter and I just kept filling a tall bucket with snow and water instead of buying ice...

Good luck, let me know if it helps!

It sucks. But it can go away so there is hope.

Things that worked for me:
1) insoles. Not fancy orthopaedics (though if they are covered under your health insurance by all means get them). I used the Dr. Scholls (sp?) ones made for plantar fasciitis in all my shoes that lacked support (I live in Converse and Vans at school and both have horrible arch support)
2) freeze a plastic water bottle and roll it under your foot.
3) never go barefoot. Literally put shoes on before you step on the floor in the morning.
4) I used a combination of naproxen and ibuprofen as anti inflammatories. I’m not sure it matters what you use if you tolerate them well.

My flare up lasted about 9 months. It hasn’t come back.

I've had a couple of bouts of plantar fasciitis over the years. Hurts like hell, particularly first thing in the morning. Takes months to get better.

There is apparently a boot that you can wear to bed that will keep your foot stretched out while you sleep, so it doesn't tighten up overnight and then hurt like hell in the morning. I never tried it, though. I just toughed it out. (I remember hopping down the stairs for coffee on one foot, first thing in the morning.)

quote:

Originally posted by rontuner:
I've had tendonitis issues and have found that my body responds well to the slush bucket cure.

I probably have a PDF on a drive here somewhere, but it is based on the idea that tendons don't often get enough blood flow to heal in a timely manner, so this method was developed to use change in temperature to "flush" the area.

Anyway, you will want to get a cooler that you can fit your foot into - probably half way up your calf. Fill it with ice and to that level, then water to cover.

Here's the important part: Dump your foot in there for 10-15 seconds only, then let your foot fully warm before doing it again. I aim for maybe 10x/day. I usually get relief after the 2nd day, but continue while reducing the number of treatments for about a week.

Our family calls it the slush bucket cure because the first time I did it was during winter and I just kept filling a tall bucket with snow and water instead of buying ice...

Good luck, let me know if it helps!

Yeah, that's the theory that you promote blood flow to injured regions by alternating heat (to loosen the blood vessels) and cold (to constrict them). It's kind of like a bellows.

Plantar faschiitis, I gots it!

In addition to what everyone else is saying:

1) before getting out of bed in the morning, stretch your ankle as much as you possibly can. Rotate it, bring your toes up so you flex the heel, Achilles tendon. If you have a sports towel, you could use that. This makes a huge difference.

2) Anytime you've been sitting a bit, do a little stretching before standing.

3) Yes a bazillion times to the advice on shoes with good arch support.

4) Also consider adding a heel cup to any shoes that don't have enough support under the heel.

I am having a flare up right now, and although I'm managing, I'd like to go away more quickly! may actually try the slush bucket method myself.

I had it for the first time this summer in my left heel. Weird condition. It wouldn't always hurt, but sometimes the pain would suddenly appear, and before I knew it, it would be gone. Much better now. I don't take medications (unless I'm in extreme pain and then it could as likely be alcohol! ) but the condition has sort of run it's course as far as I can tell.

My travel companion to Lily Lady's today told me her doctor prescribed a few exercises for stretching the particular tendon involved. One of them: stand on a stair tread with the ball of your foot and lower the heel below the tread to achieve a stretch.

As a runner and tennis player, PF is a constant threat. I had a very serious bout of it about ten years ago. I went to a terrific sports podiatrist, and he fixed me up. I will tell you what he told me.

He said the key to getting over PF is to avoid stressing the injury. Every time you put your weight on it and it hurts, that is the equivalent of ripping a scab off of a wound. So a big part of the recovery is not letting that happen.

So . . .

Every time before you get up from a chair, or get our of your car, or get up in the morning, or get off the toilet after having been seated a while, you must do you ABCs. That is, you draw an A with your toe, then a B, then a C. In other words, you loosen and warm the PF before you stress it with your body weight. As you might imagine, he was not a fan of stretching -- talk about ripping off the scab!

It is very hard to remember to do this, as you have to keep it up for months.

He also put me in orthotics and had me wear a night boot. The night boot didn't help at all.

Another thing I did on my own was diligent foam rolling of my calf, to get as much length out of it without ripping off the scab.

Good luck, Mark. PF is nothing to fool around with. Get some good orthotics if you don't have any already, and if you need some over the counter ones in the meantime, I can post a link to the ones my podiatriast recommended for me when I was all better. I still use my custom ones, but it is a pain to have just one pair of orthotics for all my different shoes, so the OTC ones fill the gaps.

quote:

if you need some over the counter ones in the meantime, I can post a link to the ones my podiatriast recommended for me when I was all better.

yes please!!

I have some OTC heel inserts but I need another pair, so now would be a good time to try a new kind.

Who knew so many of you had PF?

Anyway, here are the over the counter insoles my podiatrist recommended for sports (although I use them in other shoes like boots also). By Spenco.

https://www.theinsolestore.com...W38S_p0aAgcMEALw_wcB

I will warn you that my PF results from having crazy high arches, and these Spencos are very much like my custom orthotics in terms of arch support. If you have flatter feet, maybe these wouldn't suit you? Maybe they have some with lower arches.

By the way, these claim to be moldable. Put them in hot water and make them flatter or higher, the manufacturer says.

Uh, yeah. If you want to risk third degree burns, give it a try. Didn't work well for me.

Oh, I should mention that these come in full insole lenth or 3/4. If you are playing a sport like tennis, you want full length less you slide around and get blisters. If you just want to put them in boots or walking shoes, you can get 3/4 length to avoid having your toes too cramped.

This might sound obvious, but um . . . remove the insoles that came in the shoe before you put these in. Do not put these on top of the manufacturer's insole, as it will make you ride too high in your shoe and increase the chance of an ankle roll.