Kelli in TN Posted July 4, 2008 Share Posted July 4, 2008 Some of you may remember I started having some serious issues with my left heel after teaching VBS for a week, standing on concrete floors in cheapo, worn out Payless shoes. I bought some Clarks and some Rykas and some Tevos (that I have to send back because they are too tight). I have been wearing the Clarks and the Rykas all the time, even around the house and my heel has healed up nicely. But we spent the whole day walking around St. Louis. I wore my Rykas and I was fine for about 4-5 hours, but I am back at the hotel and everytime I try to stand up my left heel hurts so badly I am ready to crumple to the floor. So, do I need heat (dh suggests soaking the foot in the hot tub downstairs) or cold (I could fill the trash can with ice and wrap my foot in a towel and rest it in the ice) Hot or cold? Or neither? What could help me get a little better here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philothea Posted July 4, 2008 Share Posted July 4, 2008 I would probably elevate it with ice. If that did not do the trick, I would either repeat a few more times, or I would alternate between hot and cold treatments. I think a Mike's might help too :) Not on your foot though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sdWTMer Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 I would get those gel heel supports or something to that effect. I would also ice it rather than put heat on it! My 2 cents...sorry you having the problem! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelli in TN Posted July 5, 2008 Author Share Posted July 5, 2008 I would get those gel heel supports or something to that effect. I would also ice it rather than put heat on it! My 2 cents...sorry you having the problem! I probably will get the heel supports. But I just need something to make it possible to leaave my hotel room without hobbling!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
percytruffle Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 And, don't forget Advil. It will ease the pain and reduce the inflamation. Also, if it is a heel spur (dh has had those), try rolling your foot slowly and gently over a tennis ball to massage it. Dh said it would hurt, but it was the good kind of hurt and then it would feel a bit better. Hope your heel feels better quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brindee Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 Oh, I'm sorry!!! I agree with the hot and cold treatment. If someone could massage, pretty strong with their thumb, that could help. That's what helped mine. I hope you can get it better enough to walk out on your own!!! I was having those troubles too. Were you the one asking about inserts or shoes? In that thread someone gave the link to heel inserts. I was desparate for something to help my feet. I got those and have used them for about 3 days. My feet are doing soooo much better! I'm amazed. Try'em out and see, it could really help you! There's a lot of info. on this site! http://www.heel-that-pain.com/ I went shopping for over an hour this morning. Before these inserts I'd be hobbling around when I got home. As it is, my feet felt fine! I'm so excited!!! Sorry, I know you need the healing just to get out and home. I just highly recommend you try these! :001_smile: (I am in NO way a part of the company btw. I just saw the link on the other thread...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nakitty Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 Have you seen a doctor about that? Could be bone spurs... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie4b Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 Ice. Ice. Always ice first. Inflammation is your e-n-e-m-y. You have to defeat the inflammation. Ice, Ibuprofin, elevation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elaine Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 Some of you may remember I started having some serious issues with my left heel after teaching VBS for a week, standing on concrete floors in cheapo, worn out Payless shoes. I bought some Clarks and some Rykas and some Tevos (that I have to send back because they are too tight). I have been wearing the Clarks and the Rykas all the time, even around the house and my heel has healed up nicely. But we spent the whole day walking around St. Louis. I wore my Rykas and I was fine for about 4-5 hours, but I am back at the hotel and everytime I try to stand up my left heel hurts so badly I am ready to crumple to the floor. So, do I need heat (dh suggests soaking the foot in the hot tub downstairs) or cold (I could fill the trash can with ice and wrap my foot in a towel and rest it in the ice) Hot or cold? Or neither? What could help me get a little better here? Oh, Kelli! It sounds like plantar fasciitis and I know that pain. As uncomfortable as it is, you have you stretch. I see that you are at a hotel so the best place to stretch would be the bathtub. Go and stand on the sill of the tub with your heels hanging off and very slowly begin to let your weight down. It will stretch out the muscles in and around the area. Another good stretch is stand with your feet together and then take a big step forward with the foot that does not hurt. Keep the foot that was left behinf firmly in place and gently work your heel to the floor. Both of these stretches have worked very well for me. I got no relief from any medication, but that's me. Ice always helped. What I used to do was freeze a water bottle and roll my foot over it. This served a two-fold purpose. The ice helped with the inflammation and the bottle helped to stretch the muscles out. I am so sorry! That pain is just awful.:grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DB in NJ Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 I second this. I hope you feel better soon! Take some advil too (not Tylenol). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danestress Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 Ice (definitely) and antiflammatory medications like Advil. Stay off it, and stretch that foot. My arches have fallen and I have occasional periods of pretty serious pain. It's not really the heal, but it's related to the plantar fasciisis. My Doctor prescribed arch supports, ice, an anti-inflammatory (not Advil - something prescription) and got me splints to sleep in. They are SO not sexy, and some nights I don't wear them because they aren't comfortable. But they do really help. But for tonight? Ice. Rest. Stretch. Ice again in the morning, and keep the Advil going at regular intervals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brehon Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 Ice. Ice. Always ice first. Inflammation is your e-n-e-m-y. You have to defeat the inflammation. Ice, Ibuprofin, elevation. Sounds like a good prescription to me. The old acronym is RICE -- rest, ice, compression, elevation with iboprofen to help out with pain and swelling. Not knowing exactly what might be wrong with your heel, I don't necessarily know if compression will help or hurt. But the R-I-E portion should help at least a little. Just remember, wrap the ice pack in a towel or something and don't leave it on your heel for more than 20 minutes in an hour. You don't wish to compound the problem by freezing the tissue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkwynn Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 Oh, Kelli! It sounds like plantar fasciitis and I know that pain. As uncomfortable as it is, you have you stretch. I see that you are at a hotel so the best place to stretch would be the bathtub. Go and stand on the sill of the tub with your heels hanging off and very slowly begin to let your weight down. It will stretch out the muscles in and around the area. Another good stretch is stand with your feet together and then take a big step forward with the foot that does not hurt. Keep the foot that was left behinf firmly in place and gently work your heel to the floor. Both of these stretches have worked very well for me. I got no relief from any medication, but that's me. Ice always helped. What I used to do was freeze a water bottle and roll my foot over it. This served a two-fold purpose. The ice helped with the inflammation and the bottle helped to stretch the muscles out. I am so sorry! That pain is just awful.:grouphug: :iagree: I was going to say the same thing. I have this in BOTH feet. :( I finished PT for it not long ago, but I'm not up for surgery at this time, so I'm still in pain. The stuff Elaine talked about is exactly the kind of stuff I did in PT. Instead of a frozen water bottle, though, they injected water into a tennis ball, somehow, and froze that...seems to pinpoint the pain a little better, I guess? The doc told me to keep a tennis ball by the bed, and in the car (but not loose on the floor boards, obviously) and before my feet hit the floor, I was to roll it out on the ball. That really does help. I had my heels wrapped 2x week, too, and also wear inserts I got from Target pharmacy. They're OTC, but they help so much! My feet are flat, no arch at all. A good heel massage, electric stimulation (I called it shock therapy, lol), and laser therapy also helped very much but other than the massage and inserts, that's not stuff you can do at home (unless you have a REALLLY cool science project day, hehe.) Good luck with it. The only thing that made mine go completely away was the cortisone shots, and even those only lasted a week or so, but ahhhh. That week was nice! The shots were not so nice, but the results were. :) I've been brought to my knees a couple times, it really is an unbearable pain. I was told no more flip-flops and I live in South FL - the HUMANITY!! :p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
love2read Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 Motrin or Advil every 3-4 hours for a few days and pick up heel gels at Walmart. Try to stay off of your feet as much as you can and whenever your feet are up pull your toes toward your knees. Avoid all salt, preserved foods, etc. until several days after the pain goes away. You want to get rid of any water retention and inflamation. It sounds like plantar faciitis which I keep getting because I forget to wear good shoes sometimes too. http://www.foot.com/info/cond_plantar_fasciitis.jsp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnTheBrink Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 See what happens when you are as close as 90 miles away and yet don't mention it so we could meet? Heel pain. Seriously, I'm sorry you're in pain. Hope it feels better soon. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly IN Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 not sure...Do you have any spots there on your heel? Any pimple like spots? They would rub really bad if you are wearing a wrong type of shoe. Another area to look at would be are you flat footed or do you have a too high of an arch or just normal arch? My sil has too high of an arch. Before she had it checked her heal and her ball of her foot hurt all the time. Lastly, I would stop wearing the shoes you were wearing. As far as cold or hot, I can't help you there without knowing the cause. kwim? Hope you get to feeling better soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom to Aly Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 I would see a dr, and quick. I had a prob with my heel a couple of years ago, and a friend told me about a heel spur-it turned out I had a diff prob, but a heel spur is where a piece of bone (I think) grows on the bone, and it hurts like anything. Mine was something with the tendon, and I just had a friend who had something with the muscle--lots of things can happen there, and it can get worse and worse--if it is this bad, and not improving, I would see a dr. before you do some real damage, especially if you have spent all this money on ultra expensive shoes and it hasn't helped! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soph the vet Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 Now if you were a horse, I'd swear it was navicular disease :lol: but you're not...so :iagree: with those who talked about plantar fasciitis and/or bone spurs. Go with Elaine's recommendations. Soph Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly on the prairie Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 If it is plantar fascitis I think then you will need the arch support not the gel cups. You need your foot at the proper angle so it doesn't over pronate. If you use the gel cups for long and it is truly plantar fascitis, then you will further put your foot at the wrong angle and possibly cause more damage than good. If it is hurting this badly, you will probably need to see a podiatrist. You may need your feet taped for several weeks to force proper pronation. If you can't afford that, try a website/catalog called FootSmart. You can send imprints of your foot into them and they will make an insert that is specifically for you which is very important! It runs around a $100 as compared to $300 at the doctor. Also, Aleve is supposed to be good for lower extremity pain. I hope you get this conquered. I remember how panic ridden I was because I went from so active to nothing overnight. That reminds me...if it is plantar fascitis, it will take a long time to heal. As it was explained to me, it takes a long time for the tiny tears and inflamation to build enough to be noticeable thus reversing it takes a long time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiver0f10 Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 You want motrin to releave the pain, which I know is bad :grouphug: . When you wake up in the mornings you want to stretch your foot back and forth a few times and really losen up those muscles. I hope you can find some relief today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFSinIL Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 Here is a link ; http://heelspurs.com/_nightsplints.html I had to buy one of the $48 night splints for my worse foot - if it is indeed plantar fascitis (spelling?) it will, as others note, take a long time to heal. The night splint helps keep the foot in the correct position while you sleep - if, like many folks, you tend to point your toes down as you sleep, that aggravates the p.f. I have been wearing my night splint for over two years now - not that my p.f. still hurts, but now I am so used to it it feels 'wrong' not to have it on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin Hood Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 I want to add one more thing to what everybody else is saying, but I am not sure how medical it is. As often as you can, force yourself to stay off your feet until it heals. I know that is hard to do, but if you can do what you're doing sitting down, do try. Personal experience from myself, my sister, dd and dh ~ don't know what we had but our heels have felt bruised and healing finally came, and it came faster, when we got off of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cedarmom Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 If you can find a drug store I would buy an ace bandage amd wrap your foot. That brings down swelling, and supports your foot. Sometimes they have ace bandages made to support your foot/ ankle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle in MO Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 So, do I need heat (dh suggests soaking the foot in the hot tub downstairs) or cold (I could fill the trash can with ice and wrap my foot in a towel and rest it in the ice) Hot or cold? Or neither? What could help me get a little better here? March and April, my doctor advised me to put a heating pad on my foot several times a day. After that, I was to roll my foot, especially the heel of my foot, over a tennis ball hard---hard enough to hurt a little, but not to injure it further. I was to keep rolling my foot back and forth over this ball. Honestly, it really worked! It took time, though---time and a very good pair of tennis shoes. When I diligently exercised that foot, it was probably a few weeks before I could walk again normally. If your problem is similar to what mine was (bone spur on the heel), you might try the heating pad and the tennis ball exercise. HTH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelli in TN Posted July 5, 2008 Author Share Posted July 5, 2008 I spent last evening sitting on the sofa in my hotel room with my foot up on the coffee table. Dh took a freezer pack that we had brought for our cooler, and fortunately had put in the freezer of the room's fridge to refreeze, and tied it to my foot with a towel. Then he gave me ibuprofen and waited on me and did my bidding, like a good cabana boy!!! It was still pretty sore this morning, but now it does not hurt at all. I am glad I got good shoes, this could have been so much worse. I do believe I will purchase some inserts and/or wrap my foot before the next long walking adventure to come my way. And it WAS fun to sit on the sofa and say things like "Honey, will you get me a bottle of water?" "Honey, I need those Cheezits." "Honey, can you rub the bottom of my foot?" And walking around St. Louis in the amazing cool weather, touring the Anheiser Busch brewery and eating at that little Italian restaurant and bar were worth the pain!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle in MO Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 you were going to be in St. Louis? It would have been fun to see you there! Hope you enjoyed yourself! And the extra pampering! :) I'm sure you deserve it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelli in TN Posted July 5, 2008 Author Share Posted July 5, 2008 you were going to be in St. Louis? It would have been fun to see you there! Hope you enjoyed yourself! And the extra pampering! :) I'm sure you deserve it! I almost made the "I'm going to be in St. Louis, who wants to find out if I am real?" announcement but dh seemed less than thrilled. I think he wanted me to himself!!!:lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brindee Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 I do believe I will purchase some inserts and/or wrap my foot before the next long walking adventure to come my way.I still suggest you try those heel things from that site I mentioned. They have been miracle workers! I was holding a fussy baby for over and hour, wearing shoes with heels with the heel inserts in them today. NOTHING! My feet do not hurt! Before I got these, I would've been hobbling around for the rest of the afternoon if I'd done that! I'm soooo excited! I'm just sayin'---it's worth a try! $25 is sooo cheaper than the hundreds you could spend on other things! If it doesn't work, you're not out much....if it DOES work, you've not only saved yourself hundreds of dollars, but your feet are already better! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frogpond1 Posted July 6, 2008 Share Posted July 6, 2008 for a week or two even though they aren't very fashionable. Get a shoe on that has a lot of cushion and shock absorption. Hope you recover soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ereks mom Posted July 7, 2008 Share Posted July 7, 2008 Here is an article for you: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plantar_fasciitis, which says, in part: Plantar fasciitis, ...sometimes known as "flip-flop disease" among US podiatrists, is a painful inflammatory condition caused by excessive wear to the plantar fascia of the foot... The pain usually is felt on the underside of the heel, and is often most intense with the first steps of the day. It is commonly associated with long periods of weight bearing or sudden changes in weight bearing or activity. Obesity, weight gain, jobs that require a lot of walking on hard surfaces, shoes with little or no arch support, and inactivity are also associated with the condition. ...Many different treatments have been effective, and although it typically takes six to eighteen months to find a favorable resolution, plantar fasciitis has a generally good long-term prognosis. The mainstays of treatment are stretching the Achilles tendon and plantar fascia, resting, keeping off the foot as much as possible, discontinuing aggravating activity, cold compression therapy, contrast bath therapy, weight loss, arch support and heel lifts, and taping. Care should be taken to wear supportive and stable shoes. Patients should avoid open-back shoes, sandals, "flip-flops", and any shoes without a raised heel. To relieve pain and inflammation, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as aspirin and ibuprofen are often used but are of limited benefit. Patients should be encouraged to lessen activities which place more pressure on the balls of their feet because it increases tension in the plantar fascia. This is counter-intuitive because the pain is in the heel, and the heel is often sensitive to pressure which causes some patients to walk on the balls of their feet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.