crystel brown's Journal, 08 January 2017

There's a lot of yoga you can do on the mat without foot pressure. Or how about swimming? 

Erikahollister's suggestions are great. Also: maybe try working the upper body with strength/resistance training, utilizing some hand weights or resistance bands? You can do the moves seated if standing hurts your feet too much. There are also a ton of seated workouts on YouTube, from stretching to light cardio to weights. Many are geared towards recovery from injury or to people with impaired movement. 

As a body worker I see a lot of plantar fasciitis issues in my clients. One of the best treatments for pain is the work of Miranda Desmonde-White and her Essentrics videos. She has quite a few videos on her site as well as youtube but nothing for feet/legs specifically. you can purchase her pain relief DVD's here: http://essentrics.com/page/productdetails/all/Pain_Relief_Workouts_DVD_Box_Set.htm Her workouts are designed to stretch, lengthen and release fascia all through the body. It is pretty amazing work. Good luck to you and keep on doing the good work.  

I had plantar fasciitis surgery, many years ago. I had it done on both feet in separate surgeries. At that time, there were very few doctors doing this very specific type of procedure, which included a small incision in the side of the heal to cut the fascia around the spur. I have never had pain ever since. I consider it the most important thing I ever did to my health and well being. I don't remember my doctor's name, but this specific surgery, I believe you should pursue. It is life changing. Fasciitis doe not generally get better, it often becomes crippling, in my opinion. Good luck! 

Also, until this new procedure was defined, they would tear off the heal, break the spur, and re-attach the heal. This was a six month heal time. DON'T do that surgery. I thought it was interesting at the time, a fellow employee, had that done, and was on crutches for months, and I did my procedure and was walking the next day. 

Warrenwinter - Plantar fasciitis can get better. I had a hard time dealing with it, even walking with a cane. But it went away on it's own (with a little help of stretching and avoiding impact on the heel). That said, I am pretty sure it depends on how big the spur already is. 

First, congrats on the weight loss. IMO, exercise your core if you can't do anything else...  

You can get rid of it in a week. I did. My brother and sister in law did. There is a shoe insert you can buy at a good shoe store or you can buy on the internet for $15. It is not a gel. It is hard and it supports the arch. Try it. I went through a lot and this was like a miracle. 

Yoga and Pilates have really good floor exercises 

I found massaging the instep with the heel of my other foot before rising, helped, as did orthotics. 

I had plantar fasciitis and at the time I thought nothing could be worse. I got arch supports and began the calf stretching exercise. It was not easy at first. I had to work through the pain, but I started to feel slight relief little by little. After a few months it was completely gone and without surgery. That was years ago and occasionally (twice in 10 years) Ihave felt a little heel pain that goes away after some calf stretching. Also, I keep Spenco 3/4 arch supports in most of my shoes. (Here is the Calf-Stretch: Stand facing with hands up, leaning against a wall, one leg bent forward at the knee and foot flat on the ground, the other stretched far back with ball of foot on the ground. Now push the stretched back leg to lower the heel and that stretches your calf. Do 10-20 seconds then alternate legs. Repeat several times a day.)  

Get some tennis balls and when you are sitting roll them around with the soles of your feet. They will help stretch those tendons.  

I got rid of mine by frequently rolling my foot on a frozen golf ball. No lie! My chiropractor suggested it and it worked for me. 

Brinella, you are so right on! I used a frozen bottle of water to roll under my foot and it sure did work! Good luck! 

Jozette, I believe plantar fasciitis is a individual problem, and some suffer worse than others. I was an athlete, and severely hurt my right heal from long jumping, and my doctor talked me into doing the other heal, also. I really don't know the approach others have taken, but I am learning, just from this thread. I hope anyone can solve their pain, without surgery, but I can only say, after surgery, I never had a passing thought about my heal pain, ever again, after my rehab.  

Warrenwinter - I did not mean to downplay your experience. Yes, it is true, it is an individual problem. That's why I said it depends on how badly the spur has grown. I developed mine due to Scottish country dance and had to quit :-( 

I understand, Jozette. One thing I came to realize, just how crippling this can be. I don't think I would still be running at age 66, if I hadn't done the surgery. Mine was very painful, and this was in my late 30's. 

I am glad it worked out for you that way! 

Thanks, Jozette! 

I know this is very painful. There are exercises you can do that will help relieve the plantar fasciitis. It won't be overnight, but they really help. Check out you tube for videos of the exercises. My husband also used them and he no longer has any heel pain. It started to feel better for him after a few days. He had total relief in 2 weeks.