I've just recently (within the past two months) started exercising regularly, mainly on the treadmill/elliptical machines at my college's gym, and for the past week or so I've been experiencing a lot of pain in my left heel. It hurts every time I put weight on it, more so when I've been sitting down for an extended period of time (like 3 hour classes!) and in the morning when I get out of bed. At first I thought it might just be a bone bruise, but since it's been persisting, I now think maybe plantar faciitis?
Does anyone have experience with heel pain like this? Suggestions for easing/curing it so I can keep exercising and not give up? Recommendations for a good, supportive pair of running shoes?
Go to a specialty running store, tell them you have plantar fasciitis and want new shoes, and they will analyze your foot, watch you walk and run, and "prescribe" a shoe.
Whenever you have a chance, stretch your calf. Also try rolling something like a tennis or golf bal around with the bottom of your foot when you are just sitting. Rolling a frozen water bottle along the fascia after exercise is also effective.
To strengthen the area do exercises like folding a dish towel using your toes and picking up little things with your toes (legos work excellent!).
Heat your foot before exercise and ice it after.
If it is really bad you can look into a night splint, but if it gets to that point you should be seeing a doctor. Also, wearing high heels can make it feel better, though it doesn't necessarily contribute to healing.
Hope this helps. Keep in mind, all of this advice is ASSUMING you have plantar fasciitis, as your symptoms indicate.
I have plantar fasciitis too, and my physio has told me to:
~Stretch my calves 6+ times per day
~Not do exercise that hurts it (i.e. running, walking)
~When the pain goes from the stretching, get measured for custom orthotics. Apparently getting them now won't be as good.
She reckoned that it would take about 6 weeks to get better, but I do know people who have had it for years - but then, they keep running on their sore foot.
I'm cycling now to reduce the chances of the injury continuing longer than it should.
there is a website called www.footsmart.com that has a lot of products you can buy to help with heel pain. My mom had a heel spur and it caused a lot of pain walking and stuff, but there are some shoe inserts and things to help.
I too, suffer from plantar fasciitis. It is miserable, since I work in surgery, I am on my feet more than 8 hours (usually) on hard cement. I have had it before, but, it has never been as long lasting as the current bout of it. I have had my heel injected a couple of times with a steroid ( that hurts a bit, but, the relief is worth that second of severe stinging). I have also had the custom orthotics made ( which I don't go without ). And I have tried to roll my foot over a soup can before I even get up in the morning ( this is what the doctor recommended doing btw). They have told me it can take a long time for the inflammation to go away (like 9 months or more...) The stuff I have/am doing has helped ( makes the pain tolerable), but, I still have the pain some days, I can only say, I know, "this too, shall pass". But, I empathize completely with you! Good luck, and if you find a "miracle cure", please pass it on to me!!!!
Oh my, oh my, I know the pain of plantar fascitis too!!
Thank goodness its gone now but when it was at it's worst I remember actually having to crawl on my hands and knees to get to the bathroom because it hurt too bad, in both heels mind you, that I simply could not walk!
There are a few things that helped me get over this.
First, I began to wear very supportive shoes all the time. I bought some New Balance shoes and only took them off at bedtime. This helped support my arches.
Second, I learned the power of stretching. I learned that I needed to stretch my feet before getting out of bed every morning, otherwise, the minute I placed my feet on the floor I was reinjuring my foot. That was a real awakening for me to learn this. So, before I would get up I would bend both of my feet towards my face for 60 seconds and then point them away from me for 30 seconds. I would do this three times before getting out of bed. Seemed time consuming but it really made the biggest difference. I still do this but not every morning now that my pain is gone.
Third, before going to bed I would rub the bottoms of my feed on either a bag of frozen peas or a blue ice thing that go in coolers. Only rub for about 30 seconds, stop for about a minute and then rub again for another 30 seconds. I would not rub any more than 3 times. I learned that this helps with the inflammation and begins the healing process during sleep... stretching in the morning before getting out of bed continues to help with the healing... and wearing very supportive shoes ALL the time magnifies the benefit of healing time.
Fourth, I took ibuprofen (Motrin) twice a day to help with pain and inflammation.
Once I began the stretching, ice, ibuprofen, New Balance business together I was nearly back to normal after about a month. I found that if I stopped wearing the good shoes for a day or so, the fascitis would return so I ended up wearing the good shoes for a full year. I gave up my pretty shoes for all that time. Now I can wear heels and flats again. By the way, I learned that flat shoes which have no arch support are often the culprit of plantar fascitis. It is because no arch support can cause the ligament between your heel and the front of the foot to become overstretched and this is what causes the inflammation and pain where the ligament inserts into the heel area.
If you have to sit in 3 hour classes I would suggest doing some stretching before you get up from your seat too. I wish you all the luck in the world because I know how absolutely awful it can be to suffer from this pain.
Thank you Ilene, I hope my experience can help somebody.
By the way, I also learned that shoes, which have arch support, and 1 to 1 1/2 inch heels are best. I think I remember that lace up shoes were best too because we can adjust the tightness to keep our feet as stable as possible.
Thanks again Ilene, I appreciate your comment very much.
i agree with all the aboved mentioned. I have severe plantar fascitis and i'm slowly getting better.
One more thing i can recommend...but it hurts like HECK!!!! if you lay on your back stick your leg up and point your toe towards you..then have a partner (or a good friend who doesn't mind your feet LMAO)...have them use their thumb or knuckles and massage your heel. STart from the back of your heel and then push/rub with the thumb. It will hurt like heck...but it really releases a lot of the inflammation that is causing the plantar fascitis. then ice the area for 10 minuts. But definately go get some good shoes and some good orthopedics inserts.
Last edited by GatorgalstuckinGA; 04-10-2008 at 09:00 PM.
If you don't get improvement...ask your doctor for a referral to an orthopedic physician. They will do an X-ray and make sure you don't have a fracture and then assess your mobility and tenderness. If you can take an anti-inflammatory medication--Motrin/Ibuprofen/Advil--do so. You will probably need to rest the foot, meaning do not exercise with weight on that foot, until the pain goes away. You could continue doing non-weight bearing exercise.
DH has just gone through all of this. He is still wearing a brace at night. You can put something at the foot of your bed, under the covers--like a pillow or rolled up towel/blanket, then make sure your foot is in a neutral position when you sleep. Make sure your foot is not plantar flexing...this is toes pointing downward. This provides support similar to a brace.
See your doctor soon if you don't get improvement.
I, too, have PF. I've had it since last June. Mine was caused by flip flops, hardwood floors and, in my estimation, being overweight.
I first saw an ortho. He gave me a night splint and told me to stretch 5x a day.
Just this week I went to a podiatrist. He was GREAT!!! He told me to do several things:
1) I'm taking Celebrex 2x a day (he gave me samples thankfully because my insurance won't cover it...at the moment)
2) Do the alphabet with your foot before getting out of bed. Trace the alphabet in the air...every single letter.
3) Stretch every hour! It's a much simpler stretch than the ortho gave me. Simply pull your toes back either with your hand or stand next to a wall and place your toes on the wall while the rest of your foot is on the floor
4) Wear the night brace - he gave me a much better night brace than the ortho too.
5) Frozen water bottle or frozen golf ball massage 3x a day. I use the golf ball and it feels so good/bad.
6) orthotics/supportive shoes. I use Superfeet in my workout shoes and plan on getting at least one more for my inside shoes.
I have a follow up appt in 2 weeks.
I'll never be able to wear flipflops again - that's sad.
I had it too. Most of my suggestions/advice from my experience has already been mentioned. My additions, based on dr's advice are:
1) Don't walk/jog/treadmill uphill if you can avoid it. It will aggravate the pain. Even surface is better. Most of us like to go uphill for the calorie burn, but it's not good for PF.
2) When possible, go for surfaces like a treadmill for exercise or at least asphalt. Concrete (sidewalks) is the worst surface you can go for.
To expand on Gambaru's advice on shoes, arch support, flat shoes aren't good as they will aggravate PF. You should also wear shoes of some sort except for sleeping. I found some slippers with a sort of wedge type of heel & I wear those. Also, thick flip flops with a sort of wedge heel allow the feet to air out, but provide more support than bare feet.
And be sure to do calf stretches after exercise. I make sure I do some of these after my cardio:
Check with your podiatrist, but I find as long as I wear thicker/wedged flip flops, it doesn't aggravate the PF. Here's a photo of the type (not this brand though) of flip flop that I can wear:
I only wear the thinner flip flops in the shower at the gym. I found as long as I stick to the thicker flip flops, my feet don't hurt, but I don't want to give you bad advice, so check with the doc.
Heel pain?
