Plantar Fasciitis: How did you get rid of it?

Hello Nurse Fran:

Thank you for your helpful response. Much appreciated.
Since I've had this problem for over ten years now, you can be assured that I have bought and tried Orthotics, both from my Podiatrist and Dr. Scholl's from CVS, which supposedly found the PERFECT Size after I stood barefoot on one of their machines.
All worked to some degree, but didn't alleviate the issue.
Currently limping around after another strong flare-up, so now wondering if surgery is the best solution to end all of this, or will surgery only condemn me to many more years of pain.
Thank you.
DanD6353

@dand6353
As far as what treatments are available/best, I don't know. I fell down a flight of stairs on a boat and ended up with it.
When I got back in town, I went to a shoe store and said I wanted to try on some shoes. I didn't want to know the brand or the cost. Wouldn't you know the most comfortable shoes were Maphisto and they were the costliest. Then I went to my podiatrist and had a pair of custom pair of orthotics made that fit my feet. Then I waited, waited, & waited some more. I can't remember how many months it was. I think patience is the most important but I'm the kind of guy that wants patience and I want them right now so hopefully you have a lot of patience. I think physical therapy might be helpful, but it took me a long time to recover from.
Good luck,
Jake

Thank you Jake. I appreciate your input.

I suffered with PF for over a year. I had a podiatrist make orthotics for my shoes (which BTW were not covered by insurance), I had sessions of scrapping done using the Graston technique, I rolled my foot on ice water bottles, I wore a boot in bed, and purchased several new shoes. Nothing worked.

I asked my podiatrist about surgery and was told he no longer does it since it isn’t successful. I then saw an orthopedic doctor and he recommended performs gastrocnemius recession. I was ready to do it, as I was miserable.

The procedure is done in June 2024 and the go through the back of the calf. I was wrapped and wore a boot for 3 weeks. After my surgery I have been pain free!

I still wear really good shoes but don’t wear the orthotic inserts. If I play pickleball for 3 or more hours for 3-4 days in a row, I get a tinge in my heal, but it goes away after not playing a day. So I swear it was a success!

Well, bless my bones! I have had bouts of PF off and on for years. I've tried everything. Injections, steroids,
boot, splint, special sock, orthotics, special "expensive" shoes & frozen ice water to mention a few.

Strangely, getting my arthritic knees injected would relieve the PF because I'm systemic with cortisone injections....It goes all over my whole body and relieved the PF.

I have not been able to get my injections lately due to low cortisol. Last week, I got up and my left foot
let me know the minute I stepped out of bed, the PF was flared up. OUCH!

I did the foot massage, exercises on the steps, pulling back the big toe, etc. I looked online and a PT
said to take a big spoon and massage the foot with the back rounded side and then scrap the foot downward
to the corners with the opposite side. I went a "step" further....pun intended! I put Voltaren Gel on the
rounded back side of the spoon and massaged my foot all the way down into the arch. Then I switched
sides on the spoon and scraped the Volataren Gel down slowly straight down working to the outside. I wiped my foot off and then put one of the short support sock for PF. I wore the sock all day and slept in the sock
that night.

I awoke the next morning and the PF was gone. I was truly amazed.

I hope this will work for you because PF is so painful.

Praying for relief & Blessings to all......