Aleve was the only thing that helped me. And stretching on the steps, your inserts might take a bit of getting used to, I found that I had to wear a shoe that had a really good arch support, I work berkies and rock ports in the house all the time. I had a job that had me running up and down 2-3 flights of stairs 3 or 4 times a day, that finally cured it for me.

The cure is to wear shoes with good arch support. I find that when it gets bad, usually after wearing lousy sandles for too long, the heel swells and I need more room around my heel, so wearing my Crocs helps. Did you get the exercises to do? Stand on the edge of the step with your toes, hold on to the railing, and drop your heels and hold it for 10 or more seconds. You can do the same with a fat book.

It takes time, medication, the right shoes, and diligence doing the prescribed exercises. Doing all that (and I was on a prescription med for mine) it took about 6 weeks for me to get back to normal. Didn't your dr. prescribe something other than motrin?

I hope you're going to a female podiatrist--This is the one area of medicine where I believe it makes a real difference. Women podiatrists know women's shoes. I have never had to buy inserts/orthotics. I wear the brand of shoes she prescribed--exclusively--except when I'm shovelling snow and have to wear boots. Once I got over the initial bout of PF, I've had only brief flashes of it, and it's been about 6 years now.

Your best bet, rather than taking recommendations from strangers (sorry) is to follow your own dr's treatment plan. Treating Plantar Fasciitis needs to be tailored to the configuration of YOUR feet. What works for one, may not work for you (and may make you feel worse). That was another thing I liked about my pod. She pointed out some specific issues I had (unrelated to PF) and discussed how they impacted on the PF, and on my general foot health. Her assessment and recommendations were right on the money. And for the first time in over 50 years, I actually ENJOYED buying and wearing shoes, and still do.

Best advice is to follow your dr's plan, and give it time to work. It won't happen overnight, but you will feel better.

A massage therapist helped me. Two sessions with her working on my leg and foot helped tremendously. Never walk on hard floors barefoot; even put a soft towel on the bottom of the shower so your foot does not rest there when showering. Wear slippers to the bathroom at night.

An orthopedist gave me gel heel inserts, and it made it worse, so if you think the inserts aren't helping or are even hurting, don't use them.

I'm sorry you have this. It takes a while to get it to go!

I was told to place my heel on top of a bag of frozen butterbeans for 30 minutes twice a day. I bought a cheap bag of butterbeans and refroze them. It felt really good. I was told never wear flats, she suggested I wear New Balance tennis shoes and always a platform heel. Excersing the heel was great, my DH made me a platform 12" wide, it began level and rose to 6 inches. I stood on this many times a day. It took a while to get over the plantar facitis but I have never had another moments problem.

I had it for years, its better now. all I can say is when in pain ICE it. Get a frozen water bottle roll it under your feet, or put your arch on a ice pack. Get a arch band or a ace bandage & wrap your arch. In the morning before getting out of bed, stretch your feet back & forth for a minute or 2. Tape you foot if you know how, that got me through my walking job the first 3 months. The pain lasted over a year for me. Wear the right shoes and NO Barefeet EVER! I wore crocs most the time at home and birkenstocks in the beginning. Good luck.

A tennis ball helps, too. For me, the thing that helped the most was wearing heels. I had Plantar fasciitis in both feet for over a year. It is quite miserable. It was by pure accident that I realized I was getting some relief when I wore slight heels...about 2". I now call them my plantar fasciitis shoes. Whenever I feel a slight tightness in my arches, I start wearing these shoes. It seems to nip it in the bud immediately. After suffering for one whole year, trying everything, my plantar fasciitis was gone in about two weeks. I put on these shoes from the time I got up until I went to bed at night. Even wore them with my pajamas. This from someone who never wears shoes, which by the way, is a definite no-no. Might not work for you, but it sure as heck worked for me

Thanks so much for the responses! I'm not sure what has caused this flare-up but it's worse than previous bouts i've had. I've had cortisone shots into this foot before about six years ago. He mentioned a treatment using soundwaves ?? said it's 80% effective. Curious why no excercises were mentioned since it helped many of you. Im gonna do that for sure and i've got the frozen butterbeans so im doing that now!
Thanks again,
Annette

Two things my doctor recommended which worked for me were Joann_fla's frozen water bottle rolled under the arch, and a foot exercise where you point your toes as if you were a ballerina, then, keeping the arch of your foot curved, stretch out your toes so they are straight (kind of like the shape of a Barbie doll's foot, like you are wearing invisible 6" heels :-) ). The physio also recommended the stair stretch described by sheilajoyce, except that she added standing on my tiptoes as well.

I work with a girl who has had PF . She is a runner and loves the beach so she goes barefoot often. Her Dr. told her the problem was the running shoes. I never heard her speak of doing exercises etc. She just went through her 2nd operation for this condition. Pretty painful procedure , she is still hobbling around with a special boot and thinks he will be ready to run and play softball by spring...I will be amazed if that happens.

I agree with the water bottle rolling and especially the New Balance tennis shoes. I started wearing them exactly one year ago and have had not one flare up since!

I cannot believe your doctor didn't mention exercises! The stair stretch is very good and picking up a small towel with your toes is suppose to be good also. There are others but they are difficult to describe. I think the stair stretch is the best.

Yes, I have plantar fasciitis. It can actually be a symptom of hypothyroid, which in my case is true with Hashimoto's. When I'm more hypo, the PF seems to be more active.

Wearing correct footwear is important, but finding the right pair of shoes is exhausting and expensive I find. I've spent more on returning shoes to online ordering companies this year than ever. My latest is ordering 2 pairs of winter boots (praying they wouldn't aggravate the PF, but no luck) - I'm sending them back today.

I don't take any medications except for my desiccated thyroid hormone. I do stretches and exercise, though.

I developed PF about 6 months ago. Doctor said exercises and stretching. Somedays it was really bad so I started paying attention to the shoes I was wearing. It turned out that the 'toning' sneakers were causing it. Since I quit wearing them I have been fine.

Yes, I have plantar fasciitis. It can actually be a symptom of hypothyroid, which in my case is true with Hashimoto's. When I'm more hypo, the PF seems to be more active. Very True!!! I don't have PF, but had Achilles Tendonitis before I got on thyroid meds (Cytomel T3 is what I take).

The absolute best thing I found for this are heel cups. I bought a pair at Rite Aid, and I wear them in every pair of shoes. What a huge difference!