does anyone have plantar faciitis (heel spur)?

DrFluffy

This is a pic of your fascia, and shows why it's so bothersome...

Edit: I just looked it up, and you *usually* have to endure 12 months of conservative treatment before surgery is considered. There is no good evidence of effectiveness, and complications include nerve injury, increased pain, fascial rupture and infection.

ayeshasi

i have the same condition and was told that if it doesnt get any better, i should go back and get the cortisone injection (was also told that it will be VERY painful). Lets hope it gets better lol...i try maassging my heels every night before bed so the pain isnt as painful when i wake up and it does work for me. Very relaxing too!

Anastasia

I have suffered from this condition for the best part of a year. I almost thought I would have to have a walking stick. I decided not to go down the cortisone injection route thinking not to aggravate it any more and to let it heal naturally with rest. I am glad I did. A friend had one injection and the pain dissapeared but three months later it came back just as bad. I don't have any pain now.

LondonDiva

To all the people thinking of having the injection, I really have to say this is one instance of trusting your physician and anything they do to try to delay you needing it. My consultant told me that when he was training, they had to practice injecting each other, so they know first hand what the pain feels like.

The injection is into muscle rather than fat and is painful as heck - I cried when they injected the anaestheic and the aneasthetic didn't take for me until 1/2 hour after I got home.

When the injection proper went in, I swear I cried so hard I nearly peed in pain.

A month later the pain came back & I'm back on insoles, stretching & ice.

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=2543175&postcount=3

DrFluffy

LondonDiva wrote:

My consultant told me that when he was training, they had to practice injecting each other, so they know first hand what the pain feels like.

I have that in two weeks time - really not looking forwrd to it

PS Corticosteroid injection is not a fix - all it does is dampen down the immune response to inflammation - it may be that it damnpens it down enough to allow the tissue to heal, or it might *just* stave off the pain for a few month... For a lot of people it won't do anything...

apprentice_tycoon

This condition sounds as if it's very common, I appreciate all the replies to my original post - it looks like I've got to grin and bear it but sometimes it's more like grimace and whinge.

I'm just grateful for the fact that there are times in the day when it doesn't hurt, like having 10 minutes with your feet up, but you know it's an absolute certainty that you'll pay for it when you stand up again!

Josie_Jump_3

apprentice_tycoon wrote:

Do these casts have any effect through the rest of the day after you've taken them off?

It does seem to be helping the pain, certainly through the morning but then the pain kicks in again once I've been on my feet a while.

Have you tried rolling a cold can of pop under your foot, that's quite soothing.

Josie_Jump_3

Thought I'd let you know that having worn my splint at night now for a couple of weeks, over the last couple of days I have seen a real improvement in the pain and today I've been able to walk around practically pain free. I'm so chuffed I thought I'd let you know in case you're thinking of investing in one of these.

Just in case you're interested in what it looks like etc, here's what I bought:
http://www.return2fitness.co.uk/foot_care/plantar_fasciitis_splint/plantar-fasciitis-splint

apprentice_tycoon

My foot is still sore, probably a little worse now that when I started the thread, my 'treatments' such as they are are using an insole from Scholl, calf stretches and rolling my foot over a chilled tin of baked beans when I can.

I've located a night splint on ebay but I'm not sure if it will keep me awake so I'm holding back on this for a while yet.

Today I had a re-read of the link that I put in the first post, there is a long article in the website and one of the treatment suggested was to tape the sole of the foot, has anyone tried this?

DrFluffy

All I'll say about night splints is that they are better if custom made, and non-custom made ones might make issues worse (in the same vein as you would never buy shoes 2 sizes too small).

What are these splints like? Are they the kind you imerse in hot water to mould to your foot? If so, this isn't as bad

If money isn't as much of an issue, I would go and see a chiropodist/occupational therapist/your gp for a referal and get a splint made for you...