Suffering with severe heel pain. Anyone else in my boat? Bad pain day

[rhoda_bruce]

I have tried sleeping like that, with my toes pointing to the floor and I find it helps. I think there are several things that can hurt your feet and several things that can help. I don't know if there is one single cure. It would be nice if there was. I just haven't yet found it.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

I am backtracking, because I somehow missed your last post. I am addressing the question of the medication before or after the pain. Well you see any diagnosis that ends with 'itis' would indicated some inflamation of something or another. So, for a while, anyway, I would consider taking the motrin or something like it twice a day, regardless of pain. Expect pain and if I'm wrong.....no worries. Take the meds and do everything else. Go for it like it is a high priority for you. Feet are important body parts. You can have one bad foot and it causes you to lean toward your good foot and then now you have 2 bad feet. Medicate, soak, rub, exercise and spend a fortune on those shoes. I had lost so much money due to foot pain and I realized everytime I refused work, I could have paid for a pair of those shoes. They were a huge blessing to me. Fortunately my bills were low enough that I could accept an easier job. I have a do nothing job now. So I can read, crochet and sew at work......for myself. I love it. Nursing always hurt my feet. Before the heels got as bad as they did.

 

[consdrs]

Quote:
Recap.
stretch your calf muscles and stretch your foot!
apply ice several times a day. (I used to strap it on my heal with an ace bandage and just walk like that until it was not ice any more.)
get REAL GOOD SHOES WITH MAJOR ARCH SUPPORT this the main thing.
did I mention good arch support? not flimsy stuff, rigid arch support.
Do not EVER not EVER walk around with out proper arch support even if it is to the bathroom in the middle of the night. NEVER.
take ibuprofen
roll a tennis ball under your heal while applying pressure, I know, but it helps. it will hurt at first but it will help.
it sounds like most if not all your knee, back, hip problem all stem from your feet.

 

[Germaine_11.20]

One more thing that I forgot to mention but it really doesn't pertain to the planters fascitis. The one tool that I love the very most is my foam roller.
You can buy them online for about thirty dollars and they last a long time. You can "roll" out your muscles and it is so very very good for them. No stretch can compare to ten minutes on the roller.

It does hurt at first, but you just need to go easier on the muscles. It is something you can use every day and on most parts of the body. It is almost like getting a massage. Drink lots of water afterwards as it not only relaxes the muscles and releases the myofacial tissues but it breaks down the toxin pockets that our bodies store. If you don't drink lots of water then you can actually get sick from all the release of the toxins. (I found that out the hard way)
Be careful that you don't overly strain other muscles when using it and dont go up too high on your back or too low. But you can use it for legs, buttocks, back and just about anything you can manouver.
It is used by many and most personal trainers.
I had Sciatica so bad that I was always at the Chiropractor. After finding and using this I have never had to go back for that again. My friends have the same results. However I am sure it doesn't work for everyone. The I-T bands that run down the sides of your legs get tight and for some reason cause Sciatica in alot of people. Roll them out a couple times a day and you will be amazed at how the pain goes away. My pain used to literally bring me to my knees.
I buy the three foot, six inch diameter roller. I always buy extra as I end up giving them away to people who try it and don't want to give it back. Most Gym suppliers have them but you can find them online too.
Again, it hurts at first. The woman trainer who told me about these told me that if it hurts it means that I need to roll. When it stops hurting then you can just maintain. She was right.

 

[chicken_china_mom]

Quote:
What kind of foam roller are you talking about? Cause when you say it, I think paint roller, lol. And how exactly do you use it? Just rolling the foot across it?
I tried those Walk Fit hard arch support shoe inserts they advertised a few years back but I literally couldn't stand in them, they hurt so bad. So I took them back. But I take it Dr. Scholl's just isn't cutting it? I did have some firm ones in my old shoes by Scholl's, and they did really help. But my stupid dog pulled one out and ate one, and I didn't buy a new pair when I got my new shoes.
I paid attention last night for the first time, to how I sleep, and I think that how I sleep really affects the pain in my heels. When I was younger, before I took that nasty fall in 2003 and nearly broke my back, I was a stomach sleeper. I ALWAYS slept on my stomach, but after that fall I was so uncomfortable when I slept because various body parts would fall asleep and leave me with terrible tingling in one limb or another. 2 years ago I had to change my mattress. I went to WalMart's version of a Tempurpedic, and I LOVE this mattress. I have my old 2 inch foam topper on top of it so I have 10 inches of foam under me instead of 8. I still need to replace my pillows frequently though, and I need to find a good, comfortable, memory foam pillow. But I wanted to say that I now sleep primarily on my side, but with my hips more flat underneath me, so I'm usually only partially on my stomach, from about the waist down, and I noticed that my feet do stretch out behind me and the ligament shortens. I tried to keep my feet more bent last night, and I felt the stretching and some burning, but I don't know how effective that was after I fell asleep, lol. I sleep on my back a lot too, mostly because my old kitty wants to sleep on my belly at night, and I don't have the heart to kick her off, but it's not a position that I find that comfortable, mostly because of my pillows. I tend to wake up a half dozen times during the night to shift my weight or roll over, but that's down a lot from when I slept on my old inner spring mattress. I was in much more pain with that bed! I'm going to try tonight to sleep on my back and see how my heels feel in the morning. Who'd have thought the way you sleep could affect your feet?

 

[chicken_china_mom]

I found a website for a product that I think I am going to buy, after I see if I have enough money for it. I am buying some Crocs, and I'm going to see how they feel. But I thought I would share the website. I need to research the fabric being used, because if it's latex, I might need to put something as a barrier between it and my skin (glad my allergy isn't a fatal one!), to protect my skin. Here is the website:

http://www.footsmart.com/P-Plantar-FXT-30055.aspx

They sell a lot of products to help with various foot problems.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

I bought a foot and leg massager on amazon for 211.00 shipping included. It is wonderful. I spoil myself rotten. It can vibrate, massage or both. Sometimes the massaging is too much, but I have gotten used to it. It was money well spent. I used to bring it with me to work when I was on weekend special and I would get on it while I did my charting. It made nursing bareable. My co-workers took turns using it when I was passing meds. They used to tell me that I should put a vending contraption on it to make money.

 

[Germaine_11.20]

Paint roller? Well, I guess you might think that! Performbetter.com is a great site. Type in Foam Roller and it will bring up the pictures.

It is about three feet long and six inches in diameter. You roll your body on it. Different parts, but that one is not for your foot. It is for muscles. When muscles are tight they sometimes cause other parts of your body to hurt. All I can say is I love mine and would never be without one again.