I have a really sharp pain in the bottom of my foot just at the back of the arch, Doc reckons its Plantar fasciitis and has referred me to the physio.

Has anyone ever had it or still suffering with it that can the sort of recovery time Im looking at?

With my pain its worse when I get out of bed first thing in the morning, walking about or even when I get out of the car after driving its pretty bad?

What causes it?

Cheers

Steve

Oh yes! Proper pain in the….foot.
I got some Scholl insoles which weren’t cheap but fixed it almost instantaneously. (Very quickly!)

Got a link to them please!!

No but just go to the chemist & ask. Boots preferably. (BOOTS, geddit?)

Seriously.

Get a can of coke or some other such beverage – freeze it. Put it under your foot and roll it back and forwards. Maybe consider getting a deep tissue massage for your calf muscles.

I think I had a short term version of it (if that is possible).
I had it for a couple of months, made me hobble when I got out of bed in the morning and after sitting down for a while.

I didn’t do anything specific to treat it however I did buy some merrell barefoot shoes around that time, and it went a month or so later.
No idea if they helped to be honest, or maybe the timing just happened to match up.
However I am still wearing them and my feet feel fine

I must’ve had them in my work boots (only) for 3 years & have never suffered since I put them in.

I’m not a doctor…but…

I’ve had it for about a year and I’m almost fully recovered now. My case came about from a change in running technique and the symptoms are just as you describe. As I understand it the ligaments/muscles that form the arch stretch too far and collapse – hence the pain. I’m not sure what really helped fix it as I tried loads of stuff but here’s what I did:

Rest from running – pretty sure this is important
Lots of calf stretching
Rolling foot over a golf ball/bottle of ice
Acupuncture
Ultrasonic something or other
Painful Physio massage
Supportive and/or moulded insoles
Slow return to walking /running
Losing a bit of weight

There was a good thread about this 6 months or so ago.

All I know for sure is it took a long time to recover and don’t rush it.

I think mine stems form when I had a little op to remove the ingrowing toenail of the big toe on the same foot. rahter than letting it heel I carried on exercising and running but as it was quite painful I was running very differently on that foot to compensate and in doing so I have pulled/damaged the soleus and gastroc muscles and also my achillies has gone mega tight too !!

I bought gel heel cups for all my shoes, gone within a month.

A colleague at work had it as well, put some insoles in & he’s also cured. I think they were about £18 a pair & worth every penny!

If none of those suggestions work

=http://www.leicestershospitals.nhs.uk/aboutus/our-news/press-release-centre/?entryid8=10787]

No need to spend lots of money…

Lots of rolling foot on coke can/tennis ball/golf ball – to the extent that it is quite painful 😳

Extended stretches on step

No need for anything else IMO

Had it a few years ago and took about 9/10 months to properly go. As others have said lots of massage / stretching helps. Particularly, toes on the edge of a step and gradually drop the heel keeping the leg straight.

To help with the tightness first thing in the morning I read somewhere about pretending to write the alphabet with your toes before you get out of bed. (i.e. lots of moving and stretching in different directions)I did this and it eased it significantly, first thing.

Had it a few years ago and took about 9/10 months to properly go. As others have said lots of massage / stretching helps. Particularly, toes on the edge of a step and gradually drop the heel keeping the leg straight. Etc etc etc.
Get some insoles = pain free in days.

Get some insoles = pain free in days.

Pain free is not the same as healed. I used innersoles which helped reduce the pain but it doesn’t just go.

Had it for a year now, the stretch on a step works really well, insoles also work well. Mine cones back if I wear flat trainers with no support 🙁

I’ve had it a couple of times. The problem is inflammation so do things that help with inflammation. NSAIDs (ibuprofen etc) are good. Hot baths are not.

The main thing for me was ice. Ice in the morning, ice in the evening, ice whenever you get half a chance.

Also taping helped, you use athletic tape and tape up your foot/heel such that as you walk the tape takes the tension that your plantar fascia otherwise would. Lots of guides on the net.

I also tried the calf/ankle splint things that hold your ankle flexed while you sleep. These I found just woke me up in the middle of the night with chronic aches in my ankles/calves. YMMV.

Best of luck with it, mine was making me pretty miserable after a while.

Great thread – thanks. I’ve been suffering with this for a few months now and just trying to find something that works. Lots of things to try. Ta!

Pain free is not the same as healed. I used innersoles which helped reduce the pain but it doesn’t just go.
My pain’s gone, like solid, gone. Just left the insoles in my boots & get no pain now, ever, with any other footwear.
Healed/Heeled I reckon.

I had plantar fasciitis in both feet. As you can see many different treatments help different people. If you are lucky you’ll find quickly the treatment that helps you.
Average remission time reported in research is 5 months varying from 2-3 weeks to years…
Good information about plantar fasciitis I have found in elrofeet.com
Good luck

I was starting to get pain in the sole of my foot after running which would go away after a few days, to be followed by more pain after the next run, until it just hurt all of the time. I solved it by tying my shoes a bit tighter, it may be coincidence, but worth looking at.

Supportive and/or moulded insoles

This just weakens the foot and is not a long term solution. I’ve had it for over 2 years, been to GP, 3 physios etc.

What’s (almost) fixed it for me is stretching and strengthening exercises for my feet and walking a lot in Merrell barefoot shoes. In my experience making the foot stronger is the answer. I also found that shoes with lots of padding made it worse.

Massage your foot diagonally from big toe to heel in the morning, wear flip flops around the house.
Buy Ecco shoes.
Worked for me.

what causes it?

how long is a piece of string?

shoes with raised heels make my feet hurt, so i avoid them.

try flip-flops/sandals for a day or 2, for a while they were the only shoes i could wear.

I bought some insoles from Boots for about £20. They seem to have done the trick.

I also kept a can of coke under my desk to roll my foot over. I did this mostly during the period when I could still feel pain.

Its a long job, it took me over 12 months to become pain free. I now wear the insoles in all of the footwear I have.

I have similar symptoms, but for me a pronounced click is now present, so I think it’s Morton’s neuroma (inflammation of the nerve tissue I think). I’m waiting to see a specialist about it (physiotherapy has not helped).

I can’t stress how much I’d go to a GP or pref. find a good physio who can establish a root cause (not one who plugs you into a Tens machine for 30mins a session) and not take other peoples experiences from internet forums.

Maybe it’s caused by driving SMax’s ;-)?

Did you try to tape your foot?
I have found Taping very useful. Taping helps to relieve the pain, keeps your foot from getting injured again and helps you get through your daily routine and exercises. It can be a little complicated at first but it gets easier with practice. There is a good web-page explaining the subject in here.
Icing my feet with a frozen bottle also gives me a good relief.
Take care & Good luck

In my experience making the foot stronger is the answer. I also found that shoes with lots of padding made it worse.

Spot on. Especially long term. Insoles just paper the cracks.

Mrs tthew had this a couple of years ago, and it wasn’t getting better. After the exercises and foot support the doctor relented and gave her an injection, which may have been an anti-inflammatory, (not 100% on that). Pain free the next day, and not had a problem since. Trying the exercise/insole route is obviously the first port of call though.

So that’s what the pain is!
Had this for years, feet tighten up to the point that they are almost in line with my shin bones, getting out of bed i have to hobble on tip toes for a few minutes til my weight drops them down.
TBH i thought it was just another symptom of my Charco-Marie-Tooth (CMT) syndrome so just got on with it. I’m on my feet all day at work so that helps to loosen them up.
Pain in my feet is pretty much ever-present, just learnt to get on with things i suppose .

I have one of the kids’ hard rubber bouncy balls under my desk that I roll around on when I remember.

I blame swivel office chairs. People sit with their heels on the base – do that for long enough and everything tightens up and gives you pain.

We did this a while back, and you have my complete sympathy.

Took me the best part of a year to recover using a large range of techniques, think they’re mostly covered here or in the old thread.

Old thread here:

EDIT: for shonky url…

old thread here…

I blame swivel office chairs. People sit with their heels on the base – do that for long enough and everything tightens up and gives you pain.

😯

Glupton, my GP has one of those chairs that has no back and you sort of sit on it with your legs tucked under, apprenently they take improve posture. Whats the best option for a fattening IT Manager !