Plantar Faciitis

[kuntrygurl78]

I was diagnosed with Plantar Faciitis a few weeks ago. Its very frustrating. Im trying to lose weight and now I cant do any cardio that requires me to be on my feet. Its too cold to go swimming, and I cant afford a bike right now. On top of that, Im forced to wear only tennis shoes right now. I miss my sandals!

The doc said this is a problem that I will have for the rest of my life. Great

Does anyone have this? Does anyone have an ideas for sandals that arent Birkenstocks?

[UCSB]

I don't have the condition, but there is a lot that you can do to overcome the problem and prevent a reoccurance of the pain.

You might review the info here: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/pla...508/DSECTION=1

[chainsaw]

I have Plantar Faciitis in both feet. They are better than they have been. About 4 years ago, I went through PT for one foot and it did help. And then last November I had started going to PT for the other foot, but I had to quit going because of babysitter issues. Yes, tennis shoes do get old and tiring. What you can do, is check for shoes stores that are "speciality" stores. For example there are stores here in PA. called Shoe Fly and they fitted me with teh proper tennis shoes and also special inserts for my type of foot problems. I'm sure there is probably some type of shoe store where you live that you could check into. I not only have the Plantar Faciitis, but I also have long skinny feet (9 1/2 AA) so I usually have to spend alot on shoes, casual or dress shoes in order to get them to fit. The exercises for Plantar Faciitis are not hard to do. You can do them at home. Look Plantar Faciitis up on the Internet, and you will more than likely find a site with some exercises that may help you.
Kim

[green_the_fish]

Hey kuntrygurl, thanks for replying to my post about my mysterious foot pain on the other thread. Kinda weird that we both just went to the doctor about this at around the the same time!

So, kuntrygirl and chainsaw, I was just wondering... could you both describe your symptoms for me? Cuz I was surfing around the net reading about the condition, and I don't seem to fit the profile or have the typical symptoms. Then again, I don't fit the profile or have the typical symptoms for IC, either, but a cysto+hydro showed I had it, so you can never know.

But, I don't have more severe pain with my first few steps in the morning like it says you're supposed to. If anything, the pain builds up the more I walk. Also, the pain isn't really in my heel, but on the bottom part of my foot. Like, for instance, on this chart from Wikipedia: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:PF-PainAreas.jpg) If you look on the foot to the far right, I don't have any pain in the area that 52% reported as their most common area of pain. My pain is in the 14% and 6% areas. Also, it's actually been doing better today, after I spent all of yesterday resting, and the pain has gone down to a dull nagging. Right now, I'm walking around my house barefoot and not feeling any desire to limp. So, I'm wondering if it isn't just something else entirely.

But, I'm seeing the foot specialist as soon as I can, and, if it is plantar faciitis, I won't be too bummed. Having IC has taught me so much about dealing with chronic pain that I feel ready to take on just about anything at this point.

Anyway, where do you guys have your pain? Do your first few steps hurt a whole lot? Does the pain build up the more you walk around? Have you found that high heels actually help the pain, and flats make it worse? I really do have some weird symptoms here

[kuntrygurl78]

My pain actually started a year or two ago. I started noticing it when my fiance and I would spend an entire day running errands. By the end of the day I was in extreme pain. The pain was the entire bottom of both feet. Then a few months ago, it started in my left heel. The more Im on my feet the more it hurts.

I spent the day yesterday running errands. By the end of the day I could barely walk. I iced my feet in the car on the way to town (40 minute drive), wore my good shoes and doctor made arch supports, and it didnt do any good. I even wore my foot splint (boot) that my doc gave me to bed last night. This morning when I first woke up, walking was very painful. Especially in my heel. Im fine now. Ive been outside a bit today doing some gardening, and Im only mildly sore.

I start my PT on Tuesday, and I go back to the doc right after my PT apt. Im hoping that she will be able to help me. Right now, nothing seems to be doing the trick. Right now, Im having more trouble with this than my IC.

[swarr]

foot pain

I had horrible foot pain a couple of months ago , I thought it was elmiron but it wasn't. I went to the podiatrist and he gave me inserts he said my arch was sagging ( I am sure there is a medical term for this). I have a high arch and when he built up the arch on the inserts I could feel instant relief. With in 2 weeks my foot pain was almost gone. My big toe was also throbbing and I thought I had gout but it was something called sigmoiditis or something like that. Any way I know what you mean I didn't want to get out of bed in the morning or stand on my feet as a result I got fatter. Now I'm starting to get back into shape. My feet feel normal again and I don't have to wear the inserts all the time.

Sandy

[mary124]

I have it in my left foot, bottom of foot/top; suppose to wear tennis shoes as well. I have had this for about 7 years; but only bothers me now and then ( when I wear sandles/dress shoes all the time -but then I'll wear my heel pad in my dressy shoes and that helps.

[vm]

If you are looking for good, quality sandals you might check the "Teva" brand. They are expensive, but not as expensive as Birkenstocks.

[kuntrygurl78]

I loved PT!

The lady had me put my feet in a hot tub, then she massaged my foot, did some other things, then taped my foot. This lady is an angel! Thank goodness that my insurance covers 100% of PT. I could go every day. :woohoo:

The massage felt the best. Im going to be going two days a week for the next few weeks.

She wants me to tape my foot every day. She showed me how to do it so that the tape acts as support for the part of my foot that hurts. It helps quite a bit.

My doc also wants me to wear my boot 2 hours during the day on top of wearing it to bed. When I wear the boot I cant walk around. So I guess, I have an excuse to be lazy a few hours everyday. Plus, I really need to get better about doing my stretches. She said the more I do them, the faster it will heal.

Wish me luck!

[Judith56]

I work in a shoe store- have been for the past 8 1/2 years, so I have dealt with lots of people wiht this problem. The best thing is twear shoes that give good FIRM support- shoes, like Birkenstiock, Haflinger clogs, Dansko clogs, Wolky shoes and sandals- all thses brands are good. So is Earth- but make sure it is the Earth shoe with the negative heel- so that your heel is lower than the front part of your foot. Walmart seels Earth shoes, BUT these not the ones that have the negative heel. Also do not go barefoot and before ggetting out of bed in the morning stretch your foot. There are plenty of inserts out there that can be helpful- again make siure they are firm, I know you think you need something soft underfoot, but even though initially it feels good it will not help over time. SuperFeet make good insoles as do Pedag, and some of the Spenco inserts are good too.