Plantar Fasciitis: How did you get rid of it?

Both me & my husband had it and it took months to get better. For me the main thing was to stay off my feet as much as possible. My husband found relief by icing it. We both got some good arch supports, $40 on Amazon, and that we think prevented it from coming back but like some one said if we feel a twinge we rest...good luck !

My feet have flattened with age and that is what I was told causes plantars fasciitis along with inflammation. I have achilles tendonitis in left foot & calf and bone spurs in both heels. I did exercises by pulling the big toe back slowly and hold on each foot, standing on steps and letting the heel go back on both feet (holding onto rail), I used a frozen water bottle and would roll my feet over it, one at a time and I used Voltaren gel on my feet. I am systemic with cortisone injections. I get knee injections and it helps my feet as well. Go figure! I also got injections on the sides of my worst foot and it didn't work. I was told by 2 doctors NOT to get the heel itself injected as it can do more harm than good. I also lost weight and I think that helped tremendously. Good arch inserts too. I had this for two years. I hope this helps. Plantars fasciitis is so painful!

Oofos shoes absolutely cure PF, but only if you don’t yet have age related walking problems such as shuffling or dragging a foot a bit. If you do, stay away!! B/c the soles will cause you to have serious falls.

Hi Peggyn. I’d love to share my journey with Plantar Fasciitis and hope it helps. I suffered from plantar fasciitis for 12.5 years. I damaged them running on super tight calves and then walking barefoot for weeks (didn’t know it made it worse). I had pain most days for years. Intensity came and went. Sometimes I’d feel like I was getting a handle on it after PT or stretches or taping but it always came back. I found many things posted here gave me relief from a flare such as icing, gentle stretches, night splints, etc never lasting. It was depressing. 3 podiatrists all saying it is life long and only $$ inserts are the answer. Then my son, a pro runner, started educating me on foot exercises and biomechanics. Then I found Katy Bowman’s book, Simple Steps to Foot Pain Relief. It changed my life! I addressed the more short-term problems with icing, anti-inflammatories, gentle plantar and calf stretch anytime I laid or sat for long, etc. But the long-term plan included solidifying my anti-inflam diet (I have a number if autoimmune diseases), I did exercises from book spreading my toes and lengthening my toe ligaments. Over time I replace shoes with ones where toes can spread like Topos, Keens, etc. when plantar fascia not inflammed I would do toe, ankle, calf exercises with dynamic stretching. It took about a year for complete recovery, but I have only had one flare in the last 2 years when I ran using an old pair of shoes and didn’t warm up or stretch. I didn’t stop the moment I felt the old familiar twinge. I thought I would be struggling with it again for weeks, but it was almost gone by the next day. Tight calves was a key component for me and dynamic stretches are key..especially if you sit a lot. I can now wear low drop shoes and lift weights barefoot. I use a balance board and walk and hike a lot to strengthen feet. Strong feet are so important. Hope some of that helps. Good luck!!!

Heyjoe415,
Glad you found some things that help. I have a knot on thevinstep of one foot the podiatrist called a fibroma. It doesn’t bother me much lately. I got some custom orthotics once, but they hurt my feet. That’s why I went with Vionic shoes most of the time and it’s worked out well.

I walk now and don’t run for several reasons. Wish I could.

The acupuncture that I had was for dry eye. I was there for that, but had severe pain in my foot and back from some aggressive weekend activity of packing for a move. Way too much standing and bending messed me up. The acupuncturist was super though and fixed me up at no extra charge! I guess he could have treated my foot with acupuncture but that would take time and the healing touch he gave was pretty quick.

Oofos shoes and sandals have been extremely helpful to us.

I love the stretching suggestions, Joe! The cortisone shots help also! I have had PF twice and the stretching, along with some PT and custom made orthotics helped me tremendously. MaryAnn from MA

I have wide feet and found that DREW sneakers and arch supports from Amazon , around $40, plus icing helped a lot...good luck !

Thank you MaryAnn for your kind words. The first time I had PF/heel spurs the Dr tried everything with PT being the last, and it was doing PT where I learned that stretch for the bottom of the foot.

I'm generalizing, but runners just don't stretch enough. In the meantime, the muscles on the back of the body become very strong, and very tight from running. So in addition to the stretches, I also added some weight training for my quads and shin - mostly quads. This provided much better body balance and reduced injuries. Yoga can also help a lot.

I bought the Strassburg night socks (available on Amazon) which help keep your foot at a 45 degree angle at night. It keeps the facia or tendons in your foot from relaxing at night. I also wore Vionic sandals or shoes during the day. They have great arch support. These methods cured my plantar fasciitis in a few weeks.