I recently have been struggling with it. Never had it before. I don’t have flat feet so I’m not sure why I’m getting it.
Usually I’m pretty good about how to take care of issues with my body but I’ve not have any experience with this.
Anyone with experience that have tips and tricks on how to treat this?
I do have flat feet, so my experience may not be directly applicable to you, but here goes anyway:
I could not get rid of plantar fasciitis until I tried custom made orthotics in my shoes. The relief was instant and complete. The custom orthotics are hard plastic, and they raise the heel and the arch of my foot.
I’ve heard that this effect can be replicated by purchasing some store bought arch supports that raise your heel and provide arch support. I’ve seen some brands that can be heated and molded to your foot, but I don’t know if that’s necessary.
If I were you I’d try to experiment with some shoe inserts.
I see.
I actually think my problem started with new shoes with too much cushioning.
I switched to a less cushioning.
I’ll look into the orthopedic shoes if I can’t fix it. I’m not sure if that’s my issue as it believe those are good for flat feet to provide support for the arch?
Try buying a pair of plim soles (Matalan in the UK probably has them) and then customise as necessary. Converses are plimsolls, if you need that gangsta-edge
Shoes can fuck you good and proper. I prefer to wear skating trainers as they are pretty flat, but sometimes I’m a dick and wear Asics Gel marathon running shoes and then wonder why my knees are knackered.
You can get orthotic insoles for your shoes to help with the symptoms. Go to a rehabilitation clinic and get treatment as well. There are standard treatment options that cost about 50 NT each time you go. They are marginally effective over a long period of time. You can also get shockwave therapy, which hurts a lot, but it does fix the problem much more quickly. I recently had this problem and it took about 6 shockwave treatments to cure it. Your situation could require fewer or more treatments depending on the severity of the condition. It costs about 1,000 NT for each shockwave treatment.
Had it for years.
Get a golf ball. Put it in the freezer. When you get in from a walk or it’s acting up in the AM, roll your foot over the golf ball. Don’t push too hard.
Repeat until fifty.
Oddly enough, I don’t have much foot pain since starting running and training for 5ks. Huh
How about that.
I had this about ten years ago and I guess it sometimes flares up again, but for now it’s mostly faded into the general aches and pains of ageing.
I did go to physiotherapy here in Taiwan. They looked at my shoes and said they were fine for the purpose (i.e. had good arch support). If I recall correctly, they suspected teaching - i.e. a lot of time on my feet - was a big contributing factor; they recommended different poses when standing, like angling my feet to have my toes resting up on the edge of the lectern, for example. There were a couple of months of physio that mostly consisted of electrical stimulation and either heat or cold application, I forget which.
The different issues blur in my memory. I think it was for this one they looked at my legs and realized one is very slightly longer than the other, and that imbalance may also have been a contributing factor. I don’t recall any remedy for that. Maybe it was this issue that had me paying a decent chunk of money for orthotic insoles.
But, for better or worse, I think it’s one of those issues where it gradually (six months? twelve?) mostly disappeared as a problem and I’m not sure what percent of the recovery was from treatment, and what percent was from time. Or, for that matter, what percent is me gradually thinking less about the issue as it simply became part of how my body works (or doesn’t work) now. I suspect that I stopped going to physio after a few months out of boredom and a sense of futility, and then a few months after that suddenly wondered one day “Hey, when did that foot pain go away?”
So, from my experience: the good news is it (mostly) went away eventually. The bad news is it took a while and I have no idea if anything I did actually made a difference.
I’m in the exact same position as you Andrew…I’ve never had heel pain before (45yrs old) and suddenly (as in overnight), woke up one morning (about 1.5mths ago) and got this stinging pain in both my heel. Walking to the bathroom was like walking on nails. I do not have flat feet either and I only help at my bro’s restaurant once a week where I have to stand for long hours. I suspect this may have been caused by this new pair of shoes that I bought (quite tight for my size) and after wearing it for like 10~12 days, the pain started.
I started researching on heel pain and suddenly my FB was flooded with ads for Plantar Fasciitis (Shoe InSoles, Heel wrap, creams etc…Zuckerberg strikes again!!!). I started soaking my feet in hot water for 20 mins and then using an Ice pack for 40 mins and finally massaging my heel with Bengay/Equate. I used my thumbs to press hard on the pain spot and held it for around a min or so. I would alternate with a wooden/hard plastic massage thingy if my thumbs got too sore. Been doing this for about a mth, and miraculously, the pain started subsiding! I also ordered this Insole off shoppee and started wearing it now. My heel is already 95% healed so I’m just wearing this to prevent further flare ups.
You too. Golf ball. Freezer.
The golf ball was part of my better half’s therapy. The other is injections and snipping ligament or tendon in order to relieve the issue.
Best of luck.
Shoes with a wider toe box might be helpful.
I have had good luck with tips from squat university, though this video is longer than it needs to be.
Will do! but wait…I don’t play golf so…will those small extra bouncy rubber balls do?
Very good tips! I’m gonna try it out tonight. Thanks!!!
Racquet balls or lacrosse balls work too. Even a tennis ball in a pinch. Those you can really push down on.
Try forefoot strike or mid-foot strike running (and walking too!).
I used to fill up a plastic water/coke/drink bottle with water and freeze it, then use it as a roller on my feet. Mine also went away after doing more walking, jogging, and cycling.
For me, harder surfaces are more likely to cause it. If I can, I walk on the road or on the springy track at the local middle school. I find long days on cement or hard floors are tougher on my feet.
I’m a heel striker. So maybe that’s bad
You can relearn to do this by walking/running barefoot. Just be careful especially if you’re a heel striker.
This is how I learned to run on my forefoot/midfoot:
I was put on to this after mentioning I had heel pain to a coach at a gym. He taught me how to do this.
It needs quite a bit of slow and methodical practice. Go extremely slow. Like one step in 5 seconds at first. Pause at the top. Carefully place down your foot. Pick up the speed only if you are doing it right.
People striking with their heel run like horses. Instead run like a cat. Be silent when you go up or down the stairs. Be silent walking around the house. When you run your toes and ball of your foot are cushioning your whole body. Your knees will thank you. Take it slow though because your muscles will not be used to this.
Once you get it you will not want to go back.