Does anyone else have (or had) plantar fascitis?

[JElaineB]

I have found the stretching exercises listed on this website to be very helpful: http://heelspurs.com/index.html

I also wear supportive shoes, frequently Birkenstocks. I wore Croc sandals over the summer and they were fine. I do use the PowerStep Pinnacle inserts for athletic shoes.

Inserts at heelspurs.com: http://heelspurs.com/cgi-bin/c/store...keywords=p=pin
Powerstep search at Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...ords=powerstep

[khalloc]

My husband and I both had it, at the same time! He swore he caught it from me...anyways, what saved us both was Birkenstocks! I wear birkenstocks like 80% of the time now. I literally step into them as I get out of bed.

[JustMe]

I
A friend of mine had it very bad in both feet a few years ago. She lent me this: http://www.protherapysupplies.com/Sh...ble-Ultrasound. I ordered one for myself. Use it for about 10min per day. It really helps with the pain. Her Orthopedist said that it helps with breaking up scar tissue or something so that the foot can heal. I don't know about the medical details, but using it regularly really keeps my foot from getting stiff and painful.

Wow, this is one of the things they did for me at PT that was the most helpful! I may just have to buy one!

I think pf is common in both people who have wide flat feet(which is my case) and narrow feet with high arches (or maybe some combo of all of these, not sure). I say this b/c I am guessing that in terms of buying non-custom orthotics different kinds would be helpful for different kinds of feet! My custom orthotics are only supposed to be good for a year, so if I can replace with over the counter, I would be thrilled....if you post what kind of orthotic you use, would you mind saying what kind of feet you have? thanks!

[Kindra178]

Per his awesome doctor's advice, my dh basically cured his pf by wearing sneakers in the house. He now has an extra pair of New Balance that he uses for his inside shoes. Much cheaper than custom orthotics and an easy cure.

[hannah]

I've had it in both feet. I have and wear custom orthotics when I can. I wear my sneakers a lot or I wear Dansko clogs and chacos or orthaheel sandals. I have had cortisone shots in both heels (not something I would recommend as they were quite painful for me). I have been to PT and finally at the last PT I had trigger point dry needling done in addition to the regular ultrasounds and massage and stretching. I think I had it about 8 times (once a week for 8 weeks) and that seemed to provide enough relief for me to finally "cure" it. Sometimes I can feel my injury acting up and then I will take more time to stretch out my foot, roll my foot on a frozen water bottle or roll it on a rubber tube like this: http://www.thera-band.com/store/prod...p?ProductID=58.

[magnoliaparadise]

Thanks very much, everyone, for your helpful suggestions.
I searched plantar fascitis in BBB, but didn't find anything - but now realize that I must have been misspelling the name. I just went back and found the link that others were referring to - posting it here in case it helps someone.

http://windsorpeak.com/vbulletin/sho...antar+fascitis
And if anyone else has other views or suggestions, please feel free to post, of course. Thank you!

[JCat]

I had a pretty bad case on one foot. Physical therapy and wearing shoes with an arch and it never bother me. Also I didn't get orthotics but did get shoe inserts st an athletic store and those helped when wearing very flat shoes with no arches otherwise the shoes made the bottoms of my feet very tired. I still do stretching and stregthening excercises for my feet every day.

[american_mama]

This is another thread, the one I remembered and posted in. The strengthening exercise (pretend to gather a carpet or tea towel with your toes) mentioned by gatorsmom and me (you can see if the link in my post is still active) was very helpful and a cinch to do periodically throughout the day.
http://windsorpeak.com/vbulletin/sho...hlight=plantar

[MaiseyDog]

I have had it off an one for the last decade. Up until about 2 years ago I was able to manage it with exercises, strengthining and wearing tennis shoes more. WHen it flaired up two years ago it go really bad and I went to see a podiatrist. At that point Ialso had a heel spur which was making the pain worse. I got a cortisone shot for the heel spur and a splint to sleep in. The splint looks kinda like this. She told me to always wear supportive shoes (no more going barefoot in the house) and to make sure my work shoes were extremely supportive. She recommended Danskos. The pain slacked off after about a month of dilegent use of the splint and shoes in addition to the normal stretching and exercises.

I can pretty much keep it under control now with my shoe choices and stretching. I only wear Danskos, Earthies, Birkenstocks, Mephistos, Orthaheels and crocs (I wear the Mammoth ones as house shoes in the winter) and if its been particularly bad day on my feet I will sleep in the splint for a few days.