Exercising with Plantar Fasciitis

PennyPiggybank

Hi

I have recently been diagnosed with plantar fasciitis and this was brought on by a sudden increase in exercise.

I have around 5 stone to lose and was doing lots of walking which helped with the weightloss. Since the problem with my feet started my diet has gone out the window! But I really need to get back on track as the weightloss could help with my feet too.

Can anyone recommend any exercise I could do which would help with weightloss?

Or any tips from anyone who has suffered from this would be nice as all my doctor has recommended is take 3 ibuprofen instead of 2 and put my feet in buckets of hot and cold water!

Thanks x

Artytarty

How about swimming?maybe pilates/yoga ( not very weight loss-y, I know)

tub28

Hi
I suffered with this and know how painful it can be. Mine, I'm sure was bought on by walking to much in old worn down trainers, so check your shoes to make sure they have plenty of support with a slightly raised heel.
You can get a night splint which is susposed to help (look on Ebay), but the thing I found most helpful was rolling an ice cold bottle or can under my foot. I'm sure you have googled 'Plantar Fascitis', there is some advice online, but google 'exercising in a chair' for some sitting exercise routines.
Hope this helps. It does clear up eventually

ailuro2

I had something similar, and ended up referred to the biomechanics podiatrist at my local hospital , he informed me that walking puts about 3 to 4 times your weight onto your foot as it lands, and recommended I try cycling on a stationary bike as a good way to exercise. advised me to keep the resistance low and to work to the target heart rate for heart burning.

He also mentioned that I may have reached a threshold weight where my feet just couldn't take the extra weight I was carrying anymore and that's why I started having problems, said everyone is different.

geri1965_2

I had this as well, first in one foot then the other! Cycling is good exercise for not putting any strain on the feet as is swimming (not for me though as I can't swim!)

I also found the cold bottle rolling to be helpful and I also used heat pads at night stuck to my heel.

Savvy_Sue

I had a pedicure at the local Scholl shop, and she showed me some really really easy calf stretching exercises which have transformed my pf! I also bought some inserts for my shoes which help enormously.

jenhug

try aquarobics.

PennyPiggybank

Hi & thank you so much for your replies!

I have already thrown away a pair of worn out trainers and also the pair of shoes which I'm sure contributed to me getting this as I used to walk home from work in them every night. I recently purchased some heel insoles and some more sensible shoes which has helped.

We don't have any pop cans in at the minute so I have improvised and put a tin of beans in the fridge to cool down!

I'm afraid anything which involves a swimsuit is out at the moment as I wouldn't feel comfortable, an excellent suggestion though. Will dig out my bike this weekend as I didn't think about that! Will also try doing some yoga on my wiifit -I haven't been on it for a while but when I did I used to go on the cardio stuff and had forgotten about the yoga!

Ailuro - I'm definately sure my weight has contributed to this so have signed up to Weightwatchers Online today and have told OH that I really need to stick to my diet this time.

Thanks again for your replies x

geri1965_2

A plastic bottle is better than a can (in my experience anyway, I found it easier to manoeuvre).

Shoes wise, I found Merrell and New Balance the best by far.

Raksha

New balance shoes were great for me. Another thing I found helped a great deal was strapping the foot with adhesive medical tape - two or three lengths from just below the toes along the foot and up the back of the heel, and then several lengths of tape width wise across the long straps. Will probably need re strapping every couple of days, so a helpful assistant is good.

PennyPiggybank

I think I remember reading about strapping somewhere - I'll pop into Boots on Monday and see if I can get some of the tape from there.

Thanks again for your replies x