Plantar fasciitis--it's killing me!!

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I work 12 hour shifts in the PICU and now I have Plantar fasciitis and it is killing me!! I know I need new shoes desperately (any ideas? This is one thing I'm willing to invest in next week when I get my student loans), but what else can I do to get better and relieve the pain? No I'm not asking for medical advice, just your personal experiences with this common problem in nurses.

I take ibuprofen but that doesn't seem to help. How long does it take to heal based on your experience?

Specializes in Adolescent Psych, PICU.
They say a shoe with a heel helps. I bought some Danskos (they are comfy but I havent felt any relief yet) about 1 month ago to help with the pain. I put ice at night and I do stretching exercises in the morning when its really bad.

I feel your pain and I hope you find relief!

Have you found any shoe that has helped?

I've been icing and stretching and that has helped, as well as Motrin. I'm going to get some inserts to see if that will help and try to stop going barefoot and wearing flip-flops all the time.

I hope we can all find some relief!!

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One of the best ways to speed up the healing process and to avoid the morning pain is to wear a night splint. Theres a huge difference in waking up and moving around after a night of wearing one and a night without one. Conitnuous stretching through out the day and an elevated heel come in next as the best ways to speed the process.

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Specializes in behavioral health.

I tried the stretch exercises and they really work. I didn't think they would work, but they sure did. Of course, I knew the alternative was cortisone injections. So, I did my exercises faithfully, and within a few weeks the pain was gone.

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Specializes in Psych, Med/Surg, Home Health, Oncology.

I tried the stretch exercises and they really work. I didn't think they would work, but they sure did. Of course, I knew the alternative was cortisone injections. So, I did my exercises faithfully, and within a few weeks the pain was gone.

Hi

I did my exercises faithfully also; It took quite a while for mine, but, I did finally improve!!

I swear by those exercises & continue to do them.

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Specializes in Occ health, Med/surg, ER.

My heel really started hurting last night. Yesterday was the first day back to work after a week vacation. Wow. I iced my heel last night and took 440mg of aleve, with no relief. Im going to have to go to the doctor today. Im literally hobbling.

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I too suffered PF. WEnt threw multiple injections, inserts, exercise, etc. At work one day, as I ran for a chart for MD in rounds, the fascia snapped. I don't recommend that route, although the heel pian stopped, now I have other problems. See Podiatrist before this happens to you - once it snaps, there is not much more you can do but suffer in other ways you never imagined. Good luck.:welcome:

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