I got orthotic inserts in my shoes and also did setting up exercises. The podiatrist stressed that it was necessary to do those stretching exercises BEFORE getting up to go to the bathroom, otherwise all the healing that happened during the night would be undone. All I can say is that it worked for me. Never had a recurrence.
I was also told to NEVER walk barefoot. I have so far gotten away with ignoring this instruction in hot weather. Also at the beach and in the ocean.
I had it - very severely, too. The words, “surgery” and “6 weeks of complete bed rest following” were bandied about by my podiatrist…
Z-coil shoes solved my problem. Some of them look goofy and they are about $200 a pair, and you can’t buy them everywhere…but you don’t need a prescription, and after a couple of months, I didn’t have to wear them every day. I can now wear any shoes I want most of the time, except when I’m doing full-day wireless surveys in hospitals.
6 years now, pain-free.
It’s interesting the me that some of us - like myself - have fairly minor incidences of plantar fasciitis, while others have pretty extreme cases. Anyone have any idea why that is? I realize that will all things physical there is a spectrum, but it just seems striking that what I solved by doing a little research on the web, others have had to solve via expensive orthotics and cortisone shots, etc.
For me I think it’s a combination of persistently not wearing the right shoes, and kind of ignoring the pain for a while. I didn’t pay enough attention to say “My feet hurt a lot of the time, and in a particular way. What is that?” until I had done some damage.
I ignored mine long enough to develop pretty impressive heel spurs. I’m currently in physical therapy and the treatment includes stretching the calves/feet several times a day, leg exercises to strenthen the leg and ankle muscles, and ASTYM treatment.
In my case, it’s age, weight, lack of exercise and very high arches. The plantar fascia stretches when you walk. As you get older, it’s not as elastic as it used to be and it pulls against the attachment points, causing pain in the heel. I never had this problem until I was about 52. As I mentioned, orthotics and injections did nothing to help me. When the pod started talking about cutting, I dumped him.
The best info I feel I got was from the podiatrist who took the time to explain what was going on. Perfect because that is the kind of person I am–I need to understand things. Basically the plantar fascia is the muscle on the bottom of your foot that runs from your toes to your heel. As you age, as Chefguy said, it loses its elasticity and you run the risk of injuring it. I was in my late 50s when it happened.
The podiatrist took xrays to make sure nothing was seriously damaged and then gave me some exercises (stretches on a stair or a curb, which I wound up not doing too often) and a night splint. No cortisone which I was glad for–to me that would only mask the cause and not correct it.
The night splint is like a ski boot minus the front. Instead there are straps that are secured with velcro so you can adjust it across to your foot. There are side straps that control the degree of angle.
When you walk and stand you are stretching the plantar facscia muscle. When you sleep you relax it as your toe points. It wants to heal and does overnight to a degree while you sleep. But in the a.m. you stand on it again and sort of “rip” it again and the pain cycle continues. By wearing the night splint you are keeping the foot in the angle you would for walking/standing with the plantar fascia stretched instead of shortening it as you do when sleep.
Getting used to the night splint is a pain in the ass from the beginning. I took it off within a half an hour the first night, then had a little talk with myself that I really needed to give it a chance to work and put it back on. If you want to turn it’s difficult. Especially under the covers. You have this giant thing on your leg. But it works. I was not in the agony I had been after a short period of time–maybe by a week. But to tell the truth though, it took about 6 mos. before my foot was totally pain free. I didn’t wear the splint for 6 mos. straight but keep using it at the first sign of a twinge.
Here is a link to see what is looks like but I wouldn’t order it online. My insurance company paid the doc for it in full so yours may too. You also need to get the correct size for you and have it fitted and the angle adjust for you. A tech in the podiatrists office did it for me. She also highly cautioned me NOT to attempt to walk on it. I said “oh, I could break it?”. She said “no, you can break your foot”. Enough for me! LOL! Actually the bottom is on an angle and the plastic would also would be slippery especially on a carpet. She also recommended wearing it in the evening while you are just sitting watching TV, for instance. But you have to take it off when you get up to walk. Another reason that makes it a pain in the ass because when I needed to get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom I had to dismantle the thing and put it back on when I came back to bed. I was able to do it in the dark. No problem.
Good luck. It’s a painful condition but it does heal. You’ll be fine. 
Here’s a link to show you what the night splint looks like:
This is all I did and it got rid of 90% or so of the pain.
Well, as I said upthread, it’s an occupational hazard. I’ve been constantly on my feet 8+ hours a day for nearly 20 years now. The plantar fasciitis only hit, maybe a couple of years ago? I’ve always had extraordinarily weak ankles, though, and I remember a physical therapist telling me that, until I have a desk job or go part time or retire, I’m always going to have it because it keeps getting irritated. Inserts and exercises, and corrective footwear will only help so much. It’s not bad enough for heel spurs or cortisone shots, so I keep doing what I’m doing :shrug:
Cortisone, stretches, golf ball and Crocs for me.
I had it so bad in both feet I could barely walk when I got up in the morning. Found some good stretches on the internet, did a few before getting out of bed for a few weeks, did a few while winding down at the end of the day for a few weeks, hasn’t bothered me since.
I’m a bank teller… this is a constant problem for me. Orthopedic inserts and good shoes make it not as bad, but it’s still a constant problem for me.
Crocs are the devil.
You need excellent arch support.
Support your feet. Support your Arches and you support your body.
I found Dansko’s for dressy ok, I do have some super slutastic shoes for really fancydancy stuff, but those are not foot supporty at all. They are slutty. and MBT for work are the freaking BOMB. I would not have paid $250 for them I paid less than $10, new., but these things are the first shoes ever, in my life, leave my legs invigorated after being on my feet and walking 8 hours a day over 41 sq feet of work. Tile floor and cement. All the pressure is on my arches rather than balls and heels. I cannot recommend them enough. I want to check out the knock offs by Sketcher’s.
There was a period where regular use of a treadmill really aggravated this for me. A combination of steroid shots (which are… unpleasant) and ultrasound treatments, plus updated orthotics, have made it go away. The steroid shots are pretty dramatic in how well they relieve pain (as in, within 24 hours).
Second/third the recommendations for the stretching and icing. My feet would definitely be much worse the first couple of steps after I’d sat still for a while (or first thing in the mornings). I seem to have heard that it’s because things start to heal up and tighten up, and basically you’re stretching / tearing through the adhesions that formed since you sat down.
Thanks for all the info here. I’m going through this right now. I bought a moccasin type boot on ebay today for the night time. What’s the golf ball supposed to do? I’ve been rolling a cold soda can under my foot to try to do two things at once, and started taking ibuprofen.
I’ve been dealing with plantar fasciitis off and on for the past 8 years. I highly recommend you do everything you can to deal with it because in my case, my body has started trying to compensate for it. The end result is that when I compensate, I end up with hip and lower back problems.
As of today, I still have it. I’m currently going to physical therapy to help with this. My PT has me doing calf stretches, taping my foot, and foot massages. They temporarily stop the pain, but it always comes back.
I’ve seen a couple things in this thread that I haven’t tried, so maybe its time for something new.
Not everything will work for you. Rolling something under my foot makes my foot cramp, and aggravates things. OTC orthotics never worked for me, and the custom-made $400 ones the Pod soaked me for actually hurt my feet. YMMV
Anything you do to further irritate the plantar fascia, such as massage or stretching, is just going to make it worse. Too much stretching is what causes the inflammation in the first place. Get some sturdy arch supports and don’t put your weight on your feet without them. Wear them for 4-6 months to allow the plantar fascia to heal without being stretched. Following this regimen, my plantar fasciitis went away in about 5 months and I can go back to being barefoot in my house, as long as I wear them during the workday.
And not just cushions, like those thin gel pads, I mean a rigid arch support with very little flexibility.
A shoe with arch support is a good start, but I have such a high arch that no shoe I could find actually provided an arch support that rose up high enough to meet the peak of my arch, so there was still some stretching. I had to get rigid extra high 7/8 supports. These are the exact ones I ordered:
http://www.feetrelief.com/feetrelief/poly_flex_extra_high.htm
Give your arches a few months of no stretching and they’ll thank you.
I may give those a try, as I also have very high arches and narrow feet. I wouldn’t recommend going barefoot, though, as it may come back to haunt you.
The people I’ve talked to about it mention walking barefoot only as a strengthening practice after things are healed.