I had it as well. Felt like I was walkiing on hot coals. All I did to elviate my pain, was to do some stretching excercize. Stand close to a counter, place affected foot 3 to 4 feet back, get foot flat on the floor, and then lunge forward, keeping foot flat on the floor. Hurts like hell for a bit, but pain is gone. The use of an anti-inflamatory couldn't hurt.

The calf raises on stairs should cure it within 10-14 days. Also get the blue dot gel heel pads. Dr Sholls I think.

I know, modern medicine is always bad. Has been throughout the ages. At one point even autopsies were frowned upon, and criminal as well.

For me, it was a combination of all these things. Stretching, rolling a frozen bottle of water across my foot, long term anti-inflamatory meds, and the cortisone shots in each heel. Got better, tried to resume jogging workout, about 1/2 way through the second lap it felt like I stepped on a nail...another 6 months of discomfort! I even have bi-lateral plantar faciitis as a 10% part of my VA disability.

Eventually, with all the combination of treatments, it calmed down. I have an occasional pain, a reminder I guess, but it doesn't last.

They've been calmed down now about 2 years. I'm overweight and really want to resume running again because that's the only workout that Ive ever had success with. I'm scared, but I think I'll try to run. Being overweight sucks, and so does suffering pain while trying to get healthy.

(don't need anyone to tell me all the low-impact things I can try...I have)

Mom has a pool, but it is winter. The rec drains their pool in August (Even though it is indoor. WTF?)

Man, I have to wear shoes with some support inside. I don't think running with bare feet will do it.

Word.

What's the best way to stretch it? Grab ahold of my foot and try to tear my toes off?

Is that for me or for tendinitis in the Achilles? I'm not sure what that would do for my feet.

The other side of calf raises is I have to be careful or I'll get ridiculous shin splints.

I ****ing hate getting old. ****!

He'd probably hang up after I told him he's not as good as Gonzo.

Chiropractors have their place in my life, but it isn't going 3 times a week for the rest of my life. FWIW, the orthodics do help.

My PF started a few years ago. Once you get it, it never really disappears altogether. You manage it. Mine was so bad that I literally couldn't walk.

Tried cortisone shots in the heels. After the pain from the injection subsided, I felt OK for about a week - then it was back just as bad as ever. So I personally don't recommend it, although your mileage may vary. Just remember that your heel has the thickest skin anywhere on your body and it takes a very big, very sharp needle with a lot of force behind it to get thru. Not a good experience.

Stretching as others have described every morning before I get out of bed does a LOT of good. The other thing is CONSTANT support for your feet at all times. Seriously, except when I'm taking a shower, I'm wearing shoes. It doesn't have to be a $500 specially-made pair. I'm in the Air Force and my combat boots do a good job - high arch and my heel is well-cupped. Any shoe that does that works great for me.

I'm recovering from a very bad case of Plantar Fasciitis, which I got from jogging too much without stretching enough. Even though I'm a big guy (6'2", with my weight yo-yoing around an average of about 235 or so) I've been able to put in over twenty-five miles a week jogging without much of a problem for years, but back in early September, I got hobbled during a run. It was very upsetting at the time because I hate not being able to run, but I found some things that worked for me:

First, I went to Fleet Feet, a jogging shoe store, to get their recommendations for orthotics. They sold me on the "green" version of "Superfeet" replacement insoles, which I've since purchased for all of my shoes, whether for jogging or for work. They also sold me a Strassburg sock, which was helpful for the first few weeks, during the acute phase. That's a sock you wear while sleeping: it dorsiflexes the toes which keeps the back of the calf stretched. I also saw my doctor, who's also a jogger, and he showed me some stretches that I should do.

I used to stretch before and after jogs, but for the last 10 years or so, I used to think that stretching was more dangerous than just walking a block or two "to warm up" and "to cool down", so I would barely do any. As a result, my leg muscles had gotten ridiculously inflexible, given how hard it is to prople a big guy for miles and miles every week.

Anyway, after not running for a couple of months, always wearing the orthotics, stretching the lower legs every day and then slowly building back up, I'm now worked back to close to my usual jogging mileage, without much problem with the plantar fasciitis. So I think I've been pretty fortunate, as I was worried that it wouldn't go away, but it pretty much has been controlled.

In short, get some good orthotics and stretch the leg muscles routinely and things may get better faster than you think.

Man, it sucks, though, for the first few days. Good luck with your recovery.

Oh, and like Denny said, make sure you stretch before getting out of bed. I hop out of bed a couple of times a night, usually, and I've gotten pretty good of stretching just a little bit before I do that. Just flexing the foot up and down a few times works for me.

Ugh, I forgot one of the best things I did: tape the foot in the morning to bring the plantar fascia closer to the arch. That works wonders. I did that for about a month or so. (I finally stopped doing that after about a month or so, because most of the pain had gotten away and the tape itself was wearing my skin raw from ripping it off and replacing it every day.) There's lot of advice on the internet about ways to tape the foot for plantar fasciitis. They are all based on the same concept. Even a few simple straps of tape will help, provided you get that fascia closer to the arch.

Also, I don't have to take any medicine for my plantar fasciitis. Not even aspirin for pain.
Stretch and support does the trick.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...500_AA300_.jpg

These half-moon balance balls work, but are rather expensive. They sell these at dicks sporting goods and wally World.

?

Do I stand on it or what?