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  1. #1
    Senior Dog
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    Plantar Fasciitis

    Anyone want to share their experiences and miracle cures for PF?

    About a month ago I was walking along and suddenly felt like an ice pick was sticking into my heel. Dr. Google and a friend who's in PT said it's probably plantar fasciitis. I'm not overweight (the biggest predictor/cause) but I do have very tight hamstrings, so I started icing my foot and stretching. As long as I only wore sneakers, it was manageable.

    I spent most of last week (while on vacation at the beach) barefoot and my foot didn't hurt at all. I walked about 6 blocks in sandals yesterday evening and felt some twinges, and this morning I took Kimber on a 2 mile walk and jeepers creepers, my foot is yowza!

    (funny anecdote: I was rolling a tennis ball under my foot after our walk as a massage technique and Kimber came along and stole it right from under me!)
    Stormageddon, Princess of Darkness, aka "Stormy"
    Birthday 9-13-18, Gotcha Day 11-11-18
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    Miss Kimber, CGC, 6/15/2005-1/27/2018 forever in our hearts



  2. #2
    Senior Dog Scoutpout's Avatar
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    stretching is my friend. that and taking another 10lbs off would do wonders.
    I stretch them before getting out of bed in the morning, and try to do a stretch mid-day and before dinner. I do find that those Dr Scholls inserts for arch support/heel pain seem to help a bit. It comes and goes.

  3. #3
    Senior Dog
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    i had to do exercises on the steps, and it went away quickly. my problem is i am always barefoot, in flip flops, uggs or sandals with no support. not good.

    i think i had to go on my toes, holding on to the railing, and maybe rock back and forth but don't really remember. sorry. also had heel lifts put in shoes which did seem to help, got them in cvs.

  4. #4
    House Broken Maggie's Mom's Avatar
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    I am a distance runner and had it once about ten years ago. Custom orthotics worn in my running shoes worked wonders for me. I stepped into so kind of foam material at the physical therapist office and they then send that out somewhere and had the orthotics made. Mine was caused by the combination of running a lot of weekly miles and having very high arches. I had some initial physical therapy and continue to do one of the stretches- standing in stairs on the ball of the feet, and then lowering my heels down toward the next step. Between the stretching and orthotics I have been pain free for ten years- and I continue to run high mileage. I would recommend the orthotics whole-heartedly!

  5. #5
    Senior Dog POPTOP's Avatar
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    OUCH! Had it about 10 years ago and it was painful. Did not go to the doctor, pretty much figured out what it was. Stretching helped a lot. I've got arches high enough for a semi to drive under; weight not a problem. It took a while.

    Good luck. I feel for you.

  6. #6
    Senior Dog ZoeysMommy's Avatar
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    There is a specific brace that is worn at night called a dorsiflexion night splint that can help with PF, get a RX for one, most insurance companies do cover them. For daytime, try some good shoes like New Balance and some custom made foot orthotics, not the crap inserts that you buy at stores, and stretching exercises

  7. #7
    Best Friend Retriever
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    It's awful! Discovered I had that probably 10 yrs ago. In the mornings when I would get up & start walking, my feet hurt so bad it felt like walking on eggshells. It was always worst when I first got up, or had been sitting for awhile, & then got up & started walking again. Dr said the worst thing you can do is go barefoot or wear flip-flops. He said to do exercises, & roll my feet on a frozen o.j. can....they kept hurting so he put me on Naproxen 500 mg. That doesn't help a lot, either, except I guess I'd be worse off without it. I asked about going to a podiatrist, but he said the first thing they will do is give you a cortizone shot in the bottom of your feet. At the time, that sounded too awful to me (not anymore!). So I've just been trying to cope & buy better shoes, etc, & I have jaw joint arthritis, so have to take the Naproxen 500 for that anyway. For awhile, my feet felt better, but now, recently they are worse again. I feel it now on the bottom of my heels as well as in the arches, & up the back of my heel (I think it's Achilles tendonitis) & up the backs of my calves.

    My dh has it now, too--he had to change jobs a couple of times last year, & now works at a place where he is walking on a cement floor all day. He hasn't gone to a dr yet, but we had to get him really good shoes--Brookes--for $150!!! He had a very tough time putting out that kind of money for shoes, but they are helping his feet.

    Good luck, & I look forward to hearing any helpful tips about this also!

  8. #8
    House Broken swanska's Avatar
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    I think I originally got it from walking on the beach!!! What helped me: custom orthotics and physical therapy. The exercises that I learned at PT and continue to this day -- before getting out of bed, I write the alphabet in the air,with my entire foot from the ankle down. I do it with both feet and the motion of writing the alphabet really exercises all directions of the foot. I squish and stretch my toes several times. Sometimes, I will take a thin towel and loop it around the ball of my foot and then pull the toes towards me to stretch the arch. I also have a little mouse-type gadget that has electrodes attached. I put that on my foot for about 20 minutes and send the massaging electrical current into the depths of the muscle. Ice and then heat also helps (I did this in college for an Achilles tendon injury: 1 minute in an ice water and 3 minutes in hot water...repeat 5-6 times -- the ice water is excruciating and the trainer made me stick my legs in up to the knee but the hot water saved my sanity each time).

    I prefer going barefoot but do buy pretty decent shoes for exercising and for work so that I have plenty of support. I remove the inserts that come with the shoe and replace them with the custom orthotics. They even have orthotics for dress shoes -- which I seldom wear so the orthotics for those last a long time.

  9. #9
    Senior Dog Meeps83's Avatar
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    I bought a nice pair of shoes as I'm on my feet all day. I stretch in the mornings and after I've been sitting for a while. Inserts didn't help me. Maybe the brace would've, but I didn't know about it at the time. It took probably 4-5 months at least for the pain to go away.

  10. #10
    Senior Dog Snowshoe's Avatar
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    Custom orthoses, night splint, stretches, supportive orthopedic shoes. I was sent for ultrasound and massage therapy which was very pleasant but didn't do a thing. It goes away, it comes back. Funny, cross country skiing and ice skating don't bother me as much as walking, running and just standing. But I do have the orthoses in my skates and ski boots as well. I wear the orthoses always, in my running shoe slippers.

 



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