I've got it in my right (gas pedal) foot. Nothing has changed except I now spend LOTS of time in my car, commuting 120 miles daily between King of Prussia and Mt. Laurel, NJ.

I don't run -- I barely walk! I sit in front of a computer, staring at code all day. I'm not obese. Far from it. At 5 foot 11 inches, 45 years old, and 135 pounds, I'm probably underweight. Then again, I always have been.

If anyone has successfully treated an attack of Plantar fasciitis, please let me know how. I really don't want the red-hot stabbing pains in my heel to return.

Craig

I had it and I don't think it ever fully goes away. I'd say, visit a podiatrist and get rehab. You will learn exercises and stretched you can do yourself after the rehab is long finished.

Also get good shoes and inserts if necessary. My podiatrist recommended (and wears) Mephisto shoes. I do too and highly recommend them. Kind of expensive, but you are worth it. And Mephisto has an incredible lifetime guarantee.

Periodically, my feet hurt. Some good stretching relieves it. Learn the stretches for your feet and calves!

Stop messing around and go to a podiatrist. He will fit you with custom orthotics which will relieve much of the pain. In addition, he will give you some stretchs to do.

I read of a recovery period of 6 to 18 months!

I bought some orthotic inserts today. I'll try those.

Rehab!? I thought rehab was for movie stars. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I bought some orthotics in CVS today. If those don't work out, then I'll go to the foot guy.

After all, I treated my sciatica by myself. When that came on, my leg went numb all the way down to my toes. I thought I had a stroke. What it boiled down to was bad posture. But once you get it, you have it forever.

Craig

This will sound a little far fetched, but both my daughters had it, and both were cured by a combination of a good Licensed Massage Therapist, Icing the heel and arch regularly, and finally magnetic sole inserts. Both recovered in less than 6 months, and neither have had a recurring bout. Go figure.

Pay attention to how you are holding your foot while driving, if it is only the the gas pedal foot. You may be holding your foot too tensely. I realized I was doing that in stressful traffic.

Stretch your feet. You can buy foot stretching gizmos that you can sleep in, but there are some really good yoga foot stretches too. I have a friend who is into yoga in a big way. She showed me a stretch that invovled squatting on the balls of my feet, hands on the ground in front to support the body, with the toes spread as widely as possible. She would often do it on the edge of a step so she could really stretch. At first it hurt and I couldn't stretch far, but little by little it got easier and my pain went away. Mine was caused by standing on my feet all day on concrete, and a change of shoes helped to. The short periods of ice and stretcihng helped the most.

I also had sciatica with extreme pain down to my foot. After a laminectomy done by a neurosurgeon (from India), the problem is completely cured! Sciatica does not have to be permanent. The pain was caused by sitting. On trips to the doc for cat scans etc, I rode laying down it the back of my pickup while the DW drove.

There is a way to tape your heel, which will instantly reduce or remove the pain. I can do it, but it is difficult to describe. Basically you support the heel pad so it does not "spread" as much. Like I said, hard to describe. See a doc. or physical therapist. I had it so bad I could not walk. The taping removed the pain and repaired the damage done. Now I am entirely free of symptoms.

plantar fascitis is usually caused from inflamation of the plantar fascia muscles being stretched over the heel. Normally the pain is from thing such as spurs (mineral deposits) irritating the muscles when you put pressure on the foot. Shoe inserts can help, also use things such as ibuprofen, but as stated in the other posts, stretching can GREATLY help. The professional treatments are the 3 following
1-shoe inserts
2-steroid injection
3-surgical removal of the "spur", which can return over time

I personally have had flair ups here and there.........usually changing shoes for a while and STRETCHING the foot easily fixes the aches with in a day or so

Get thee to a podiatrist!

Mine successfully treated my plantar fascitis earlier this year with cortisone injections (a series of 3 or 4 smaller injections are more successful than a single large one).

He also said there are two further treatments: the next step would be true custom orthotics (or could have started there if I'd skipped the shots), followed by surgery. He said surgery was rare.

A physical therapist friend also recommended some stretches...but we got busy with his computer, & he forgot to show them to me. <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Good luck--I literally have felt your pain!

David

I know the stretches. It's a matter of getting my lazy @$$ to DO them.

Craig

Yeah, sciatica freakin' HURTS. Like someone shoving a knife in your butt. Or grabbing your hindparts with a pair of pliers.

I was the World Champion Sloucher before. When I showed my wife how I sometimes sat before the sciatica struck, she said I kinda deserved it, because human beings weren't meant to sit on the back of their neck!

She was right, of course. My posture is much better now. I make bloody sure about that.

Craig

Yeah, there we go with ice again. Here is my general attitude of icing anything connected with my body:

Put the ice down, sir, and kindly step away from it.

Still, I may just give it a try. I'll have to have a brandy though, to keep from getting the chills. Grin.

Craig

Craig,

I feel your pain. Mine felt like needles sticking in my heel everytime i stepped.

Relief only came when I:

1) Used regular (daily) stretches.
Not a bad idea anyway as it prevents injury (changing tires, lifting groceries, helping someone in trouble with CPR, scrambling down stairs when some idiot runs a plane into your building, etc).

2) Switched from dress shoes to sneakers (good cross-trainers with good support) and augmented that with supportive inserts.
Not always an option in certain work environments and can be used used all the other times, just switch shoes before entering the building.

3) OTC Anti-inflamatory meds.
Insert obligitory "check with your personal physician first" to avoid any contraindications with pre-existing health problems and medication interaction.

As a nurse I'm on my feet all day so I still have minor flareups from time to time and I attribute that to not doing my morning stretches.

(There are no mistakes, just leasons and leasons are repeated until they are learned).

Wish you relief.

Thank you.

Don't wear cheaply-made shoes, and don't wear extremely worn old shoes.

Sue

I don't make a practice of it.

What killed me was a combination of my new, 120-mile daily commute and a 7-mile backup on the turnpike due to a pileup.

Gas-brake-gas-brake-gas-brake. The stop and go driving just killed my foot.

It's on the mend now. I make sure to do my little stretching exercises before I even get out of bed in the morning.

Craig