Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group Plantar fasciitis

my wife Deena has this ....we think

I was under the impression that the pain from PF ran the length of the sole of the foot (as mine sometimes does)but Deena's is painful under the heel pad only.

she does some very slow moving jogging (fast walking pace) and has overdone the exercise/keep fit classes in the past, but she no longer attends these night time classes

when she is up and moving it presents no problem, it is only 1st thing in the morning and when she has been sitting for a while....say in a restaurant or at home

any good exercises you can recommend for her, rolling her foot over a cylindrical foam pad perhaps?

many thanks peeps

PS it has been snowing in the mountains and hills in the highest parts of Scotland and it's only October!

My PF was like your wife's, bottom of the heel. When it flared in a big way, I had to stop running (jogging, playing football) until it settled. I used to tightly wrap my heels in metres & metres on medical tape when I played football 5 times a week, but there came a point when I just had to limit the exercise all together because of the pain.

I don't exercise but 1-2 times a week now because of enthesitis, but unless my diet is 'untidy', I don't have any PF problems at all anymore.

I used to get horrendous shin splints as well. All gone now.

/kristine

Freeze a bottle of water and sit and roll it back and forth. Plantar Fascitis is so very painful. I am sorry she is having this problem. I went to a podiatrist who made inserts for me that helped calm it a lot. He recommended the ice bottles.

Hope she gets relief soon.

Look at heelspurs.com The message board is discontinued, but 'The Book' is a good source of information. There are good stretches and bad stretches. Easy does it--slow and steady...no bouncing. Wearing sneakers, I put the ball of my foot up on a block that's about 2-3 inches high, with heels on ground. In the kitchen, near the counters is a good place. Use the counter for balance. Gently straighten legs and lean forward just a smidge, to get a nice, easy stretch on the calves for 20-30 seconds, then relax. Do this 2-3 times a day for a few minutes, no more than 5 total. Ice the heel afterwards, if possible.

The pain in the heel is the minute little fibers of the fascia tearing away from the heel. These will make the spur that can be seen on x-rays eventually. The spur is horizontal and doesn't poke anything, though. In fact, I've had surgery on both heels for PF. One one of them, the spur was ground off, but it was left on the other heel (different surgeon), but both of them are fine. Sorry your wife is dealing with this. Getting an early start on treating it will help. Once it gets longer term, it's harder to get rid of. For me, it was the first stage of finding the PsA.....10 yrs of that got me a referral to rheumy. Lots of non-spondy people get it, though. Hugs for her.

I get the more typical PF like you get most often, but too I get the heel pain. My stepfather with crohn's gets the heel pain predominantly.

These helped him a lot:

http://www.amazon.com/Tulis-Heavy-Regula...words=heel+cups

The heel cups make other parts of my foot inflame; my feet only like to be flat.

But have her try the heel cups; my stepfather swears by them.

I found I could keep my heel pain under control by wearing rubber flip flops anytime I stand in the hard floored shower. I also stand on a rubber / foam mat when standing working in the kitchen. These things help my heels a lot from getting bad in the first place.

When bad, ice helps. The frozen water bottle or a can of tomato paste in the freezer.

Gotta be careful about stretching; don't want to tear anything.

Saltire,

It does sound like symptoms of plantar fasciitis. Here are some self massage tips which should help reduce the symptoms of pain from plantar fasciitis.

http://tao-fit.com/plantar-fasciitis

I hope this helps.
Jesse James

I saw a video examination of someone with plantar fasciitis, and the way it was checked was to press right on the sole of the foot but kind of pushing almost sideways from the instep (or toe end of the foot) towards the heel - so not right on the heel, not right on the tendons going along the instep, but pushing into the point where that tendon joined onto the bone at the base of the heel. Can't find the youtube video right now to show you better and I know my description isn't the best. But yes, I agree, sounds like plantar fasciitis.

The best thing I ever did for my PF was to do Achilles Tendon stretches. I did them several times a day, got some good orthotics and slept with my feet hanging off of the bed. I still have to wear my orthotics or else it comes back.

Oh that reminds me: when my heel pain was bad, had to sleep with a pillow under my calves, to elevate the heels off the bed, otherwise, OUCH! Kind of like Pea dangling her feet over the edge.