happi duck Posted November 23, 2011 Share Posted November 23, 2011 I've been having foot pain. First my Achilles tendons and then the bottom of one heel. The only foot doctor in my insurance says I have heel spurs and will only consider a cortisone shot or oral steroids. I can tell my tendons and foot are inflamed and he refused to do anything for the swelling because he "doesn't treat symptoms". He only looked at an x-ray, never my feet. Is that normal? It doesn't seem possible that a shot or steroids are the only options to try first. The information I find online is so varied that I'm hoping to find some btdt from the hive. If you've btdt: what has helped and did you see some other type of doctor? tia (by the way it took me a while to know that tia means thanks in advance. I always thought we had several women named tia on the board!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldskool Posted November 23, 2011 Share Posted November 23, 2011 tia (by the way it took me a while to know that tia means thanks in advance. I always thought we had several women named tia on the board!) :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Twain Posted November 23, 2011 Share Posted November 23, 2011 It sounds like have plantar fasciitis. It is an inflamation of the plantar fascia along the bottom of your foot. To diagnose this, push in the center of your heel (at the bottom of your foot). It should be painful. Other symptoms are that it hurts to bear weight on your heel when you get out of bed in the morning. This is an overuse injury. You should reduce activity that is aggravating it. Some people get this if they are advancing too fast in a running program, or running/walking a lot on hard (i.e. concrete) surfaces, or spending a lot of time on their feet, especially if they have poor (uncushioned) footwear. Initial treatment is to reduce aggravating activity, use heel cups in your shoes, and do stretching exercises of your calf and acchiles tendons. If you don't have issues taking non-sterioidal antiinflamatory medication (i.e. ibuprogen or naprosyn) you can try that for a few weeks. I would do the above things before any steriod treatment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mchel210 Posted November 23, 2011 Share Posted November 23, 2011 My husband has PF and they did a physical therapy plan and gave him inserts. So far he has had a ton of relief. He froze water bottles and rolls his feet daily on them and says it is a huge relief. The dr. also said he can never walk barefoot around the house. Since he has done all this he is much better. Plus he takes anti inflammatory drugs. Nothing else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harriet Vane Posted November 23, 2011 Share Posted November 23, 2011 Get a new doctor. You can try orthotic inserts and physical therapy. I have had remarkable luck with orthotics. My sil has way worse foot pain than I do and has benefited from specific exercises and a funny method of taping her feet. A podiatrist can prescribe the orthotics. However, a really cheap alternative is to get WalkFit inserts for $20 from Target. Most of the inserts you find OTC (Dr. Scholl's and others) are soft and not effective for plantar fascitis. The WalkFit inserts are different in that they are hard plastic. I used to have prescription inserts but switched to the WalkFits because they felt the same to my foot but were far cheaper and easier to obtain. A cortizone shot is absolutely the LAST thing I would try, and then only if I were in too much pain to walk. Cortizone and steroids causes soft tissue to become thin and brittle, and therefore more prone to re-injury. It will not fix the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
East Coast Sue Posted November 23, 2011 Share Posted November 23, 2011 I have had a similar problem and I have found relief from the following: - ice & motrin - wearing a splint at night while sleeping (purchase from drugstore) - wearing shoes all the time (I found FitFlops are the BEST) Honestly, my pain had gotten so bad that I could hardly walk. It was awful. I am almost completely pain-free now, but if I take off my shoes the pain returns within a few minutes. Hope that helps. Sue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jann in TX Posted November 23, 2011 Share Posted November 23, 2011 Never go barefoot! Around the house I wear Crocs (they even have special ones at crocs.com for foot problems). I broke a 'jibit' and stopped wearing my crocs 2 weeks ago (wearing supportive shoes instead)-- and my right foot is now killing me! When I have a flare up I ice often during the day-- freeze a 2 or 3 liter bottle of water (kids LOVE it when I need to get a new bottle as soda is not a regular purchase at our house!). Wearing socks, roll the bottle around with sore foot for 15 minutes or so a few times each day-- especially right before going to bed. Other than custom orthotics, SuperFeet insoles have been a lifesaver! My podiatrist recommended them... I think they have a store locator online... Ibuprofen also gives some relief. There are stretching exercises you can do that can help some-- lots found online. If it gets bad then go to the Dr and get a shot-- if you are a sissy you might be able to talk the Dr into giving you a 'heal block' first (numbing) the shot is not fun... my last shot did not have the heal block-- I nearly bit my tongue off... but the relief was almost instant. I'm going to either fix my crocs (replacement jibit) or purchase a new pair (perhaps a lined pair for winter) this weekend. It is hard to believe that 2 weeks ago I was without pain--then I stopped wearing my crocs around the house and now I face SEVERAL weeks of pain until the inflammation goes down/away... Sorry you are going through this! There is not much the Dr can do other than the shots. A few years ago I tore my PF on my left foot-- I ended up in a cast/boot for nearly one full year (not allowed to let my foot touch the ground)...BUT I will never have PF in my left foot again! There is a surgical option--but it usually causes more damage than good... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted November 23, 2011 Share Posted November 23, 2011 I have a heal spur and tendonitis but it is not PF. That said, the doctor said the "cure" was surgery but that would be 2 months total non weight bearing and then another 2 months on crutches---well a mom that runs a hobby farm does not have 4 months to spend on crutches :-) He did say though that you can get a lot of relief from physical therapy and custom inserts. I did those and had about 90% relief. If you have insurance, a good physical therapist can be a huge help with exercises, etc. I then went to BioCorrect (they do ship) for custom orthodics and while they were $300, they have been SO worth it. IF I wear my inserts in my tennis shoes almost full time (they even helped me figure out with the physical therapist which model tennis shoe would support me the best) I am almost pain free. If on the other hand, I wear my boots or go barefoot too much, I can hardly walk. I really stiffen up and limp quite a bit. Then with my inserts and tennis shoes I can walk 4 miles at a brisk pace pain free so they really do make a huge difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happi duck Posted November 24, 2011 Author Share Posted November 24, 2011 Oh my! Thank you all so much for responding! I don't have the brain to process this all right now but it is a relief to have some btdt. I might need to head out on Black Friday for some Walkfits, shoes to wear indoors and bottles to freeze. btw, dh is sitting here saying 'wow, what a wealth of information'. (he doesn't know the hive very well...obviously!) Happy Thanksgiving! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chepyl Posted November 24, 2011 Share Posted November 24, 2011 I have PF as well. I thought I had heel spurs, but then I really noticed the pain in the morning more than the rest of the day. I purchased a good pair of tennis shoes amd wore them exclusively for 6 months, with Dr scholls inserts. The pain went away. I still have flare ups, but I go back to my shoes and ice my feet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lailasmum Posted November 24, 2011 Share Posted November 24, 2011 My mum has a heel spur. She was told that surgery was an option but it was possible for scar tissue to cause pain too. She basically deals with it with prescribed gel heel inserts that she wears in all her shoes. She never goes bare foot and wears proper shoes rather then slippers in the house. She wants a pair of summer shoes but is finding it hard to get any that will keep the insert in place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in Neverland Posted November 24, 2011 Share Posted November 24, 2011 I had PF and it was awful. I did inserts, shots, ice, you name it. Finally, a doctor here suggested "platelet rich plasma therapy". It is amazing. I am absolutely cured after living with pain for two years! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted November 24, 2011 Share Posted November 24, 2011 I would find out if it is PF or something else. The PF seems to affect the bottom of the foot more where my bone spur is on the back of my heel and affects my Achillis tendon more. treatment would be a bit differet---as well as what types of shoes might bring the best relief. I was told to buy the Brooks Dyad and they really help me but if it is PF another shoe might be better. The right shoes with the custom inserts really do make a huge huge difference here.......if I wear them. Occ. I do take 400mg of Motrin. Walking and non high impact exercise has been great. I also do water aerobics once a week when I can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happi duck Posted November 25, 2011 Author Share Posted November 25, 2011 I had PF and it was awful. I did inserts, shots, ice, you name it. Finally, a doctor here suggested "platelet rich plasma therapy". It is amazing. I am absolutely cured after living with pain for two years! Wow! This is an injection, right? Was the injection part difficult? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happi duck Posted November 25, 2011 Author Share Posted November 25, 2011 Thanks everyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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