PF & Benefits

Hi

I don't think you would be able to claim but you need to ring the appropriate department to ask.

My pf has returned also after not having for a while and like you it is excruciating .

I was due to go yesterday for a birthday present shoulder and neck massage. Any how I spoke to the consultant when I got there and she suggested having my feet massaged, as she noticed I didn't look too good

I gave it a try and she said she could feel all the tension in my feet. Didn't think it would help but today they have been much better. Give it a try to see if it might give you some relief.

The other thing I find helps is the taping under the feet. have you seen it. Look on U tube and it shows you how, It acts like a light splint support.

It is such a strange pain illness as it affects people so differently but I have other pain but none that affects me as badly as pf.

my daughter was off work for 7 months with P/F she was in agony no treatment worked only rest and painkillers. do find out if you can claim any benefits before quitting your job.

my daughter tried everything from steroid injections to physio mri scan and eventually it cleared up.

Why don't you just give a try to a simple remedy that worked for me? Pop a small bottle of water into your freezer. Roll it under your feet while watching TV. Do a few times a day. Taper it down as the pain reduces.

God Bless

I don't have an answer for you sadly. But I feel your pain. I work 12 hr shifts in a hospital. I come home crying from the pain. I use tape, arch bands, inserts, and 2 layers of padding to get through the shift. Use the pokey ball and ice packs when I can. Come home to the slant board and more ice. The frozen water bottle helped early on. 4 shots in my right foot, 1 in left. Have an appt on the 25th to talk surgery with my podiatrist. I'm not retirement age yet, but I cant continue doing my job, physically, much longer. Gotta figure out something sedentary I can do for a living. And I'm sure it'll be a huge pay cut. But I need health insurance. Good luck to you.

Hi Kat,

I found that cushioning the heel with gel heel pads and doing stretching exercises drove the problem away after a few weeks and I still wear the heel pads in all my shoes which are mainly trainers or walking boots.

A warm footbath before doing the stretching exercises also helps as it softens the tissue.

I found cold footbaths just numbed the pain but it did give tempary relief.

I also find pf inserts in the shoe that spread the load over the whole foot rather than all on the heel and ball of the foot and also stretch the pf tissue while you walk are worth a try.

I was walking the dog last week and I felt the pain in the heel again so started the exercises again and its went away thank goodness.

There are many forms of pf and causes but it is often due to the calf muscles tightening due to age or lack of exercise. If the cause was injury then rest is the only real answer and massge the sole with antiinflamatry cream which soaks into the tissue to reduce inflamation which works better than pain killers as there is little blood flow in the pf tissue so painkillers cannot get to the source of the pain.

Short of getting a script for physical therapy, here's what I would do. First, buy a slant board from Amazon. They're about $50.00. Stretching exercises work. Stretch the plantar fascia until you can't stand the pain. Do it over and over and over. Second, with your shoes off, take the end of a dog leash that you hold with your hand (not the end with the metal clip that hooks to the dog collar), wrap it around the top part of your foot just below the toes and, while seated, extend your leg and pull back on the leash so it flexes the ankle and stretches the plantar fascia. You absolutely have to keep stretching the plantar fascia on the bad foot. If both feet are problematic do it with both feet. Keep doing the stretching exercises for at least 30 minutes three times a day if not more. The slant board helps a lot.

HI I suffered like you for six months, I couldn't walk anywhere without pain, nights were terrible too, sometimes I had to hop around on crutches, I love this site and in desperation tried just about all of the remedies offered by other sufferers, most gave me some relief , but the one remedy that gave me my mobility back was the proper support from shoes, I scoured the internet searching for shoes that advertised help for PF, after several purchases I finally found Burkenstocks, I can wear the sandals with the crossover bit on the big toe; (mayari,) like you I am no spring chicken, but these shoes work for me, as I wore a pair of my old shoes recently, and the pain in my feet came back after a few hours.

start searching, and good luck, I live in dread of ever being in that much pain in my feet again. cheers carol