Plantar Fasciitis

Author
Discussion

PH5121

1,964 posts

214 months

Thursday 19th April 2018
quotequote all
Unfortunately for me the extracorporial shock wave therapy didn't help and has made the condition worse.
After three sessions my feet were so tender walking was painful. The physio doing the treatment said that it was normal to hurt, after the sixth session at the start of January I was told to get back in touch if they were no better 4 weeks later. They weren't so back to hospital I went.

It is now four months since my last session and walking has become something I avoid if possible and I've piled weight on which I'm sure doesn't help my feet. I had a MRI scan done of both feet yesterday so am now waiting to see what, if anything, shows up, and then a new course of treatment can be decided.

I've gone from being inconvenienced due to the discomfort of pf (but could still carry on more or less normally) to hobbling about all of the time like a cripple and the pain is worse than ever. I was aware it may not work, but never expected it to worsen the situation.

Hopefully something will be sorted by summer!




andy_s

19,405 posts

260 months

Thursday 19th April 2018
quotequote all
I've diminished mine considerably over the past 3 months by just stretching, I do the entire leg from the hip down and do about 7-10 minutes on a 'boogie board' or inclined plane afterwards and keep relatively mobile (incl. a few jogs) otherwise. Not completely gone but much more liveable and continuing improvement (I think) albeit at a glacial pace.

irish boy

3,537 posts

237 months

Saturday 10th November 2018
quotequote all
I got a mild bout of this last Saturday after not warming up for park run. Went to the podiatrist and got insoles and been stretching etc, feels 90% better, question is how long should I stop running for or should I ease back in slowly? Podiatrist was very vague.

Mark83

1,166 posts

202 months

Saturday 7th September 2019
quotequote all
Another sufferer as of this week. Doctor prescribed some anti-inflammatory tablets but after two days, I don't feel like they're making much difference.

Fear it's going to ruin my cycling holiday in the Alps in two weeks.

Sounds like I need to up my stretches game, look at insoles and some different shoes. I'm now wearing shoes around the house as I used to walk barefoot on the wooden floors. I have insoles in my cycling shoes after my bike fit a couple of years ago as he said I had flatter feet than normal so may also be a contributing factor.

Phil.

4,768 posts

251 months

Sunday 8th September 2019
quotequote all
Mark83 said:
Another sufferer as of this week. Doctor prescribed some anti-inflammatory tablets but after two days, I don't feel like they're making much difference.

Fear it's going to ruin my cycling holiday in the Alps in two weeks.

Sounds like I need to up my stretches game, look at insoles and some different shoes. I'm now wearing shoes around the house as I used to walk barefoot on the wooden floors. I have insoles in my cycling shoes after my bike fit a couple of years ago as he said I had flatter feet than normal so may also be a contributing factor.
Get a tennis ball and massage the underside and side of your foot, plus the painful heal. Do it 3-4 times a day. Stretch your calf muscles similarly. Make it a project, do it everyday and it will solve the problem.

Keep massaging but less regularly after the pain has gone to keep your tendons flexible and avoid a repeat.

I found that insoles didn’t cure it and weren’t much use afterwards. They were expensive though!

Zirconia

Original Poster:

36,010 posts

285 months

Sunday 8th September 2019
quotequote all
For me personally the right footwear did make a difference. Merrell Chameleon Slam for me but at the same time all the stretching and other stuff. But wearing these shoes during the hurt, they were very comfortable and the footbed very supportive.

(not being a guarantee it will work for anyone before they go and splash the loot and it does not work, go try some on in go outdoors or something).

Edited by Zirconia on Sunday 8th September 13:20

Mark83

1,166 posts

202 months

Monday 9th September 2019
quotequote all
Phil. said:
Get a tennis ball and massage the underside and side of your foot, plus the painful heal. Do it 3-4 times a day. Stretch your calf muscles similarly. Make it a project, do it everyday and it will solve the problem.

Keep massaging but less regularly after the pain has gone to keep your tendons flexible and avoid a repeat.

I found that insoles didn’t cure it and weren’t much use afterwards. They were expensive though!
Bought some insoles but the tennis ball was a revelation. Painful but tolerable knowing it'll get me back on the bike, hopefully better for my holiday in 10 days. I managed 30mins / 16km on turbo tonight. I managed 500m on Saturday.

Phil.

4,768 posts

251 months

Monday 9th September 2019
quotequote all
Mark83 said:
Bought some insoles but the tennis ball was a revelation. Painful but tolerable knowing it'll get me back on the bike, hopefully better for my holiday in 10 days. I managed 30mins / 16km on turbo tonight. I managed 500m on Saturday.
Great work. I’m sure you’ll be fine for your holiday if you keep on stretching the tendons, every day.

hyphen

26,262 posts

91 months

Monday 9th September 2019
quotequote all
hyphen said:
I had this for a while, has now gone.

I self-diagnosed it to my walking trail-type shoes which I had been using a lot - all my shoes are pretty flat inside apart from my walking shows which had a thick sole and shaped/contoured in-sole.

Not medically qualified to say if that was the cause, but stopped using them and one day realised the discomfort had gone.
Saw this thread bump, so just to say mine never came back.

It was definitely the trail shoes I reckon. The elevated sole.

Mark83

1,166 posts

202 months

Monday 9th September 2019
quotequote all
Phil. said:
Great work. I’m sure you’ll be fine for your holiday if you keep on stretching the tendons, every day.
Forgot to mention I've been stretching my calves too. Holding lunges and standing on the edge of a step type stretches.

SVS

3,824 posts

272 months

Monday 9th September 2019
quotequote all
The Ultimate Plantar Fasciitis Socks can be a great help for stretching, provided you get the correct size.

Those foot rockers for calf stretching work well too.

clonmult

10,529 posts

210 months

Tuesday 10th September 2019
quotequote all
SVS said:
The Ultimate Plantar Fasciitis Socks can be a great help for stretching, provided you get the correct size.

Those foot rockers for calf stretching work well too.
Interesting product, I'd be tempted to suggest it to my partner, but I think she'd just laugh at me.

She's been through all sorts of treatment for her plantar fasciitis and acchiles tendonitis, and absolutely nothing has worked. Tennis balls, stretching, hydrocortizone injections (into the acchiles), a variety of socks/support wear, she had a period wearing an air boot on one leg, then on the other.

Really strong CBD seems to take the edge off the pain, but that is about it.

SVS

3,824 posts

272 months

Tuesday 10th September 2019
quotequote all
There’s no escaping lots of calf stretching, irrespective what additional treatment she has. It’s worth trying some of the stretching devices to find which works best for her, and with which she’ll stick.

Also, has she tried shockwave therapy yet?

See:Shockwave therapy for people with recalcitrant plantar fasciitis.

Phil.

4,768 posts

251 months

Tuesday 10th September 2019
quotequote all
clonmult said:
Interesting product, I'd be tempted to suggest it to my partner, but I think she'd just laugh at me.

She's been through all sorts of treatment for her plantar fasciitis and acchiles tendonitis, and absolutely nothing has worked. Tennis balls, stretching, hydrocortizone injections (into the acchiles), a variety of socks/support wear, she had a period wearing an air boot on one leg, then on the other.

Really strong CBD seems to take the edge off the pain, but that is about it.
Has she seen a Physio? I found ultrasound helped but the stretching provided the long term solution.

clonmult

10,529 posts

210 months

Wednesday 11th September 2019
quotequote all
SVS said:
There’s no escaping lots of calf stretching, irrespective what additional treatment she has. It’s worth trying some of the stretching devices to find which works best for her, and with which she’ll stick.

Also, has she tried shockwave therapy yet?

See:Shockwave therapy for people with recalcitrant plantar fasciitis.
Shockwave therapy actually made it worse. Physio has also been done.

I'll see if I can get her back into trying more stretching, but it seems as though the NHS and formal solution route has been a painful fail.

Greendubber

13,222 posts

204 months

Wednesday 11th September 2019
quotequote all
Glad it's not just me. I have it in both feet, picked it up after a week walking around NYC in June.

I've always suffered with tight calves so I'm back into stretching twice a day. Is also have a small knobbly massage ball from Decathlon that I'm using as well as a foot roller.

Its a bloody nightmare, I'm doing a half marathon in May so it needs sorting quick!