Exercise with plantar faciitis?
 

I was diagnosed with this today and aside from foot and leg stretches and rolling a tennis ball under my foot, is there anything else I should know?

I don't want to give up walking/jogging. Would a heel cup work? An arch support? Maybe arch support socks?

Any advice would be great :)

Definitely arch supports... especially if you go to a doctor who makes custom one for your feet.

Also... and my doctor told me this... what works great to roll your feet on is a small can of soup with the label removed.

I never would have thought about the can! Thanks!

She didn't seem confident that this would ever go away, but she said it would get better with the stretching exercises and icing it down after exercise.

It's disappointing :(

My physiotherapist told me to keep a frozen water bottle in the freezer - take it out when completely frozen put it in a sock and then roll your foot on that - takes care of inflammation. Really, really do the stretches you were given. I was also told to wear shoes all the time - not barefoot in the house. Although once mine went away I'm back to going barefoot whenever possible.

will this start to feel better? Or am I doomed to excruciating pain when I walk/jog forever? Did it take long for the stretches to work?

Sorry to hear about the PF! Its no fun. I was training for a half marathon in september and got it from switching to minimalist shoes. Big mistake for my foot type... anyways... I kept off it for several weeks and went to a good massage therapist. as far as exercise, I did the rolling a frozen water bottle trick. Seemed to help a bit. Also try freezing a dixie cup with water. Peel the paper back and use it as a ice massage on the area that hurts! Really helped me! Give it plenty of rest so you don't do any more damage!!

It will definately get better. I have heal spurs that you can see on the x-rays because I didn't get my pf treated until I was waking up in the middle of the night with horrible foot cramps and in the morning I could hardly stand on them until I had warmed up. And every step was like I had a stone in the heal of my shoe by the end of the day.

Keep the frozen bottles of water ready to roll under your feet after you finish exercising, do all the stretches your PT tells you to do at first. Do you have the leg/foot cramps? If so they make a weird foot brace thing for sleeping that keeps your foot stretched at night

It does take awhile for the pain to go away, but slowly it doesn't hurt as much. I lost some weight and got the custom orthotics for my shoes from the podiatrist. Try swimming and bike riding until the pain goes away.

I actually purchased a used eliptical/bike today just to use it. I tried the eliptical and it hurt -way- too much, so I switched to the bike.

Sarah- No, I don't have leg or foot cramps, this came on all of a sudden and at first I thought I had stepped on something. And my regular GP diagnosed me and told me to do the stretches and if it didn't improve in a couple weeks, she would refer me to a specialist.

Staying off of it today and rolling a frozen can of peaches (poor peaches) under my foot as I did dishes really helped. So did ibuprofen and stretching my toes and feet in the tub with hot water.

Thanks for the advice ladies :) It was appreciated!

Ouch!!! I would recommend taking some time (maybe a couple of weeks) off of exercise completely. Also, the others had great advice for icing, shoe inserts, etc. I had to invest in some pricey shoes (both for work and for my workout shoes). Try to not walk barefoot at all (even around the house). I'm sorry you're experiencing this! Mine has gone away completely now, but it was terrible while it lasted. I believe that you can receive a cortisone shot, if necessary.

Ibuprofen and ice have been taking care of the pain :) And using a bike is ok, along with my bowflex.

I've been doing some hardcore stretches with my foot and today doesn't hurt -as- badly. But I'm definately not jogging for at least a month.

A trick I learned is to take a rolled up towel and stretch your arches out with it before you get out of bed - helps with that "first step" pain. Just gently pull on both ends of the towel (or as firm as is comfortable).

At my worst, I was using custom orthotics, towel stretches, frozen water bottles, taping up my arches, prescription NSAIDs and steroid shots. (I was also at my highest weight and standing 12 & 1/2 hours a day). Now as long as I wear good-for-me shoes (Birkenstocks, Danskos, Clarks, Brooks Adrenaline GTS, Orthaheel) ALL THE TIME, I'm fine. I have super flat feet, so being barefoot is terrible for my feet.

Good luck - it can take quite a while for the inflammation to die down. If you have a lot of AM pain, look in to a night splint. Most are big bulky things, but there is a sock-like one out there that's pretty easy to tolerate.

I did all my walking with inserts in my shoes and I would walk until my foot started to hurt (it would come and go depending on my day). Then I'd head home so at least I'd get some walking in. Swimming is excellent cardio that shouldn't hurt your feet too much. You can still work out your upper body, right? Push ups, pull ups, rowing, punching a punching bag, bicep/tricep curls, etc. Honestly the best the thing for me was losing weight and wearing insoles. These injuries take a few months to heal so just give it time. If you follow all your doctor's advice, it will get better. Good luck!

Thanks everyone! I've been doing a lot better with stretches and I broke down and bought -really- nice Brooks Adrenaline GTS 12 shoes, which helped almost instantly. Since I've lost a few more lbs, that might have helped a tiny bit as well.

I've been through the plantar fasciitis before, that pain was horrible. It eventually developed into Posterior Tibial Tendon Dysfunction which was truly caused by a hereditary abnormality in my foot (non-fused accessory navicular). I'm not trying to scare you but please make sure that your doctor tells you the answer to all of the questions that you have. You NEED physical therapy, you likely need custom orthotics and supportive shoes/possible orthopedic shoes. Rest like you are supposed to, and if they have you in a walking boot wear it! I wish I would have had a doctor who treated my problems more aggressively because now I have a condition that will only get worse and it brings me a great deal of pain. Some people don't have underlying issues and with treatment it resolves but just be sure that you are vigilant about your doctor treating your condition appropriately. Swimming is the best exercise when suffering from this as well as bike riding (just don't overdo it).

You may have to take a break from the walking/jogging until it heals. I was diagnosed with it when I was working a job where I was on my feet 90& of the work day, and NOTHING helped until I got a desk job.

I also had to give up ALL my cute shoes, because none of them had the kind of arch support I needed. I still have to be careful, but at least I have a little more flexibility now, and can wear some cute flats, but for many years, I could only wear Birkenstocks, Halflinger, and New Balance (before New Balance had a cheapy-line. Now I have to make sure it's the higher end NBs).

For several years the only exercise I could do that wouldn't aggravate the plantar's fasciitis was water exercise and other non-impact exercise. Of course the weight was a big part of the equation, but I had a very-thin, athletic coworker with even worse plantar's fasciitis and foot pain than I had. She spent hundreds of dollars on shoe orthotics, and also said that during flares she had to stay off her feet as much as she could until it healed, or it wouldn't. So definitely talk to your doctor about what you should and shouldn't be doing while the inflammation and pain is severe.

I was diagnosed a couple years ago. I wore something on my foot that stretched it out at night. It drove me crazy but worked. I also took anti inflammatory meds at the start of my treatment. I also wear special shoes. I did these things and still had lots of pain.

I recently went on a grain free , low sugar diet for health reasons. My plantars fasciitis has totally healed as well as all of my joint pain. I have had foot pain for over five years since my last pregnancy. I'm so happy that I don't have that pain anymore. It only took a week for me to notice that it was way better. I'm 6 or 7 weeks in now and am pain free. I did have a couple bread items last week and my foot hurt for a couple days.

I'll chime in, even thought this thread is a bit old.

I had lots of foot pain, and self-diagnosed as having fallen arches. I bought some inserts for my shoes and was ever so happy!

I have a wide array of various shoe inserts. Each shoe has a different level of support, so I kike to have a variety. I have a good solid one for my slippers, and more mellow ones for my well supported running shoes.

But inserts are more preventative (IMO).

It was only about 3 months ago that I was jogging and felt a physical pull in my arch, and then had lost of pain for days and days. I did some investigating and then I learned that this condition has a name.

Best of all, I learned about stretching. The stretching seems like I might hurt more, so I would have never thought to do it, but man-oh-man does it really help! Even on those days when I have some pain for no apparent reason, a little stretch before my feet hit the floor and I can hop away instead of hobble!

There are so many complications with flat feet, I had no idea! And being overweight is one of them. Good foot health is certainly a motivation (for me) to lose weight!

This is rather anecdotal evidence but I too experienced something similar. I switched to a healthier diet that greatly reduced the amount of grains and starches I was ingesting and switched to mostly sugar free. I have had only 1 or 2 extremely short flare-ups and that's it. I have no idea if they are connected but it'd be pretty neat if they were!

Interesting...I typically avoid bread and pasta because when I eat it my psoriasis gets really inflamed. I had significant flare ups because of Christmas cookies, and went strictly off flour to heal my skin (and re-double my weight-loss efforts).

Perhaps it's not a coincidence - my feet have been noticeably and consistently [nearly] pain free for the past 2 weeks!!

I had a terrible case of this 10 years ago and went to PT for it. I don't know that the PT was too helpful - mostly just the exercises people have mentioned above + an ultrasonic massage that felt nice.

They had me sleep with my feet strapped into cloth braces with velcro that kept my feet from pointing during the night, in order to keep the muscle extended. I still use the braces occasionally but I hate them (rip them off in my sleep, etc).

The pain comes and goes. Mostly I'm barely aware of it, but it's there in the background and is a constant reminder to stretch it, do the exercises, etc.