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Plantar Fasciitis
updated: Jan 03, 2011, 2:39 PM

Plantar Fasciitis has been a real pain for me and lots of other people out there I'm sure…. If you don't know what it is, you're lucky, and probably have never had it. Can the Edhat community recommend any professionals or share any treatments that have worked for them in dealing with this painful foot ailment?

Places People Are Talking About:

Daniel Frank	Dansko Clogs	Dr. Christopher Byrne
Human Performance Center	Myotherapy of SantaBarbara	Powerstep Pinnacle
Precision Biomechanics	Rasmussen	Steve Pearson, M.D.
Superfeet	Vibram FiveFingers Shoes	Z-Coil Shoes

What People Are Saying:

JOHN WILEY	2011-01-03 02:57 PM
We've had both PF and assorted other foot ailments in recent years. We found Rasmussen to be our favorite podiatrist. Despite several other diagnoses and treatments (including a cortisone shot I regret) we found the most effective to be his: good off the shelf orthodic. He prefers Powerstep Pinnacle and that matches our experience having tried them all including an expensive custom-made one. We also liked Spenco, though not as well. Some people find success with expensive Dansco or other non-flexing roll-stride shoes. Presumably you've read the wiki entry. In essence, it's important to get off your feet and eat an anti-inflammatory diet for a while. Also wear shoes any time you're on your feet, and make sure they have the insoles. Doing this it took a couple of days off my feet and sitting back with them propped up above my head a lot, and another couple of weeks minimizing standing/walking and always with insoles. I do NOT recommend the cortisone shot, and if you're considering that (several podiatrists urged doing it) read about the downsides first. Seems to me there's no reason not to first try what worked for me. Apparently our feet change and can also be injured, so that what we used to get away with no longer works.
COMMENT 132969	2011-01-03 03:17 PM
Precision Biomechanics used to do a gait analysis and fitted you for orthotic(s). The orthotics ended the PF problem for me.
JBYRD	2011-01-03 04:02 PM
Powerstep Pinnacle worked for me. That and the anti-inflammatory and not walking around barefoot for a while. Have to keep it supported and out of stressful situations for a good amount of time or it will keep recurring. I dealt with mine for over 2 years until I finally started using the orthodic all the time. For me, prescription Ibuprofen, support and stretch's took care of the issue.
COMMENT 132989	2011-01-03 04:10 PM
Once the inflammation is over, try Vibram "FiveFingers" shoes or a similar 'barefoot' shoe. Toe misalignment, fallen arches and many other foot problems will vanish after strengthening the foot muscles and increasing the mobility of the toes. Personally, I have seen my arches improve, crooked toes straighten, ankles and knees stabilize and strengthen, and lower back problems vanish. I will never need orthotics again. A different tack altogether from orthotics, but worth looking into.
COMMENT 132990	2011-01-03 04:10 PM
i use shoe inserts from footminders dot com to keep mine under control. they work pretty well.
KNITALIFE	2011-01-03 05:17 PM
What a horrible malady! I woke up one morning a couple of years ago and it felt as if there were huge bruises on my heels! I lived with it for about 6 months before someone recommended inserts. I used them religiously and within about 3 months it finally went away. I don't remember what kind they were but they were from the drug store and specified that they were for plantar fasciitis. They fit in the heel of my most comfortable, best quality clogs, the only shoes I had that gave me any relief. I wore the shoes 24/7 and only took them off to shower! Otherwise, it literally felt as if there were huge bruises on my feet with my full weight bearing down on them!
COMMENT 133014	2011-01-03 05:48 PM
I was desperate enough to try the cortisone shot, and even though the shot hurt worse than child-birth, I was lucky and it helped. My doctor recommended: not walking barefoot, not walking up hills (i.e. hiking), wear shoes with good cushions and slightly higher at the heel (good clogs worked for me) and to use heel pads (not the gel pads), epsom salt foot bathes and massages. I can't remember my podiatrist's name as it was a few years ago and thankfully I haven't needed him since the shot. Hope it stays that way. PF sucks! Good luck with the treatment.
PJG	2011-01-03 06:23 PM
Dansko Clogs. Red wing inserts in other shoes. Always wear something with an arch support.
COMMENT 133022	2011-01-03 06:25 PM
Good sturdy shoes and proper inserts. Are you wearing or do you usually wear sandals? That's how my husband and I both got it. We used to wear flip flops or sandals years round- since we both wear tennis shoes now, we don't have a problem.
COMMENT 133023	2011-01-03 06:29 PM
Go #132989!! That's exactly what you need to do: ditch the orthotics and the shoes designed to alter the way our feet are supposed to be used. Get a great pair of "zero drop" shoes and feel your feet get stronger!
COMMENT 133025	2011-01-03 06:42 PM
Woke up one morning first step out of bed and could not believe the pain. That was 6 years ago. Went to a sports store at Camino Real Market Place and I happen to have a manager help me pick out some new shoes because mine were worn out. After discribing the problem to her she told me how she had the same problem some years ago. Her advice was to keep changing shoes throughout the day. I bought a good pair of Merrell walking shoes and changed to my other tennis,shoes, sandals and barefoot though the day.My pain went away after two days. It has never come back. The changing of shoes keeps changing foot position ever so little which I believe helped me.
COMMENT 133035	2011-01-03 07:23 PM
I'm a myotherapist and aside from all the band-aid fixes of shoes and inersoles...the cause is shortened fascia..kept short by wearing clogs or flip flops where you unconsciously grip your toes to keep the footware on and by habit of the musculature keep SHORTENING the fascia...you also have lit up TRIGGER POINTS in your calves! i hate to toot my own horn..so why don't you read a bit on my website..written for the layman..very understandable and a call to me is always FREE! google me MyotherapyofSantaBarbara just moved to montecito so the addy is wrong..but all else is on the mark...):- I'm usually on here for my volunteer type activities..ie our lab group lost the yellow pup yesterday that was found today...yipee!!!! I successfully deal w all kinds of malodies of modern day living...including lots of carpel THUMBAL syndrome from todays Crackberrians...but not to worry..I'm a serious professional...albeit the wicked sense of humor!
COMMENT 133050P	2011-01-03 08:20 PM
Thank you all for the great advice...I can tell you that I have been a lifelong thong addict (the sandals I mean!) coupled with years of soft sand running may have been my downfall. I am doing some things right, but as I've read here, I need to be more diligent in wearing my insoles and proper footwear 24/7 for my high arched feet. I thought that being somewhat overweight was a factor, but I know plenty of skinny people with PF, and actually I have been dealing with this for well over 2 years now (before any weight issues). It is a bit of a conundrum....I need to lose weight to help my PF, but my PF is interfering with my exercise big time...sigh. I will see a podiatrist and seek out the insoles mentioned by a few posters....thank you again so much, for those that suffer you know my pain!
COMMENT 133060	2011-01-03 09:32 PM
I had this over summer and it's just now getting better. I've become somewhat of an expert by necessity from all the research I've done trying to get well again. Mine, like yours, was probably triggered by a flip flop addiction that has finally caught up to us. Flip flops will shorten and stiffen up the calf and even glute muscles and even though our legs might not feel stiff, they are. What happens with PF isn't happening in the foot. The foot pain is a result of stuff that is actually happening up much further, where the calf muscle inserts into the back of the knee (or where the hamstring inserts to the butt, in extreme cases.) The pain you feel is stiffness and sometimes tiny tears in that plantar band that runs from your heel to the ball of your foot. What works is targeting, relaxing and strengthening the leg muscles, knocking back the inflammation and protecting the foot from further injury. Do NOT let someone inject you with cortisone. This can actually freeze up and end up tearing the plantar muscles and metatarsal muscle and cause permanent damage. PT almost always goes away given time and conservative care, cortisone is almost never recommended by good podiatrists PT because of the danger of injury to the muscle. Also, do not stay off the leg to an extreme. Resting is good, but lack of activity and stretching will atrophy and shrink/stiffen the muscles more, making things potentially worse and prolonging it. It may seem like a good idea to stay off your feet for a day or two at a time, but you're likely to just set yourself back even more as soon as you try to walk around again. What worked for me was ditching the flip flops (hard, but trust me, it worked) and wearing gel inserts for that little extra protection in very stable training shoes. I made sure I stretched the calf and ankle about seven times a day for 60 seconds at a time to start, then backed off to three times a day. If I overdid things, I used an ice pack on the foot and I took aleve to knock down the inflammation. I also got something called The Stick, which is a great self-massage tool that helps break up the scar tissue on the muscle fascia a... [ more ]
TAZ	2011-01-03 09:58 PM
I bought a pair of the Powerstep Pinnacle's just tonight, and wow it felt so good even in the store compared to the gel Spenco's I had, I couldn't believe it. My arch got so much more support. I would have bought more gels tonight since I needed another pair for my boots. But the Edhat discussion switched my tactics. My husband encouraged me to buy them even though they were $37. I told him it increased the price of the boots I bought last year, but he reminded me that the good price on boots came with a price too - crumby soles. I finally stopped myself from saying out loud how much better they felt because it got monotonous! There is so much more support and I know it will help that burn-y feeling I've had in the ball of my feet after wearing the boots. They're cut and cuddly boots - and now they will be good for my feet. One other consideration I had about spending $37 (you can get $32 version that doesn't have "outer EVA foam") is that when the winter boots are out of season, I can transfer these to other shoes, so that makes them even more worth it. I got orthotics specially designed for my feet from a podiatrist that my health plan paid for to the tune of $400 that I have in tennis shoes. The Powerstep have a bit of cushion & thus are more comfortable. I got them at Outfooters at La Cumbre Plaza.
COMMENT 133067P	2011-01-03 10:38 PM
Thank you NATIVE1.... I have done a bit of research too, and what I've read so far supports what you are saying. I gotta say though, the thought of never wearing flip-flops again is brutal. Being a lover of all things sunny, sandy and warm it's going to be really hard to not wear my sandals. Sigh...
PROGRESS	2011-01-03 11:01 PM
Try Z-Coil shoes. A good friend of mine wore them, and less than a year later, no more PF! I'm wearing them now for foot pain, and I can actually walk without a limp! Hope you find the right solution.
COMMENT 133072	2011-01-03 11:12 PM
A few years back my Dr. recommended that before my feet touched the floor that I should roll my feet on rollers that I purchased or even a can of soup to help stretch my feet. BTW I have never worn flip flop type shoes, I got my PF from running track and 5k's. I had a personal trainer and we way over did the exercise. I had to stop for over 6 months. I also used inserts. When the PF went away it stayed away. Good luck!
COMMENT 133078	2011-01-04 06:43 AM
Contrary to what you think, do not use squishy insoles like Spenco. You need something firmer like Superfeet. I first had PF in my 20s. I was a college student at Cal Poly and was treated by a podiatrist in Morro Bay. He made me custom insoles that nipped the problem almost immediately. I kept the insoles as after a year or so of wearing them I no longer needed them. Flash forward 30 years I came down with PF again! I popped the old custom orthotics in my shoes and problem solved.
COMMENT 133088	2011-01-04 07:33 AM
Steve Pearson, M.D. Injection of steroid solution
COMMENT 133093	2011-01-04 07:53 AM
My husband rolls a golf ball under his foot in a circular motion, and it really helps!
COMMENT 133103	2011-01-04 08:11 AM
@133607P, I think you *can* eventually wear flip flops again, but only after you've healed and are judicious about wearing them. It kills me too not to wear them. I love them so much and my closet is filled with flat sandals I've not worn in months. The way I'm trying to look at it is that if I'm good and wear "real" shoes 80% of the time, I can enjoy the flip flops again from time to time. Sigh.
COMMENT 133121P	2011-01-04 08:37 AM
I worked in retail, standing on concrete or brick all day for over 20 years. Got PF in both feet badly.Wore cross-trainers at work, then Birks all other times. Now I see the myeologist says the toe-grabbing of Birks causes PF! First podiatrist I saw gave me steroid injections (2" needle, anyone?) pain-full. Then he made rigid orthotics. Did not help. Second podoatrist did felixble orthotics; hurt my feet worse. In frustration he gave me a sample gel orthotic a sales rep had given him. Put them in my shoes, and literally BINGO could walk with a normal rolling stride. NO PAIN. I cried in relief. But the heel spurs did not go away so had a fasciectomy on one foot. Had to go on disablility and stayed mostly off my feet till things healed up about 4 months. Quit job (and standing), and both feet healed themselves. Do stretching routines daily, ibuprofin occasionally, and no more Birks. Merrill's are best for me now, but will look at some of those others mentioned here. Thanks to all for shining some light on this life-altering problem. Steriod shots: NO Orhtotics MAYBE Better footwear, stretching, excercise and weight management: YES
COMMENT 133135	2011-01-04 08:54 AM
I had plantar fascitis several years ago. Daniel Frank (Rolfer) was able to work it out, and I have had no recurrence.
COMMENT 133146	2011-01-04 09:20 AM
@133121P, I agree with the stretching, exercise and weight management. Even 10-15 lbs extra wreaks havoc on the legs and muscles and puts so much pressure on the feet. But I wanted to point out one thing. Most of us who have PF don't have heel spurs. Until fairly recently (last 20 years or so) doctors thought they were almost mutually exclusive, but recently they are saying that this isn't the case. I learned that most acute cases of PF just involve muscle and the heel spurs can result from years of symptomatic PF. Sorry to hear you were in so much pain, but very glad to hear you healed!!
COMMENT 133169P	2011-01-04 10:10 AM
lots of ibuprofen, daily foot stretches... and lay off jogging for a month or six. Birkenstocks help me. Good quality jogging shoes do not. I avoided surgery & have little pain now.
COMMENT 133179P	2011-01-04 10:33 AM
The Human Performance Center also treats this: http://www.hpcsb.com/ I have been unlucky enough to have had several bouts with it, and have it again. I faithfully do all of the above mentioned: stretching, icing, wearing a night splint, wearing orthotics and tennis shoes every day. I wouldn't recommend a cortisone shot. It seems that different treatments work for different people.
MICHELE	2011-01-04 10:56 AM
I wear some very cushiony flip-flops called Fit Flops. Also, if you have trouble with walking for exercise, I recommend jogging or walking on a mini-trampoline, which cushions the shock to your spine, knees, and heels.
COMMENT 133272	2011-01-04 02:44 PM
This sounds completely weird, but it works. Rub a few drops of grapefruit seed extract on the area morning and night. It takes a few months, but it really does go away. I had a cortisone shot when my right foot got it and it went away, but it didn't completely help my left foot, so I did the GSE. It was miraculous. Also, some massage therapists know how to relieve it.
COMMENT 133335	2011-01-04 04:34 PM
I know this is far away for some of you, but Dr Christopher Byrne in San Luis Obispo fixed my very painful feet. He gave me stretching exercises and orthothics. Not the custom ones. He also works with GH sports in slo and prescribed a choice of several shoes. He is a consultant for Asics and knows which shoes work for what problem. GH sports also does gait analysis-film of your gait on a treadmill, and pressure pad checks. Between the two sources I have not had any more trouble in 3 years. Yes I wear sandals--once in a while. I also had good luck with sleeping with a stiff cushion at my feet and a tennis ball in a sock. Roll the foot stretching the arch with the ball. Soothed the ache and helped regain proper tendon use.
COMMENT 133394P	2011-01-04 08:07 PM
It really comes down to diligent exercise plus initial help from anti-inflammatories (plus ice - my doc suggested frozen peas). When you finally shake the PF, don't give up on the exercise (make sure you keep those calf muscles stretched) or you'll risk a recurrence. You can Google for exercise routines, but if you're in real pain and can't bear weight any time, take the drugs while you start up the exercises. I had shots in my foot - ouch! - but it helped get things on the road to recovery.
SPLASH	2011-01-04 09:33 PM
Z-Coil shoes work for me. My sister first heard of them from some overweight friends who said that Z-Coils allowed them to walk without pain, and because they could now walk, they were losing weight. Z-Coils work for a variety of foot ailments, especially PF. Google them online.
COMMENT 133561	2011-01-05 10:58 AM
Chiropractic helped me. AND my Chiropractor recommended acupuncture. The combination helped me. AND without expensive orthotics. No orthotics, no cortisone.