plantar fasciitis ouch!

Nurses General Nursing

Published

So Ive developed this lovely condition in my heels in both feet and my left foots arch is just killing me. Ive already said good bye to my nursing shoes and will be switching to a running shoe from now on during shifts at school (we do 12's) Does anyone have any info on how to get rid of this asap, i have some shifts coming up and i dont know how im gonna handle running around for 12 hours with my feet killing me. Ive been doing some dorsal flexion but thats about it, helps a bit. Im so frustrated I just want to through something in my house, I cant stand the nagging ache. Any help would be a life saver! Thanks from my feet :(

I have it too, but only rarely with exercise, never going barefoot, orthotics, ice it when it hurts, and NSAIDs. A good arch in my shoes seems to work for me.

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Specializes in Maternal - Child Health.

This website has lots of good information, including a diagram of how to tape your foot.http://heelspurs.com/tape.html

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Specializes in Trauma,ER,CCU/OHU/Nsg Ed/Nsg Research.

I highly recommend the taping- it works for me. One tip to add to Heelspurs' instructions: Take an extra piece of tape and place it across the others, up around your arch if you have high arches.

I notice a definite difference after working with a taped foot, and wearing a night splint. Heelspurs.com is a great resource, and they're very good to buy from. If you don't want to buy from them, you can get athletic tape at your local drug store for about $2.50 a roll.

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I had problems with plantar fasciitis too and I bought a pair of z-coil shoes and I could tell a difference within a week. I have been wearing them for a few months now and I don't have anymore problems, I get sore all over on long days but the next morning I can get up with out wanting to crawl to the bathroom because my feet still hurt so bad. It's so nice to enjoy my days off without foot pain!

check it out:

http://www.zcoil.com/

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I have had problems with my feet since I was a teenager (and so have my mother and grandmother BTW). I have found that going barefoot is the worst thing I can do, even around the house. If I am barefoot alot one day, I am literally limping the next day. For me, my relief has been to wear Croc Flip-Flops around the house - they provide so much cushion, I love them! I have been fitted twice by podiatrists for custom made orthotics and they only made my arches ache like someone beat them with a baseball bat. I'll take my Crocs anyday (for some reason the flip-flop style seems to more cushiony than the clog style).

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sshannon, that was my routine and it worked. I'd previously had the cortisone shots. They worked but wore off in about a month. I knew if there was a fire at night, I'd be doing the right thing by crawling out, 'cause I sure couldn't walk. Now I do the calf stretching every day to keep it at bay. Oh, probably not walking miles on concrete during a 12 hour helped, too. Thank goodness it's gone!

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I dealt with this for years before realizing what it was. Here is my experience. I tried to fix it myself by using motrin and icing my heel a few times a day. I got to the point I was driving to work (an hour drive) with my heel on ice and would ice me heel at work every chance I had. I do high impact aerobics about 3 times/wk. and had to cut back to once/wk. It was just my left foot, when my right heel started to hurt too I knew it was time to see a podiatrist. This was a few months ago. He started me on Lodine TID which I can now take BID. He sent me to a local shoe store for Spenco brand inserts which you can boil and bend to make more of an arch if you need to. I wore the inserts for about 3 weeks and took the Lodine, it helped a LOT. What a relief. My left foot still ached some but not near as much as it used to. After 3 weeks I began to get a little paranoid that things weren't 100% better, I went back to the doc and got a long acting cortisone shot in my heel. It was only 1cc and took about 10 seconds to do. It stung but wasn't nearly as bad as I had anticipated. I still use the inserts and take the Lodine because I'm afraid not to. If I go too long without using the inserts I can feel it in my feet but it's not nearly as bad as it was. I still do calf and hamsting stretches frequently.

Good luck!!

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Specializes in Nursing Ed, Ob/GYN, AD, LTC, Rehab.

Wow thank you everyone for the great advice! Thats what i love about allnurses its great! Sounds like i should go to a podiatrists to get the best results. I bought some insoles with good arch support and have been stretching my feet every chance i get and staying off of them as school permits. Its slllllooowly getting better which i guess is a good sign, i just dont want to deal with this forever, sounds like i might :( Thanks everyone!

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Yes, ouch is right. I had (or continue to have) it. I also did the exercises mention above, I went to a store call "good feet" . Got shoe inserts, went to the podiatrist, who did injections into the foot , just enough that I could walk without yelling out in pain with each step. I was running at the time as well as working in an er 13 -14 hours a day. I stopped running, worked a little less for a while, wore the inserts, they told me to freeze a water bottle and when I sit down after work, roll my foot over the bottle for about a half hour. ( oh my gosh ,,,,did that ever feel good !), they also told me to avoid warm baths and to have slippers or shoes at my bed side so that when I firsrt get up I can put them on and walk with less pain .(the pain was always bad when sat down for a while then got up). It eventually got better. The podiatrist told me surgury was of little help. It would only be done if the condition continued. But, it did get better, it just took a while. Now I'm glad I didn't get surgery. But do try the inserts and the frozen water bottle. Now I'm back to running working long hours. Now my knees hurt. Oh well guess I'm just falling apart. :bugeyes:

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Go to www.zcoil.com

I bought a pair of these shoes in nursing school and my plantar fasciitis was cured...4 years later it is no longer a problem. I do notice a little discomfort on the days I'm off and walk around barefoot but never from work.

Plus, a day never goes by that my shoes do not become a topic of conversation with patients!

These shoes are TOTALLY worth it!

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Specializes in Alzheimer's, Geriatrics, Chem. Dep..

I appreciate all the feedback in this thread - I work short shifts but on a cement floor.

Many have suggested not going barefoot - that even a pair of SOCKS can help? Why is that?

Thanks guys!

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I swear by my Birkenstocks..... I hardly ever have foot pain anymore unless I don't wear the Birki's... then I am in AGONY!!!

Faye

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