My plantar fasciitis is getting worse

I think this is the answer for you all! I'm a 72 yr old male and I had PF some years ago.it was very painful.I checked on a web page and tried a suggested exercise.It very quickly worked!.stand on a step with your heels overhanging the step then gently and slowly raise your body upward( standing on your toes) then slowly lower down on to your heels.your overhanging heels will go down maybe half an inch or more with the toe end of your feet slightly raised.This stretches the hamstring.But dont overdo it! If I remember correctly I was pain free within a week! remember to wear shoes when doing this exercise.also hold on to a side rail on the steps to help you keep balance.

I'm in the same boat except my PF resulted from jumping off a swing and landing my heel on a stone. I did everything suggested: REST, REST, MORE REST and stretching. Ultrasound, prescribed creams, cortisone, and then 6 weeks in a wheelchair to rest 98% of the day. Result: NO IMPROVEMENT.

If you haven't noticed, there are people on here who then have it the rest of their lives (read: years). Consider it a death sentence. You will get sedentary, fat, next to useless. If they start euthanising people us PFers will be up there. We do a poor job at work, even keeping house and buying groceries is excruciating.

Sucks. Totally sucks. And all the cheery waste of time and money from the medical therapists and the rest. Same thing with my back pain - tried EVERYTHING and it went away after 10 years. Then after 9 months of pain free existence, I got PF and my life is over again.

At age 50, no pleasure in my life (physical pleasure) and all pain. The worst of all existences in an Epicurean yardstick. Death is better than this (to those many people who say "it could be worse" - you could be dead, they mean. Well, if life is all pain, no pleasure, what is the point? You can't even be one of those smarmy Christian role models who believes in "redemptive suffering" because NO ONE WILL SEE your sorry ass sitting at home or a desk. You are a cipher, nothing, get used to it.

LSD and other mood altering drugs might help. They are cracking down on opiates (legal ones) and they don't help much anyway. Not with PF.

Yasmina,

My doctor now says that after 5 months of useless exercise and rest, I can walk for TEN MINUTES. What the hell can a person do in 10 minutes? says I can stop using wheelchair - just do everything in ten minute increments and then wait an hour to rest. WTF? Literally, I could do nothing. Getting through an airport even - im;possible.

So, did you ever take long walks and runs again? I doubt it but be glad to hear you did. My boss is a woman your age and she got it in both feet. About 10 years now. She gave up everything except sitting at her desk.

Your answer is here.stand on a steps with your heels protruding beyond the step you are standing on.hold the side rail(s)gently rise up keeping your body straight.then gently lower your weightslightly beyond the level of the step so the your heels are tilting down and your toes slightly raised above the level of the step.you MUST do this exercise whilst wearing shoes(not high heel shoes if you are a woman.I'm a 72 yr old male.The vascitis left very quickly and has not returned.that was about 15yrs ago.Remember you must be facing uphill on the steps during this exercise.Let me know your progress.

Dear jjb2013b,

I know exactly how you feel, I know the pain, I know the feeling of helplessness, vulnerability, being unable to do anything except lay down or sit. I've been through it all. Last time I was in the airport I was in a wheelchair. I was traveling alone and I had a panic attack that something will go wrong, nobody will help me etc.

I've had sleepless nights because of the horrible pain, I have crawled to the bathroom because I could not stand up. It`s something I never want to experience again and don`t wish on anybody.

Having said all this, I did recover. I am able to lead a fairly normal life again, I go for my long walks and as soon as the snow goes I will start running again. Probably 10 minutes at first and then see how it goes.

I didn't use any strong medication, except Ibuprofen for 10 days when the pain was at its worst. I didn't do many exercises either except stretching my calves 3 times per day no more than 30 sec each time. I was also rolling tennis balls under my feet.

I did see a healer 3 times. I saw a good improvement within a week of the first visit. I could walk and stay on my feet for 30-60min at a time and the pain was almost gone. I also tried to stay positive and believe in my recovery. Our mind is a very powerful weapon. I do believe in the mind before matter universe, I guess it made things easier for me. I read everything I could find about metaphysical causes of the illnesses and perused the whole esoteric books shelf in my local library. I took my time, I let myself rest and do nothing. I know I am lucky because I was not too stretched financially and could afford not to work and just rest.

In summer I tried to walk barefoot as much as I could. Although we are civilized now in the 21st century and live in big cities, we are still natural beings and need to be in touch with nature.

This condition is very tricky. Everybody experiences it differently and the treatment also has to be different for each person. The only thing I can say is to listen to your body, be kind and gentle to it. It`s your best friend in this life. It has served you well throughout the years and taken lots of abuse and ill-handling. Now it`s time to take care of it, to pamper it.

To all of you who reads this, I wish a speedy recovery and peace of mind.

Yasmiina,m

Thank you for your inspiring story. How true that every story I hear is different. There are about 20 different outcomes and types of PF cases. Your's is the first where I heard of "faith" healing (or magic or whatever)!

My faith in such things is weak because it failed in the past. (I've tried). Most people I know who succeed with this mind over matter faith in supra-natural healing are women who have time to not only rest but meditate, read books on healing, etc. so that they BELIEVE. I don't think it works it you don't believe and it is hard to dredge up belief when I tried such in the past for different conditions and it came to naught.

Probably a gender thing. Women's brains are far more capable of so many things. Nature was designed that way. Men are the crippled Y on the universal alphabet. lol

I've read some of your posts and it seems everyone has done something different so I'm not really sure what to do about my PF at this point. I did physical therapy had a steroid injection in the left foot where it all started. I now have it in both feet. I'v tried inserts which havent really helped. I find myself constantly strethching my calfs constantly bc they seem to hurt sometimes worse than my feet..weird. I sit for my job and sitting long periods seems to make eberything tighten up but then i cant stand for that long at all without both feet hurting n the pain radiating up my legs I just recently got night splints wore thema few times but i still wake up with both calfs n feet really tight n they just need stretched. this is horrible and any feedback would be much appreciated.

The Strassburg sock worked for me.

Hi all, I've just read thru ever report you have wrote, and would like to tell you about my P/F, I had it for 4/6wks and was talking to a colleague at work, who also had P/F and we are both cured, He said he bought a power plate exercise machine [not cheap] [ this machine was made by the Russians to help the cosmonauts exercise in space or so I've been told] so after further investigation I bought one and have never looked back I've been P/F free for 4yr I now use it once a week as a full body massager

Wow where do you buy something like that ?? And I never heard of a straassburg sock but ill Have to look into it... I'm desperate !

They sell tons of different ones on amazon can you tell me which power plate machine you used

Hi, Chelsea18, The vibrating plate I use is [CONFIDENCE] bought from amazon £149.99, You can rent one for £10 a wk or mnth I can't remember which to see if like it because it is very heavy and vibrates the whole house to stop the vibs I put a piece of1/4 inch plastic between the machine and the carpet remember you have to assemble it yourself.

Ok thank u