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Plantar fascitiis or policeman heel

Forums Health Plantar fascitiis or policeman heel

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      Amy

      @amy

      Participant

      Does anyone else suffer with this and if so how do you manage it. I’m on my feet a lot and really struggle with it in my right heel.

    • I work in foot care product design and development
      Ideally you need orthotic insoles, lots of anti inflammatory drugs and to relieve the acute pain get a really cold can of coke and stretch your arch over it regularly by rolling it backwards and forwards under your foot

      If you haven’t already you need to see a podiatrist not just a GP!

    • I suffer in my right heel too and have found correct shoes helps me a lot. The Clarke’s Unstructured have been brilliant and I live in them. Not pretty but very comfy. Their summer sandals are good too.
      If I wear anything else for a day it hurts like mad. Have to be careful with boots and when running.

    • avatar-image

      cat

      @cat

      Participant

      Lots you can do to help. You might find that rolling your foot over a bottle of water which has been frozen should relieve the pain.

      There are lots of stretches you can do, the most commonly recommended one is to stand on the edge of a step and lower the heel down, stretching out the sole and calf.

      Make sure you are wearing supporting footwear, you may need orthotics to support the feet.

      The foot is often neglected but so important. If you can find a good Pilates studio or yoga studio they will be able to help you use your feet properly.

    • It’s a horrible thing.
      Rolling a small frozen water bottle on your foot gives relief.
      I had insoles made with helped loads when it was awful and I also have various over the counter insoles. I use a elastic sort of half sock the supports the instep which I use sometimes.
      Physio helps as does lasering the area.
      Fling out shoes that make it worse.
      It was years before I could walk on hard floors without shoes.

    • avatar-image

      faye

      @faye

      Participant

      As others have said, some shoes definitely exacerbate it so chuck out any that do. I have also used over-the-counter insoles if I know I am going to be walking a lot.

      It seems to come in bouts for me, rather than being constant. Five years ago it was so painful that even taking my wellies off made me cry with pain so I do sympathies but mine does seem to clear up after a while and, touch wood, I have now been painless for four years and am running and walking as much as ever with only the very occasional minor twinge so I hope yours goes away soon too!

    • I would not bother with the GP see a private Physio who does sports type work and see a podiast to get insoles made!

    • It’s a horrid thing to have. I did stretches as recommended by Pilates above, which are the same as the exercises for my Achilles, & it did go and *touch wood* hasn’t been back, & I’m running around 22 miles a week.

      I feel for you as it bl**dy hurts…!

    • I’m suffering again and also in my right heel. It gets you down doesn’t it? Mine went away for a few weeks after I’d been in hospital for an operation and was only doing very light exercise. As soon as I went back to my normal routine it came back. I think I might go to a physio because I’m not managing to get on top of it by myself despite using orthotics and stretching it and also rolling it over an iced bottle. Good luck with yours OP. If you do find a cure please let me know!

    • Another sufferer here! A 500ml coke bottle filled with water and frozen is sheer bliss when it’s really bad. The shape means you get the ice right into the arch of the foot which is where I get the pain rather than in my heels. I find very flat shoes (like ballet pumps – which caused mine) are bad but high heels are even worse – a heel of an inch or two, preferably a wedge is the best I find other than trainers which I wear whenever I can. I have a pair of insoles that I move from shoe to shoe as they’re pretty expensive to have a pair for every pair. I really know about it if I forget to change them over though. I do the calf stretches daily as well and they do help.

    • Ok first get out of flat heels. JD Williams do a ‘cushion walk’ sandal which is a heel which supports as well as being ‘airy’ and designed to give comfort. My sports injury clinic chap looked at my plantar fasciitis and said he is making a booming business due to all the silly ballerina pumps out there that give no heel support at all.

      I had it in my right foot for about eight months and then it moved over to the left foot. The pain was horrendous and I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.

      typically its caused by lots of standing in unsupportive shoes, as well as running on unsupportive trainers and being overweight – these last two factors were my problem.

      After twelve months, strapping my foot, doing exercises with my feet (rolling foot over rolling pin) and wearing heel supports it went away. It had started to ‘twinge’ every now and again but has not come back as yet.

    • avatar-image

      Amy

      @amy

      Participant

      I wear supportive shoes, tried orthotics and do my stretching already.
      Think I may try some laser with a physio.

    • I wear supportive shoes, tried orthotics and do my stretching already.
      Think I may try some laser with a physio.


      @amy
      Did you have the insoles made for you or were they over the counter .
      If over the counter ones did not work get a pair made for you insoles did not help me much until I did and then they got me pain free .
      I still wear them regularly and put them on the moment I get a twinge.

    • avatar-image

      Amy

      @amy

      Participant

      @lilly Can I get them made via the doctor

    • @amy I don’t know I dislike waiting for anything I just went straight to a private chiropodist that does lots of sport type work. They cost just under £100 and were worth every penny .

    • avatar-image

      sar

      @sar

      Participant

      I went the orthotic route no real improvement. Not personalized because all the published research says custom is no better.
      Changed my regular footwear to minimalist/barefoot style and it was revolutionary. If it came up again I would try and find some shockwave now too.

    • avatar-image

      mel

      @mel

      Participant

      @sar My custom insole made a huge different you can’t have a over the counter insoles that takes differing leg length into account customs do.

    • avatar-image

      sar

      @sar

      Participant

      I couldn’t find anything much that said that custom was found to make a significant difference compared to good brand non custom. I am not trying to rubbish anyone’s experiences with customs just explain how I got to not using them. Others are of course welcome to do their own research as it is a very frequent problem!

      Obviously I decided to try a different route, I was better with Footreviver insoles not so much with gel activs (they seemed to make my foot pain worse). I also know mine mostly comes from issues higher up and I have good foot confo and normal movement so decided to see if I could just get them to work better. It was amazing for me when that worked! I haven’t had symptoms for some time, no treatment, and nothing exercise wise beyond my normal Pilates which doesnt include foot work

    • I had some insoles made for me, and also loads of over the counter ones. The custom ones were better, but for success i taming the pain I found that wearing them all the time was the key, and changing them from one set of shoes to another is a faff.

      So, the custom ones went in my work boots for day to day wearing, and the over the counter ones filled every other set of shoes/ slippers I *may* put on.

      The over the counter ones with the hard arch were better than the ones that gain lift from shaped foam IME.

      I also had some tight half socks that support the arch for running. My running shoes are made for the purpose, and were fitted after a shop saw me running on a machine to correct my abnormal gait!

      I use a spiky ball to roll under the foot. Also salt foot baths.

    • I had plantar fasciitis and had steroid injections.
      Bloody painful but it’s worked and I no longer suffer.

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