Plantar Fasciitis

OK.. so I've had some pain in my foot recently. I did a self-diagnosis w/ the internet and figured it's Plantar Fasciitis (WebMD). I wanted some help from a more reliable source than the internet, so I asked one of my wife's friends - a recent graduate of medical school for podiatry - for a quick diagnosis and some advice.

She wrote a pretty extensive email back to me, and I thought I would share it here in case anybody ever experiences the same pain I've been having. (Read the WebMD article for a good description of the pain, if you're not familiar.)

I also complained about a little pain in my ankle, which she attributed to tendonitis. That's why the last paragraph doesn't seem to fit with the rest.

Aren't Doctor friends great?!? I've done the stretching, the ice, and the anti-inflammatory medicine today and it already feels better.

 

Yup....

My husband has that condition also. I bought about 4 sets of inserts for his many shoes he has for work. It's most 'annoying' to him when he gets up after sitting for too long.

I get a little bit of that also - after sitting is when its noticable.

It's a very common condition.

Thanks for posting!

** Another Stretch **

Standing up ....You wanna act like you're trying to PUSH the wall forward. Put hands on the wall about 4' (or more, whichever is comfortable) away from your feet position. With one leg bent while the other is stretched. Dipping down accordingly to stretch that heel of your foot (hard to explain).

 

One thing to add. With any tendonitis it normally takes as long to get over it as it did to get it so continue to do all of the exercises and ice even after a week of no problems or it could return. Plantar fascitis can turn into heel spurs if left untreated over a long period of time so do the therapy and you're good to go. Also use a coke bottle for the ice because of the trademark specific shape of Coka Cola bottles they tend to conform to the natural shape of your foots arch.

 

For your info, I had the same issue. I ended up going to the foot doc, and he helped me out. He ended up make me this special ball like insert that I wore. He made adjustment to it through my visits until it healed.

Step lightly my friend, many times I have steped on things and had a rude wake up call. There is also special shoes you can wear if you don't mind a odd looking style.

 

I've had it twice several years apart... I did the exercises and wore arch supports for a long time (even after it got better) to make sure it didn't come back anytime soon. Couldn't handle the shoe inserts, but the stretchy supports were good and it didn't matter what kind of shoes you had on.

 

Water bottle trick really helps me.