Any here have/had plantar facitisis?

Plantar facitisis is where the plantar fascia ligament (which runs from the heel of your foot under the arch to the ball of your foot) has been torn or inflammed and is painful to walk. Quite a common thing apparently..

Anyway Im seeing poditrist and phsyio at the moment but interested to hear if anyone here has had it or has it...and their tips on what works and how they solved it.

Makes life on the farm here interesting...thank god for quads

OH yes... hence my 'mobility scooter' bike. It's supposed to be "self limiting" to about 18 months, but one woman reputedly had it for 13 years. I had it for five and still have the occasional twinge after a long day on my feet.

I had the need, during the last twelve months, to do daily stretches for my calf muscles, after rupturing one last year and I believe it is those stretches which have finally chased the foot problem away, so I'd recommend them from the start. I was far too lazy to do them on the chance they'd heal my heals, since I could still walk with the heel pain. But as I'm now under constant threat of losing the ability to walk at all if my calf muscle goes again, I do the stretches and it's done me a great deal of good.

You can get splints which look a bit like the shape/angles of ski boots to wear at night, which keep your feet/legs in the right position so the tendon doesn't contract while you sleep (once you get used to sleeping with the bloody great things in bed with you). They're very good for stopping other people snoring. [}]

The other major thing is to examine how you currently walk. As your heels get sore, you tend to walk flat-footedly, which exacerbates the problem. I had to relearn "heel, toe, heel, toe" walking despite the pain and that helps, even though it's agonising if the tendon is sore. Soft, supportive shoes are necessary when doing that.

Use ice frozen in a plastic drink bottle daily - sit with your arches rolling over the bottle for ten minutes at a time. I have a piece of an old wooden tent centre pole which is fantastic for standing over to really push my arch down on to stretch through the tendon. I was told I couldn't do it too hard and it's exquisitely relieving to really punish a sore foot!

How's that for a start?

It's fasciitis, by the way.

I had it for nearly a year and it is bloody painful. I had physio and they will give you excersises to do. Don't expect straight away miracles but keep working on the excersises they tell you to do. I also had inserts for my shoes. The other day I felt it coming back, but thank goodness it didn't come to anything as I can't find the shoe inserts and have forgotten most of the exercises. Mine was worse in the morning or if I had been sitting for a while, getting up was painful and I nearly had to crawl to the kitchen in the mornings. I think working on concrete now has aggravated it but at the moment it is 'at bay'.

Shockingly painfull, specially first thing in the morning on getting up, could hardly bare to stand on it. Strapping helps, get the physio to show you how. Also accupuncture is very useful. Fortunately I worked at a physio clinic at the time.
Good supportive shoes, I wasn't allowed to go bare foot or scuff type shoes at all. I recall anti inflammatories (sp?)as well. It did take some time to pass.

Yes its unbelievably painful and im causing pain in the muscles in my other foot trying to compensate.
Im hobbling around like a 198 yr old !! The physio gently pressed just down from the heel and OMG i just about jumped thru the roof![:0]

Glad to know it goes go away eventually dont think i can stand much more hobbling..

TKP I never thought of accupuncture, where about do they stick the pins, obviously not the foot

May daughter had it and it was quite painful. Ibuprofen helped her. She also did the foot-rolling over a small dowel. The exercises the doctor recommended helped, but it still took 2 months before she was right again.
Hope you feel better soon.

Some needles were in the foot and some in the leg and some in the low back from what I remember. I can say it wasn't too uncomfortable ( the needles going in) but I could feel them.

Took nearly 2 years to rid my first one but only about 3 months for the 2nd. Very painful. Get some inners to wear in your shoes/gumboots. I bought my ones from the physio.

Good quality shoes helps (and put inserts in your gumboots) - I have had it in one foot mildly for 18 months and it is slowly improving.

Mine started carrying my daughters, [now33] and I didn't realise or get treated until they were four.. so stuck with it ever since. had physio etc and did do the exercises and now have to wear the insoles and kumf shoes for ever more.. cant take anti inflams. which would have helped..
I now have to watch for stiffening of the Achilles so have slowed down my pace, and don't race around anymore.. and having done the gastrocnemius tear... guess Im pretty shot below the knees:(

I had it for years before getting it sorted, and that was 16 years ago, and now I have it again!!!

Besides seeing a physio, see a chiropractor. Mine is linked to my sciatica causing all kinds of tightness down the backs of my legs into the calves and into the foot. I fixed it the first time with very expensive shoes with good arch support (I have very flat feet) and prescription inserts for my shoes (which I STILL, 16 years on) wear in my gumboots. High-heels are a big no-no. It does take a long while to heal, but it is fixable.

Here's a great website, with all kinds of very useful advice, including exercises you can do to help ease pain and strengthen weak areas (I stretch my calf muscles before getting out of bed, as I get pain immediately on taking a step with cold muscles):

heelspurs.com/index.html

Cheers, and good luck with it!

Andrea
Oxford

thanks everyone...I had visions of hobbling for the rest of my life!

Andrea that interesting that yours is caused by sciatica. I had partial disc out 3 yrs ago which left nerve damage down one leg and foot. Wonder if thats linked...

As well as all the other professionals that have been recommended try an orthotics guru or a podiatrist. My podiatrist pinned the problem down to one pair of walking sandals that I'd been using day in day out for months, he put a special fitted insert in (permanently fixed, as these were my most commonly used shoes) and recommended the soft gel heel inserts for boots etc. He also strapped my foot up in a particular way (made me walk real funny for a day or two).

Once we had identified that the sandals were the culprit, any new pair of walking sandals (not dress ones, these are the chunky tramping type ones, they last a good two years for me) that I bought have been taken in to him for an insert to be fitted. Have not had the problem since that first time - but yes, it did take quite a while to subside, and its hard not to hurt other muscles compensating.

But then I am a wuss and as soon as the pain started I was off to get it seen to - which worked out for the best as it was caught early.

how brilliantly timely this post is. My almost 82 year old MIL has this I'm certain. I have been trying to get it sorted for quite a long time (she is a stoic old dutch lady who claims to her dr that she has a bit of stiffness in the mornings - both feet, after which I told her GP that she what she really means is that she can barely walk until lunchtime at least) and her GP sent her off to an orthopaedic surgeon who had no clue at all when we saw him on Thursday, said it was just her age, that's $100 please. She was not happy having thought that after a wait of a month to see him that he might have been able to help. I did some research (i e Google!) and found plantar fasciitis. I have tried to get her to use a heat pad under her calves for a while, before she first gets out of bed in the morning, but can't win on that one - she insists on having a shower and getting and having her breakfast, bringing in the paper before she will do this! She will only take panadol (does nothing). She insists on wearing totally totally flat shoes (someone once told her she should) though she now has an appointment to see someone to get some orthotic supposrts made though not for another 10 days. I have managed to get her to make an appointment for the GP next week and will go with her but the website quoted above was not one I saw - looks great, will print off bits of it so that I can give it to MIL to read and to take to GP.