plantar fasciitis (Bone Spurs) in my heels.

I thought plantar fasciitis and bone spurs were two different things, so take what I am about to say with a grain of salt.

My aunt, who is VERY thin, was an OB nurse and on her feet all the time. She had plantar fasciitis and suffered terribly and finally had to quit that job and became a doula, which had her on her feet a lot less. She does wear orthotics and that helps her some, but not fully. And I know if there were surgery to help her, she would have had it.

Were this me, I would see a good podiatrist STAT!

thank you for the advice and comment :) i hope your aunts feet ge better

Funny, my husband was at the doctor for this just yesterday. He came home with night splints, had ordered custom orthotics, and went out and bought new shoes. He is very thin and always has been so his for sure wasn't a weigth issue. In fact, PF is common in runners, many who are very fit.

I myself have dealt with planter fasciitis for years, pre and post op. I did not have heel spurs though. I have custom orthotics that help a ton. But was also made a huge difference for me was physical therapy. They did a treatment called Astym. I still am very careful with what shoes I wear but I can sneak in occasions of cute shoes once in awhile after years of not being able to wear them.

Good luck. Sore feet suck! Sounds like many of us have felt your pain, literally!

Amy

yes they do! i wish i didnt have sore feet

I had severe plantar faciitus with my right heel.  Oh, I feel your pain.  I went to a podiatrist who started me out with custom orthotics and a custom night splint.  Wore them for quite awhile and they did not help at all.  Then he gave me a steroid shot (can you say ouch) which helped for about 6 months. The pain came back.  During all this I was told to stretch my calf periodically during the day by leaning against the wall and keeping my calf straight and leaning towards the wall to stretch it out.  Also, to never walk around barefoot or in flip flops, and only wear good runners (which I spent $200 on).  After the second steroid shot when the pain came back, the doctor outright told me my foot problems were due to my weight.  I sure didn't want to hear this as I then felt hopeless and thought I was going to have to deal with this pain for the rest of my life.  It really became quite debilitating for me.  The last thing he got me to try was an airboot.  Like a plastic cast, but removable with velcro straps.  He said by wearing this boot for 4-6 months I would be removing all the weight from that heel and it would give it a chance to heal without putting pressure on it.  So I wore it for 6 months and the pain reduced by about 70%.  Shortly afterwards I had my RNY surgery and now my foot is completely healed and I am pain free.  I believe that by losing weight, the pain did not reoccur after being semi healed by the wearing the airboot.  Thank God!  My x-rays showed a small bone spur but not to the extent of needing surgery.  In fact surgery was never mentioned to me once.  Good luck to you.  I hope you can get your pain under control.  It really can be brutal.

thank you for your response :)  im glad that losing weight helped!  and ill ask about the airboot.

I had antar fasciitis while heavy and invested in zcoil shoes. They are fabulous!!!! I have been pai free for two years. Now after loosing weight and upping my exercise I'm still pain free. Sometimes zcoils will be covered by insurance.

thank you for your response, would i have to get a referral for them through a doctor?

I have had heel spurs for many years (15+). When I was diagnosed I had professional orthotics made (rigid to provide support for the arch of the foot)Very expensive, but they were molded to my feet and made a huge difference. As long as I wore them I was good.
Just had surgery last August and am down 80+ #'s and I have noticed as the weight came off I have been able to go barefoot more often with less and less pain. Currently I rarely have any discomfort at all!
I still wear my orthotics (the ones made 15 years ago, which were resurfaced once about 6 years ago!) Put them in my sneakers for walking/running.
I also routinely stretch my calves and feet too.

wow! way to go on the weightloss! and i am really glad that it helped! i will look into the molding inserts. do you have to buy them from podiatrist or can i find them on amazon?