[2bfree]

I'm guessing you all know about the extreme foot pain of Planaters Facia. In the past it has come and gone, but I've had it for over a month and the advil routine with the special shoe recommendations hasn't helped. Any ideas just for the pain? The Advil does cut it, but it obviously hasn't quieted down the swelling like it did before. I have 130 pounds to lose and was dropping about a pound a week with walking, but now when I walk the pain is a million times worse. Swimming is not an option. What else can I do besides walking that won't cost me a mint. Thanks.

[Sandi]

I have heel spurs too and in the past Goddess Jessicca has given me this awesome advice..

Common Sense First Steps:
-First, take an anti-inflammatory (like Advil).
-You have good shoes, so no worries there but a lot of times foot trouble can be attributed to your shoes.

Physical Therapy (Stretching!!):
I cannot stress this enough. I went through YEARS of cortisone shots, ortho shoes and was STILL in pain. Thank goodness, I finally left my podiatrist and went to an orthopedic surgeon who said, "Surgery or Physical Therapy?" I chose physical therapy and now I can correct the problem EVERY time I get it.
Here are some stretches:
-I do a Runner's Stretch in the shower or against a wall somewhere in the house. Place hands against wall, place right leg behind you with heel firmly planted on the ground. Bend other knee and stretch counting to 30. You will feel calf stretch. Change feet and repeat. I do this in the morning, at least, and whenever I think of it throughout the day.

-Heel lifts. Hands against the wall, or holding onto a
counter, bend on leg up at the knee and raise yourself up on one foot with your toe. Do this SLOWLY.

-Heel Drops. Stand with heels hanging over the edge of a step and raise up on my toes and then I will slowly come down over the edge as far as you can drop. This is perfect after a walk since it stretches out those calf muscles that have tightened up.

-Ankle Alphabets. Draw the letters of the alphabet with your toe in the air. My first time I got to the letter G and had to stop. Don't be suprised if this is hard!

Desperate??

-The most hated thing in Goddess Jessica's freezer is a dixie cup filled with frozen water. Peel the dixie cup and massage the heel with the exposed ice. This hurts so much!!! But, at one point my heel hurt so much I couldn't walk 10 feet without limping and this would get me through the whole day without thinking about my feet. It is a natural inflammatory and works a million times better than Advil.

[Get n healthy]

Wow, thanks Sandi. I didnt even ask the question but i too have heel spurs and they are KILLING ME here lately. I know you are not supposed to "work through" the pain, but geeze, if i didnt i wouldnt ever walk. Its terrible that there aren't better treatments for this. Mine flaire up every now and then...right now it seems to just throb constantly. Sometimes at work i have to take off my shoe and just massage it. I will definately be trying your exercises/stretches. thanks.

[Debhope]

Bauerfiend visco spot heel inserts worked for me when I had a horrible problem and now if I feel a twinge I put these inserts back in my sneakers (or some shoes,they don't fit in all shoes) and they nip the problem in the bud. They also worked wonderfully for others I recommended them to. I can't recommend purchasing them from this site, I purchased them elsewhere and you can find them in several places online. But the study they mention is true. A few years ago I read it published in a journal of foot and ankle surgeons and printed it. These beat other treatments and inserts. I am not finding that article online today, it's old news. I have recently noticed other similar looking products in stores but I don't know if copy cats are made of the same special material.
http://www.painreliever.com/viscospot.html
A nationally known foot and ankle surgeon told me never to have surgery for the problem, calling docs who did it butchers.
Another hint: when you sleep things start to heal and those first painful steps pull apart the healing started. So put a shoe or slipper (slides,mules, clogs)with a wedge heel next to the bed and slip them on before your foot touches the ground. Even if you only wear them a a little while before getting into sneakers this will help preserve the healing started.
Thumbs up for the icing hint -I agree!

[boaterswife]

My doctor gave me the same guidelines that JacobsMommy listed, with one additional.....never, ever, ever go barefoot!

Don't give up. I was in severe pain, crying, when I finally called my doc. He asked how long it had been going on and I told him close to two years, but it suddenly got much worse. He said he didn't want me in anything other than tennis shoes for at least a year. No exceptions. After that first year I introduced Birkenstocks with success. Last fall I added Crocs, again with success. Now I can pretty much wear what I want, but it took me 2 to 2/12 years to fix the problem. When the dr. told me it would take that long, I thought he was nuts, but he was right!

Hang in there, and they will get better!!

[boaterswife]

Sorry, Need to add a couple more things!

I still wear tennis shoes several times a week, and if I feel the twinge, I get back on program....foot program that is!

Don't skimp on shoes! Buy GOOD ones! I think my problems started when I fell in love with this cheapy little pair of shoes and wore them ALL the time. I paid the price in the long run!

[Goddess Jessica]

BWHAHAHAHA... Sandi, I just saw this post and blushed like crazy. I wrote that a bizillion years ago but it is still all true. I still use these stretches all the time and I haven't had an incident of plantar's or achilledes' since.

[CLCSC145]

Hi all! I searched through the older posts to see what I could find on foot pain and came across this post. I think this is what's hobbling me lately. I've been trying to walk daily, but the pain in my left foot where the heel meets the arch is getting worse, especially first thing in the morning, after I've been sitting for a while, or climbing stairs. This morning I thought I was going to have to crawl to the bathroom my foot hurt so bad! This has been coming on since I moved into a new house with stone and hardwood floors everywhere and tend to be barefoot most of the time (bad-- I know that now! ). I'm wearing good tennis shoes most of the day now as it's the only thing that seems to make an improvement and icing it.

Anyhow, I was really planning on walking being my primary exercise for now. For those of you with foot pain, what do you do to get your exercise in that doesn't involve the foot?? Swimming is not an option this time of year for me either. I'm discouraged . Help!

[Sheila53]

Sure sounds like plantar fasciitis to me so be sure and ice, stretch the foot every morning, and get some orthotics. Orthotics will really help as will losing weight. I haven't had any problem with it since I lost weight--stopped wearing the orthotics, too, so I think weight is really a factor, at least for me.

How about a stationary bicycle for exercise? And you have no indoor pools where you are? Water aerobics really is a great,lfull-body exercise that is easy on stressed joints and painful feet as long as you wear shoes until you get to the pool edge.

[boaterswife]

CC, I have one more thing to add that I must have forgotten to put into my earlier posts. My doc urged, no demanded, that I have a MINIMUM of 2 good pairs of tennis shoes, and preferably 3 pairs. Alternate them daily! If you wear the same pair all day, every day, it's very likely that on top of the PF, you'll develop a lovely case of athletes foot as well because your shoes don't have time to completely dry out over night. Also, the Advil is wonderful, but make sure you time your doses so that you can take one immediately before going to bed. Anti inflamitories work best when the muscle or problem is at rest, so you will get double the benefit when you take a dose at night.

Good luck!

[CLCSC145]

Thanks everybody! I'll definitely change up the shoes and I never thought about the Advil before bed, so I'll try that tonight. I was even putting on my tennies to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Ha! Whatever helps, right?

[Goddess Jessica]

Yep, I remember those mornings! I had plantars and spurs. Sometimes achilles tendonitis if I had been dancing. You get up and put your feet down and you almost fall over the first few steps because the pain is so bad.

My advice is stretch in bed before you get up! I still do this every morning (now, my body does it without me even thinking about it). Ankle rolls and such before you put your feet on the floor. I promise you'll feel an improvement.

One other thing that may help. I'm a visualizer. Most people don't realize that these stretchs aren't reducing your spurs. It's actually helping your tendons stretch around them. Think of it as a rubber band. Right now, it's really tight around those spurs, causing a lot of pain. Physical Therapy warms up those rubber bands and helps elongate them. Visualize your tendons stretching around when you're working on your stretchs.