just wondering about plantar fasiitis?

[DGP1]

I hear people on here calling Royal Mail footwear Doc Martins are one of the best shoes on the market, agree about the Cat trainers rubbish, wear the Docs they are good for your feet.

I disagree, you can't wear them for the 5/6 hours you're out on delivery without ripping your feet to shreds (my well broken in DMs only allow me about 2 hours before the need changed).

[DB1100]

I hear people on here calling Royal Mail footwear Doc Martins are one of the best shoes on the market, agree about the Cat trainers rubbish, wear the Docs they are good for your feet.

Doc Martens used to be very good when they were made in Northampton,sadly now most,including the one's RM get are made in China and Asia,IMHO they are poor now.

[DGP1]

I hear people on here calling Royal Mail footwear Doc Martins are one of the best shoes on the market, agree about the Cat trainers rubbish, wear the Docs they are good for your feet.

Doc Martens used to be very good when they were made in Northampton,sadly now most,including the one's RM get are made in China and Asia,IMHO they are poor now.

I like Karrimor walking shoes/trainers, comfortable and waterproof but I'm not wearing them for work.

[johnsouthwales]

i been reading cortisone inections works on some but returns again. some say it didn't work at all.. such a confusing condition.
it's been said it comes from the back. apparently people who get it usually get the complimentary calcaneous growth on the achilles.
some say the source is the calf.. and now some say a calcaneous growth has got sod all to do with PF

[johnsouthwales]

The bottoms of both feet hurt when you first walk on them. There are other problems too, but I'd like to know what you do to loosen up your feet first thing in the morning. The long ligament that runs along the bottom of your feet tightens up and it really hurts when I first put weight on my feet in the morning.

ordinary massage. Just take some lotion and gently rub it into the arch and bottom of your foot.

If I get out of bed quickly to go to the bathroom, it can really hurt and I feel that I have reinjured it. stand on stair steps and let my heels hang down. This feels ok, but my morning it has tightened up again.

take a towel, or a sturdy belt, and while I was still in bed, lay on my back and put the towel around the ball of my foot, with knee bent. Then, straighten up your leg and gently pull on the ends of the towel, stretching the foot in the same manner that it stretches on the edge of a stair step when you have the ball of your foot on the step and your heels dropped down below the step. As you get better at this, and the muscle gets more flexible, bend the opposite knee and put that foot flat on the bed. (this is to prevent lower back injury) Then with the extended leg, with the towel around the foot, start raising the leg to the ceiling, keeping tension on the ball of the foot with the towel. Will hurt like heck at first. When you stretch they told me it was important to stretch the calf and hamstrings too. You should do these exercises several times a day.

Never, ever, not even for half a second, walk without wearing shoes. My quickest routine is to lie flat in bed, flex the feet and hold for 30 seconds, then point the feet and hold for 30 seconds. It helps to stretch the tendon. I also do the walk back from the wall exercise. Standing on your tiptoes for 15-30 seconds and then going back can help. Also, a really good exercise is to stand on the bottom step of a stairway, holding on to the rail and maybe the wall. Toes on the step, rest of foot hanging off - push the heels down and hold to stretch.

the best cure for plantar fasciitis is rest. doctor decided I needed fascia release surgery. I had that and at the same time they chinked off some of a bone spur. I was on crutches for a month. It has been 8 months and my foot still isn't as good as it was before the surgery. part of my heel is numb which makes it feel like I am walking on a wadded up sock. I wish I had the benefit of more information before taking such a drastic step. My surgeon seems genuinely baffled that my foot reacted so badly. I don't know if it is common or not. I sure wish I could go back 9 months. My complaint before the surgery was that I couldn't last longer than a couple of miles.

his doc told him it never truly goes away, so he'd need orthodics for life, pretty much. He also said surgery was an option, but that it would be much worse than the actual injury, so he didn't recommend it.

Doctor said she normally recommends staying off the feet and physically therapy.

I have been told that I have this and that there is no cure, but possibly stretching could help it feel better. I am now trying barefoot walking to see if that will help. I have flatfeet and walking with no shoes is supposed to build up the arches. I know lots of websites say never go barefoot. Does anyone here have experience with going barefoot helping plantar fasciitis?

teacher who used to be a chiropractor. He told me the problem was caused my the calf of the leg. I forget his exact words, but he indicated that either the way I walk or certain exercises shortened the calf of the leg. THen there is a domino effect with the condition affecting the achilles tendon, then the plantar faciitis.
Therefore, he said to stand on a step, and one at a time to lower the heel of a foot, and stretch it. He said to consentrate on each foot separately, and do this as many times during the day as I can think about doing it.

I have found that going barefoot actually causes some of my plantar fasciitis episodes. The trouble I'm having now is I have some neuromas, and the only thing that makes them feel better is to go without shoes for a while. One of the most common ways of dealing with plantar fasciitis is to make an orthotic with a good arch, so it doesn't fall down and pull on the heel tendon. I think people who have lots of trouble with plantar fasciitis have unusually short tendons. It is one of the most painful things. There was a time when I thought I would have to quit walking, and was sure I'd never feel better. But my podiatrist made me some good orthotics, and injected my heel with some steroids (when they were the worst), and I quickly was able to walk again.
I suffered from plantar fascitis for almost a year. I could barely walk when getting out of bed or standing from sitting. I needed to exercise, so I got a stationary exercise bike.

I have suffered from plantar fasciitis for over two years. I have tried stretches, anti-inflammatories, shoe inserts, night splints and even had a cortisone injection into the heel (total relief of symptoms but only lasted about three weeks). I have had intense pain in my feet for two years that was diagnosed as plantar fasciitis. I have seen numerous doctors and tried various anti- inflammatory meds etc., and until two weeks ago was having physical therapy. I had my yearly check up three weeks ago and was told I need to have b12 injections as I am severely deficient. as it relieves inflammation in tissues and the deficiency can affect nerve pain. i would strongly recommend getting your blood tested for this and other vitamin deficiencies.

For me, wearing any arch (or firm support socks) which compresses my arch is excruciatingly painful. That's how bad my situation is, due to the extreme stress i've had in my life.

did you go to a bone doctor? I have it also and my doctor had it both feet so he was very understanding. He have me a shot in my ankle, that and Merrill air slides = no more pain

I believe my PF was caused by walking on concrete in the mall.

It is individual. I've had it since early August. I got it from walking in flip flops which I never used to wear. I have inflammation not only on my heel, but in the ball of my foot, so can't do some of the exercises. I am getting better in very slow steps. If I overdo it, it gets worse. It does take a long time to heal.

What really made the difference for me was a couple trips to a massage therapist.
It should be noted too that PF is very common in people with Hypothyroidism. If you have other symptoms of thyroid disease..weight gain, fatigue, etc. - you should see your doctor. PF often goes away once the thyroid has been treated.
IF you have a lot of thyroid symptoms, but have a normal TSH, insist that your doctor run a thyroid antibodies test.

I have been hurting from Plantar Fasciitis since around October of 2011. Now it is June so it's been about 9 months of this. Some days were ok, and some days were TERRIBLE. I tried the Podiatrist and orthotics. FAIL. It felt exactly the same. Nothing worse, nothing better. I was also going to a chirpractor since every time I run a lot of miles, I become "crooked" and I have to be adjusted/aligned. I ended up going to see a Muscle Activation Technique (MAT) guy. Your Plantas Fasciitis can be caused by some other issue than your foot. It could be your hip, your butt muscles, even your neck?! He basically tests different muscles in your body to find the ones that are weak, then he presses on a certain part of your body that is connected to that weak muscle to "activate" it. Then he tests the muscle again and magically it is strong. Then he gives me isometric exercises to do (6 reps of 6 seconds each with 10 seconds rest in between each). Every week or 2 there are different muscles that are weak. This week, my plantar fasciitis is actually feeling much better, which to me is a miracle. I am having some issues with a tight hip flexor, but the MAT guy found different weak muscles, activated them, and i am actually feeling better.

But as I've read elsewhere, cortisone shots only abate the pain for a little while. It honestly is just a remedy to a symptom and not an actual solution to the source of what you're feeling. I have actually tried rolling a tennis ball on the fascia (from heel through arch of foot) and it has helped tremendously with the pain. The problem is that there is built of scar tissue on the ligament itself because of the inflammation and the constant "repairing" it's doing. So by breaking up the built up scar tissue, you'll be able to move it around more freely. Yes it hurts like hell, but it does help after a few minutes.

I had PF in both feet for 8 years... yes, 8... I tried everything: resting, running through it, not stretching, stretching some things, stretching everything, podiatrist, massage, orthotics and various footbeds for my shoes, icing it, keeping it warm, strapping it... you name it, i tried it. In the end the only thing that worked, worked almost instantly. The specialist that I saw injected steroids into the heel area, where most of the pain was from.

[mickeymacca]

I had it for a year or so and agree it is a really unpleasant condition. I finally got around to going to the doctors and he explained that the natural cartilage had worn away,causing the nerve endings underneath to be exposed and causing a sharp pain/ discomfort every time the foot is grounded. Her gave me a cortisone/ steroid injection which was the most painful thing I have experienced in my life( don't let that put you off though), however after a couple of days I could n't feel a thing and I have had no problems since and that was about 2 years ago. I only had a problem with my left foot which corresponded with the shoulder I carried my bag on so obviously the additional weight was the cause. I would definitely recommend an injection.

[johnsouthwales]

was the injection in your heel? many people get plantarF in the long muscle between the heel and ball, hence the confusion between that and tarsal tunnel syndrome.

some people try to walk on the good foot more causing an uneven load

[mickeymacca]

was the injection in your heel? many people get plantarF in the long muscle between the heel and ball, hence the confusion between that and tarsal tunnel syndrome.

some people try to walk on the good foot more causing an uneven load

yeh it was, and I was doing just that compensating with my good foot to ease the pain in my dodgy 'plate'.

it was funny because I still played football during this period and was always fine when I started running around, however I looked injured when I rocked up hobbling over to the lads before kick off, did n't get much sympathy from them though!!!

[Kirkby postie]

I've been suffering with plantar fasciitis for about 9 months and i've had cortisone injections in both feet, although the injections alleviated the pain for a number of weeks it has returned worse than before. I have tried various heel inserts and numerous exercises but to no avail. Through reading posts on this forum and speaking to numerous colleagues in my office who are suffering with the same condition everything seems to be pointing to the substandard footwear supplied by Royal Mail (Cat and Magnum) which need replacing every few months due to their poor quality. Why don't Royal Mail invest in proper walking shoes/boots (Karimoor or Berghaus) which may cost a little more to supply but would save more in the long run due to the better quality workmanship reducing the need to replace them so often. If Royal Mail do not address the situation soon I can see the majority of the workforce suffering from the same condition which again could end up costing Royal Mail millions in compensation claims for industrial injuries.
Which I think Royal Mail would find hard to deny with so many posties from various offices from across the UK suffering with plantar fasciitis, seeking treatment and taking time off work to address the condition.

[goldendragon]

dunno about that fancy named ailment you have had but im my office there has been two people had to have hernia op's within a couple of months of each other myself being one of them. im only 31 and the docs said it was rare someone my age getting one! no coincedence that they happened just as the worload started getting heavier!

I had 1 last year at 25. I was told it was quite a large one too when I came around. Have to admit my office/managers were very good with me I didn't have any of the problems I've seen on here with being pestered while I was off. Not something I want to go through again.