I Cured My PF By Doing -----

[yogapam]

Originally Posted by hdw

Stretching. I do down dog.

Yes, DD is so good for the calves and hamstrings! I also do this one for the achilles:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDWL-jUJjXI

Originally Posted by kristi

I had PF in both feet. What worked for me was getting cortisone shots in each heel (Ouch!) and constant calf stretching. I still consistently stretch my calves because I have heel spurs that will flare my PF. Also, I have to always wear shoes. My PF flared because of my high impact, non-shoe wearing taekwondo classes.

I had a cortisone shot for my heel spur several years ago. The injection hurt and my whole foot was very painful for several days after. I do think it helped but I would exhaust every other possibility before doing it again. I felt the heel flaring up again recently but got right on it with stretching +++, wearing my orthotics, icing it, and going low impact with my workouts.

[bearcatfan]

Originally Posted by cam522

I wear shoes all the time from morning until night and I don't know if that is good thing or a bad thing. Do you guys wear shoes all the time as well?

...Cheryl

I wear shoes almost from the moment I get up. I can take short stretches of walking around the house barefoot, like 10 minutes, but always go back to my shoes. I've gone from a barefoot babe to one who feels funny without shoes, lol. I wear very supportive shoes (New Balance works great for me).

During flair ups, which thankfully are rare these days, I stretch and roll a tennis ball around my foot. I also discovered that a rolling pin is also nice, but you can only go forward and backward with it. I tried sleeping in a sock that kept my foot stretched (forget the name at the moment) but it drove me nuts.

I also have custom orthotics that I wear in my workout shoes only, since the New Balance slides I wear have plenty of support for me day to day.

In a pinch, I've used an arch support bandage (about $6 or so at any drugstore). There are also arch support socks (I think they are made by Hanes; I've found them at Wal Mart and Meijer). It's all about the arch support for me.

When first diagnosed, I laid off of step for six months. It was hard. Now, I can pretty much do whatever I want. I try not to do high impact two days in a row, since I am blessed with both PF and tendonitis in both feet.

[faith458]

Shoes with orthotics or good arch support (Naot, orthoheel, anhu, etc)
physical therapy

Faith

[NRGWoman]

Using these...http://www.amazon.com/Yamuna-Body-Ro...rds=foot+balls Yamuna Foot Walkers. I was resistant since I had tried everything else and spent so much money that I did not want to make another investment. Well, just by standing on these for 30 seconds two times a day it stopped the PF pain and keeps it at bay even while doing things I couldn't before. They were pricey, but well worth the investment!

[Nuggie's Auntie]

I'm so sorry you're suffering from PF! It's so painful!

Here's what worked for me:

During the day, I taped my foot as directed here: http://heelspurs.com/tape.html

At night, I wore a splint like this: http://www.amazon.com/Futuro-Plantar...ro+splint+foot

I also bought cheap inserts at the drugstore and only wore flat shoes (just sneakers initially.)

After a few weeks, it improved dramatically and I started back on low impact workouts. Then I started doing Physique 57 regularly (and barefoot) and that really did the trick. I think all the work barefoot in releve helped to strengthen my foot. I am now totally pain free and can wear cute shoes again.

Here's a thread I started about it last year. It has a lot of good tips: http://forum.videofitness.com/showthread.php?t=177439

I hope you find a solution. It is a tough injury.

[Debbie S.]

After trying lots of different things, and buying lots of different stuff, my PF quit hurting on its own about 15 months after it flared up! It's the weirdest thing. I didn't think it would ever go away, and suddenly it just stopped hurting. No more getting out of bed and hobbling until everything warmed up, etc.

[yogapam]

Originally Posted by Nuggie's Auntie

During the day, I taped my foot as directed here: http://heelspurs.com/tape.html

Yes, I have taped too, with KT Tape. There are lots of youtube videos on how to tape for different issues and injuries. Here are the PF & heel pain ones:
http://www.kttape.com/instructions/plantar-fasciitis/
http://www.kttape.com/instructions/heel/

[Lucky Star]

Originally Posted by Debbie S.

After trying lots of different things, and buying lots of different stuff, my PF quit hurting on its own about 15 months after it flared up! It's the weirdest thing. I didn't think it would ever go away, and suddenly it just stopped hurting. No more getting out of bed and hobbling until everything warmed up, etc.

I had the same experience and about the same length of time too.

[Harantwanders]

I had PF for years when I was younger, nothing helped. Eventually it just went away.

[ddj]

I don't know why mine finally went away, I was doing so many things. But there was one yoga stretch which was painful and hard to do but always made it feel better. I don't know the name of it, but you kneel, tuck your toes under, and then sit on your heels. You have to be very careful with it and work up to it, but it always made my feet feel better. I know that sounds strange since the move itself can be painful, but it did help.