Another Ailment! Have you heard of "Plantar Fasciitis?"

Hi guys - I have a new one - it's so painful... my head has been better, so now my feet are attacked...
Plantar fasciitis feels like I am walking on a big nail in the middle of my heel...

Anyone have any experience with this ?? How do you handle it? (I am trying the Dr. Scholl's padded shoe insert, but it doesn't help much, if any...)

Holly

My son had/has this. He had surgery on one foot to help with it. He was a distance runner in high school and college. He did a lot of excercises prior to the surgery.

One of the things I remember him doing is getting something hard and rolling it under the foot to break up the scarring. THat is a very painful process. Look on the internet for some exercises. Wear good shoes. Stay away from flip flops!!!

My son continued to run 70 or 80 miles a week until the surgery when the steroid injections (very painful) didn't help. THis amazed most people. The medical people said, "Each step he takes is like a knife into his foot. When he runs it is a knife that is twisted each time."

I am sorry you are hurting so.

Yes, I have it. The doctor showed me stretching exercises to do for it and he told me to ice it down when it flares up.... Oh and he advised me to wear Nike sneakers. No more heels or cute strappy sandals.

Wow, Survivor, your son must be brave in the face of pain.... I hope his surgery helped him.

Brenda.... did the Nikes help? I have some Adidas that I put the insoles in but it didn't seem to help much...
I usually wore flats, flipflops or no shoes at all, in the house. All turned out to be a no-no...

sigh...
Holly

Baseball players get this alot. Maybe some sports medicine sites might have some suggestions for you?

hpilgrim wrote:Wow, Survivor, your son must be brave in the face of pain.... I hope his surgery helped him.

Brenda.... did the Nikes help? I have some Adidas that I put the insoles in but it didn't seem to help much...
I usually wore flats, flipflops or no shoes at all, in the house. All turned out to be a no-no...

sigh...
Holly

They did seem to, Holly. I'm sure the exercises and ice helped as well. I'm not bothered a lot by it now unless I'm on my feet way too long, or if I run around bare foot. I still have a hard time wearing shoes. I love to run barefoot.

I've had it in my left foot for about 5 years...now it's turned into plantar fibromitosis because I have a lump/bump on the fasciia which hurts. I'm so sick of it - I only wear sneakers and my feet hurt all the time. I've stretched, had cortisone shots, etc. Just won't go away. Bummer. I hope yours gets better - I've had it last a long time in the other foot and then get better, so there is hope.

I had that so bad I couldn't walk and spent hundreds with foot doctors. Finally I went to Foot Solutions and had custom orthotics made. It's expensive, but I have no foot pain any more as long as I use them in my shoes and don't go barefoot. It's been about 8 years since I first went in and I've had replacements made every two years. On the x-rays, the heel spurs looked like thorns on a rose. Here is the link to Foot Solutions if I attached it correctly and you can see if there's one close to you.

http://www.footsolutions.com/

My disability check is $674 a month... I can't see buying expensive orthotics or fancy shoes...

I have been told to stay off the foot and let it rest, and my other doctor says "be sure and keep up your walking"....

My sister had it. Said it was very painful. She went to a foot doctor and he told her to wear nothing but Berkinstock sandals. She wore them year round for maybe a year. She is fine now but watches what shoes she wears.

That's interesting... I've been told to avoid sandals. I would love to be able to wear Birkenstocks, if I could find any that were affordable...
Thanks,
Holly

hpilgrim wrote:My disability check is $674 a month... I can't see buying expensive orthotics or fancy shoes...

I have been told to stay off the foot and let it rest, and my other doctor says "be sure and keep up your walking"....

I suspect that's why the doctor suggested Nike's instead of orthotics. They have a good arch support, yet you can find them relatively inexpensively if you watch for good sales.