My plantar fasciitis has flared up again and it’s really bad this time. If anyone doesn’t know what this is it basically feels like you’ve stood on a huge nail with your heel. It’s not nice.
I’ve controlled it and had no pain for years but recently (and I can’t figure out why) it has returned with a vengeance. I have some special insoles which have helped loads in the past but don’t seem to be improving things this time.
The doctor gave me some strong anti-inflammatories and I made an appointment for some sort of steroid injection in my feet if they didn’t do the trick.
Any experiences, especially of this injection? He said it was going to be painful which is not a good thing to say to someone who has a big phobia of injections!!!
Any other tips on the condition gratefully received too.

I’ve bad this in the past. Painful. Apart from pain killers, rolling a tin of beans under the foot was recommended by my physio.
Didn’t have the injection.

I have suffered from it too – horrible, especially first thing in the morning. That hobble to the loo when your feet are effectively not working!

I don’t think mine has been as bad as yours and never got to the injection stage. I was advised to freeze a couple of water bottles and then roll these under my feet for about 15 minutes a time, 5 or 6 times a day. I think it worked.

No idea about you but mine started after I stopped racing and chucked on a couple of stone – was advised that shifting the weight off would help….

I successfully manage mine – I stretch every day(4 2 years now) and use barefoot shoes as casual shoes all the time. Basically I have strengthened my foot . Dr/physio/inserts – none of that worked.

Golf ball for me instead of can of beans

my missus has just started to suffer from something identical to this…. described exactly like the OP’s.

I had it last year when I upped my running miles. It was mainly due to tight calves. I taped up my foot (plenty of instructions are available via Google) and did lots of eccentric calf raises and haven’t had any bother since.

It’s a horrible condition that I had for a couple of years. Like others, shifting weight completely eased mine. Good luck getting rid of it!

Plantar fasciitis can become more likely over the summer due to poor shoes eg. Cheap flip flops or sandals. So firstly make sure you wear good, supportive shoes.

I had a flare up recently because I was shifting weight to the outside of my foot and heel due to a painful varucca, so get any other problems sorted first.

Treatment wise, stripping of the fascia can help (with a golf ball, bottle of ice or tin of beans, of even do it yourself with your thumb). Ultrasound can help too. Ice it regularly, rest it regularly and also stretch regularly. It can be tough to shift but it’ll go if you give it chance.

Thanks for the help. I am thinking I might cancel the injections and try some things I haven’t before.
I haven’t been running recently and that may be linked – the pain has started after I stopped running (not straight after but a few weeks). I had strengthened my feet so much I went from very supportive running shoes to neutral ones with no pain. Only after I’ve stopped for a while has the pain started.

I’ve never tried the rolling a tin under my feet either.

I can’t see how an injection will help unless I sort out the underlying problem. I sorted it out a few years back without having them so why not try the other stuff and go back for the injections if nothing else works?

I only wear proper shoes too! No sandals or flip flops. 🙂

I’ve had it bad in the past, golf ball was good (bloody agony though), and ice (water bottle kept in freezer).

Generally found it was tight calves / hamstrings was the underlying issue, lots of stretching everyday made a big difference.

Had acupuncture in the sole of my foot – didnt enjoy that at all!

And there was me thinking that plantar fasciitis was the latin/technical term for a faceplant…

I suffered with this for about a year, it is indeed agonsing when it flares up badly. It turns out that i have a large heel spur. I had a bit of physio on it which helped to an extent. I also have a night splint that looks a bit like a ski boot, i’ve not used it yet, but if it comes back i may do.

What worked best for me was stretching, mainly pulling my toes as far back as possible and holding for about 30 seconds several times a day. See page 6 of this link http://running.competitor.com/2014/06/photos/new-techniques-treating-plantar-fasciitis_96398

I also do stiff legged deadlifts now as part of my weights routine. Not too heavy, about 60kg. They really give your calfs, hmstrings and the rest of your posterior chain a good stretch. I believe that this also helps a lot.

If it ever feels like it’s coming back on i start the toe stretches again. Thankfuly i’ve had no problems for a couple of years now

As said a proper Styrup support strapping out of some good quality 3M Zinc Oxide tape to give it some support, some of that blue strapping that pro sports people use would also work a treat ?

Then try both the golf ball and ice bottle roller under the foot,

Hi

First post for me after years of reading STW forum but PF is something i suffered badly from – i tried all the usual remedies but only two things helped

1) went to a podiatrist who made bespoke insoles from plaster moulds of my heels – cost £300 but they alleviated symptoms very effectively – but symptoms would rapidly return if orthotics not used constantly – these are made from what looks like fibreglass and very different to those that you buy of the shelf – they are very comfortable which is surprising since they are completely rigid

2) after 5 years of bad PF i finally cured PF completely by going to Pilates classes – which confirmed my suspicions that it was cycling related due to tight calves etc. six months of Pilates later the PF was completely gone and orthotics consigned to the cupboard – one year later and no sign of its return

The Pilates also cured a bad lower back and bad shoulder so money well spent!

Thats good to know about the Pilates. I have tight calves too – not sure it was the cause of it as I didn’t have tight calves years ago when I first got it but it might not be helping now.

I had insoles from a podiatrist and they cured it last time but they won’t now.