Plantar Fasciitis remedies?

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Yep, I self diagnosed, but every symptom I have is spot on for plantar fasciitis in my left foot. I walk a lot for exercise and need my feet to work even when I'm not walking.

I've known of some weird looking foot splint you can wear at night to stretch things out but I don't know if it's effective.

Does anyone have any first hand experience/remedies they can share?

That’s new to me that you have it in just one foot. I’ve had it for many years. The things that seem to have helped are:

-Orthotic inserts (get them from a smart, friendly doctor, not a scammer type. Not every podiatrist is great)
-Muscle building exercise. Weightlifting (leg day) and extensive cycling (where you really push yourself a couple times per week at least) made a huge difference.
-Good shoes. I stopped wearing sandals altogether for years although my doctor helped me find decent sandals for summer.
-One time they gave me an injection for Morton’s Neuroma which helped with that specific problem for a long time.

I have never done any serious exercises specifically for the foot - I’m not great at keeping those type of routines - but there are exercise plans out there with stuff like bunching up a towel with your toes, runners sotes should have them.

As a bonus, here are my notes from my doctor on what a good shoe is. Each item the shoe has counts for one point in scoring the shoe, more points are better.

1) bending at the big toe joint
2) stiffness in the shank (heel to ball)
3) 1cm heel rise
4) rigid heel cup. To prevent foot from twisting in when you walk.
5) closure (eg shoe laces) to marry the foot to the shoe. So you don't slide out of them.

The only thing that has worked for me is time. I had severe PF in the Navy from all that standing and marching. It has taken decades of time to get to the point where me feet no longer feel like I'm resting them on hot coals or an ant-hill.

Shoes, inserts, and pills didn't help. Only time.

Your experiences may be different, of course.

One suggestion I have is for you to find an object that is approximately 2" in diameter to roll your foot on. Canned food cans can work good. You apply pressure downward on the object as you roll it under your foot. This method stretches the PF

I've had this. Sorry for you, it hurts like blazes and when you rest, it hurts more afterwards which is just evil.

I no longer have it. What I did were stretching exercises - here is a good link https://www.verywellhealth.com/stretchi ... is-2549946. These are all good. They WILL hurt at first but less so as you persevere.

Also, you may be able to do without the night splint. Can you sleep comfortably on your back? If so, you can use the weight of your sheets, comforter, etc. to pull your toes up - i.e., flex them towards your shin, as the splint would do - while you're lying on your back and as you sleep. Basically an 8 hour foot stretch. This makes such a difference when you land on your heel first thing in the morning. And it's FREE!

Finally, the thing that hurts is actually the formation of adhesions in the plantar fascia. The exercises and splinting are designed to break these / prevent them from formng. If you can stand it, you can break up the adhesions in your heel by placing your heel on a flat surface and rolling it from side to side - or using that can or a tennis ball under your heel to do the same thing. This is going to be painful at first, but eventually it begins to feel therapeutic and then you know you will prevail. In my case the heel pain was the last to go, but once I started doing this routinely it was gone in a matter of days.

Good luck. You can beat this, and you can do it without shots, even.

Everyone has said it, but I will second or third insoles specifically made for plantar fasciitis, and a tennis ball is a great massage tool. Wear inserts all the time, even at home.