Plantar fasciitis?
 

For a couple months I have been putting up with it, at least I think it is. Plantar fasciitis. Pain at the bottom of my heel, and tightness running up my achilles into my calf muscle that can be quite painful, too. I have begun rolling my foot on a foot roller, and stretching the calf by pulling my big toe back and flexing my foot. Also calf stretching by leaning forward towards the wall and keeping the foot flat on the ground.Has been feeling better in the mornings. My job has me on my feet all day on a concrete floor, so needless to say, not very comfortable by the end of the day. Who else has dealt with this and how did you overcome it? Am I doing what helped you? Or is there any other stretching or execises I could do? Thanks!

Use of store-bought othotics to provide arch support (I replace shoe pads with blufe or green, "Superfeet"): my experience seems a little different-- healing would take place during the night with pain coming on whenever I got out of bed put weight on the foot.

I bought a set of the SuperFeet orange. I think I read that its not uncommon for it to take upwards of a year to go away. And today my wife tells me she heard it can become chronic if not treated and thinks maybe I should go see a doctor. Seems like the stretching and stuff is helping, so I'll keep at it. Don't really want to go see a doctor and be told to do what I am already doing.

Stretch your feet before you get out of bed and walk. Use a towel or belt around your toes and pull back to stretch the bottom of your feet. Rolling on a can or dumb bell helps also. I have Phase 4/Walk Fit Orthotics inserts in all of my shoes. If I use the inserts I don't need to stretch my feet every morning.

The italicized/underlined part below is difficult to read but apparently is meant to say that there's no difference between prefabricated versus custom-made orthotics-- both work.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2684947/

Yes to the shoe inserts. Also get one of these boots to wear at night. Holds you ankle at 90 degrees so it can't tighten up. This gave me almost instant relief after the first night.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06WRP2Q7D...257540501&th=1

Went thru it a few years ago. It takes a long concerted effort to get over.

Superfeet insoles in all shoes (including slippers). The only difference between the colors is the thickness of the padded part. Green in most shoes, black in the lowest volume. (dress shoes etc.)

Pillow under the ankles at night (or the boot)

Go nowhere barefoot! even the can in the middle of the night. Have something like an Aquasock with an arch support by the bed.

Stretch when you wake up before your feet hit the floor.

Stretch some more.

Stretch frequently till it almost becomes a nervous tic.

Stretching with toes on a block about 1-1/2 to 2" high and toe calf raises on it when that becomes comfortable.

That will slowly get you over it.

If you are standing in one place on concrete, pick up a pack of those child's foam interlocking play mats and stand on one of those.

Even though I've been over it for quite a few years now I'll use those for a trade show or a day of lecturing to keep things more bearable.
I'll get a lot of "why didn't I think of that" type comments.

Active runner for years and came down with PF. Had to get custom made orthodontics and a Brooks Addiction running shoe, that finally brought it under control. I stretched calfs and hamstrings prior to a run for at least 10 minutes. I also taped my foot in the recovery phase similar to this:

https://heelthatpain.com/plantar-fas...fascia-taping/ and this

I never did the boot thing, but was close to getting one. Rollers did not seem to help me. My wife who is not active came down with PF and for her it was to get these:

https://www.amazon.com/OOFOS-Unisex-.../dp/B0163IMBZ4

She wears them constantly in the house, no more barefoot.

OluKai has good arch support too--

I have been off the bike, save for a few trainer rides, since it started. With spring in sight I’ve decided I’ll move my cleats back a bit. I have them all the way forward. That may mean also adjusting saddle position, too. It has really put a crimp in my winter hiking this year, last year the hip replacement did that. Winters are becoming unkind to me in my mid 50’s!

I suffered from PF off and on for >20 years. On my feet, on steel or concrete, most days >10 hours. In my case, any remedy (inserts, boots, target specific exercise) was short lived until I was out buying shoes and just couldn't find anything comfortable unless I went up two full sizes...which I finally did---best thing I ever did. Things I've read lately lead me to believe a shorter running stride may have helped as well, but biking has replaced my running (+60yo).

Ex runner here, night splints as mentioned earlier work really well.

I went through painful PF about four years ago but it's better now. The solution for me was 1) custom orthotics (cork-rubber blend) which I move from shoe to shoe so I'm always using them 2) increasing all my shoe sizes so they're big enough for the orthotics and a couple extra layers of padding and 3) calf/Achilles/PF stretching exercises.

I usually wear 11 1/2, and this brought me up to a size 13. I had to replace all my footwear, which was not cheap! Good thing my feet aren't any bigger or I'd have trouble finding shoes to fit.

There's a door between the house proper and the garage, with steps leading down into the garage. I just walk down a couple steps, turn around and face the door, grab the doorknob to hold me up, then do 20 calf raises and dips on the edge of the step. I do the stretching every day, or just about. It's a habit now. I have other stretches that I do for my legs and back, which I imagine helps a little too, keeping the whole action chain loose.

I'm essentially pain free, except for the very occasional twinge. I hope this helps you.

This past Summer my wife and I rode across Canada. At some point I developed it but did not know what it was. When we got home I was telling another cyclist and he recommended a therapy ball. Used it for a while and the problem is gone.

The boot was the turning point for me as well. First morning after using it was as jimincalif described, almost instant relief. What I discovered was that when I slept (typically on side or tummy) my feet would extent straight out, contracting the calf muscles, so by the morning the muscles would tighten in that position and I would have pain as soon as I put foot to floor. The boot counters this. Another trick I use is to slide down the bed so my feet hang off the end, they are less prone to extend straight out that way.

These are the boots I use, no diagonal support straps, just the velcro around foot and calf, lightweight, very comfortable to sleep in in almost any position.

https://www.amazon.com/BraceAbility-...pSrc=srch&th=1

Runner here and had this maybe 18 years ago with pain. Actually I could run fine after about 1/2 mile of running the foot would sort of loosen up and I could then go as long as I wanted many miles. It would return during the day and the first few steps were painful but then I could managed. I did the foot strapping and icing the bottom of feet, tried different stretching. Funny thing was naproxen sodium ( aleve) did not help one bit.

I thought I would never get rid of it and have to live with it. Eventually after many months over 6, it went away and has never returned. Don't have an answer for you but I know that can happen.

Now the issue is sciatic never but this is the wrong thread. Hopefully that will eventually get better.

Yes, none of the usual suspects like Aleve, Advil, etc. had any effect at all, even at prescription strength, for me. Sleeping with the boot on was magic. These many years later I know exactly where my boot is and am ready to use it immediately should I feel the slightest twinge of PF.

Been fighting it for almost a year now. My wife dealt with it for a year and finally stretched her way out of it. The doc told her the only cure is continuously stretching. I started stretching last summer and lately I have started using some Yoga poses twice a day to stretch things out and it is really working well. Saturday I worked all day on my feet and had minimal pain afterwards. Try it, you'll like it!

It's worth going to a physical therapist who knows athletes for this kind of thing; I did and she diagnosed me with a pretty different set of muscular condition than my own googling or family doc had come up with (same effect, tight muscles and plantar fasciitis, just different cause). Because she was correct about what was up with me, I had a different set of stretches to do for recovery than what I had otherwise thought I needed.

So, that plus superfeet.

Also, for me, I guess I was lucky, this whole thing came from trying to mix running with cycling; I never had to stop riding, just give up the running, and that is not a loss for me...

That boot is really hard to sleep with and I end up ripping it off in my sleep. My dr said to get the green superfeet insoles because the key to relieving the pain is to not let the arch fall, you want it still high so that the tendons stay stretched. The green superfeet has the hard support so that it does not bend.. or relax when you put weight on it, keeping the arch high rather than flattened. He also said that shoes with steel shanks help because they don't flex flat either, like some of the shoes with the flexy soles do.

So far it's been helping.. sort of.

It did take some getting used to, I took a sleeping pill the first couple of nights to help. Also changed to a fuller boot instead of a more strappy affair to avoid pressure points under the straps. And at first I adjusted it to exactly 90 degrees, eventually figured out that it didn't have to be quite that much to still do the job and increase comfort.

The best stretch for me when I had plantar fasciitis was to stand on the edge of a a raised porch, a curb, or something raised and lower my heels down.

I had a terrible case. Developed a painful bone spur. Took three ibuprophens three times a day for about a week and it went away.

I have the orange SuperFeet in my work shoes now, and the green in my hikers, they have enough room in them for the thicker green. Some days I feel great, some days it is killing me by the end of the day. Ibuprofen does help, tho. Just needs to be gone, I need to get riding in earnest so I'll be ready for my bike trips come June!

I have the bone spurs too.

What went away, the pain? Do you have to do that every week like that? I'm trying not to put medicines in my system unless I'm desperate.