Hoping to heal plantar fasciitus

April 27, 2013 4:49 PM

So, can you recommend a good night splint? I have one that I bought over the counter at the pharmacy, but it doesn't hold my food in position for long. Thanks.
posted by partner to Health & Fitness (8 answers total)

I never used a splint for my PF, but I essentially "cured" it by switching to better shoes and rolling my foot every night on a bottle of ice water. It fixed my PF within a week.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 5:07 PM on April 27, 2013

The Strassburg sock doesn't look like much, but I found it was the only night splint/stretching solution I could actually fall asleep in. That said, I think daily stretching for over an hour of each calf and submersing my feet in ice water every day is what ultimately cured my PF. Good luck, PF is miserable but there are a ton of non-invasive treatments out there and a good chance that one will work for you.
posted by vanderschmoot at 5:18 PM on April 27, 2013

My dad had plantar fasciitus and his doctor gave him a foot rolley thing. It was basically a hard piece of plastic with a curved bottom so he could roll his foot back and forth. He also took this wacky foot pilates class.
posted by chainsofreedom at 5:30 PM on April 27, 2013

I could never find one that worked. What helped me the most was what roomthreeseventeen said, plus using Superfeet in all my shoes Good luck!
posted by SyraCarol at 7:41 PM on April 27, 2013

I used a night splint like this one every night, and once I got it adjusted right, it helped me a lot with the morning pain. This other one didn't hold my foot in position at all. For me, the strassburg sock was fine for travel, and if the rigid frame one had interfered with my sleep I'd have used the sock instead. By the way, the instructions for the rigid frame splint say it's not for walking, but I did keep it on to walk to the bathroom and back and it was fine.

Foot rollers did make my foot feel better -- I had a nubby one, a ridged one, and the ole frozen water bottle.

In the beginning, I took plenty of ibuprofen... 3 of the OTC ones, 3 times a day. When seated, I kept my foot moving so I didn't have a lot of pain once I stood up.

Taping my foot made a huge difference for me. I know compression is a treatment for inflammation, but the benefit went way beyond what I expected. I found videos on YouTube and tried different methods. I used Johnson's Coach Tape which adhered well and didn't require scissors. Taping my arch helped as well, but I don't know why. I continued doing that even after I didn't need the full-foot taping anymore.

If you wear a pad, use one for the other foot as well. I got some hip pain after wearing one pad for about a week.

Very important: change your normal gait as little as possible. I shortened my stride and didn't "follow through" with normal bending of the food and toes, and very quickly got an achilles problem, adding more pain.
posted by wryly at 8:11 PM on April 27, 2013

I used a night splint but never felt it made a difference and stopped wearing it. Fortunately mine just came from the podiatrist so I gave it back and that was it, but it means I have no idea what brand it was.

For me, what fixed the plantar fasciitis: custom-made orthotics (not over-the-counter ones from the pharmacy), good shoes, and stretching the feet every morning before getting out of bed. The way you do this: sit on the edge of the bed with foot on opposite knee. Gently pull the toes back so you are stretching the fascia on the bottom of the foot. Hold the stretch for at least 30 seconds. If you have it in both feet, stretch the other foot. Ideally repeat (but this may depend how much water you drank the night before). The theory is that stretching the fascia before you put any weight on it will avoid some of the damage and pain and set you up better for the rest of the day's activity. It won't work overnight, but will gradually help. And the nice thing is that it's free and there's no way it can mess anything up.
posted by Athanassiel at 12:33 AM on April 28, 2013

What made a big difference for me was: (1) using Superfeet Orthotics in my shoes, like others (2) stretching the feet in various ways before getting up (as mentioned above) and also stretching the calves during the day, but (3) the ultimate cure for me was acupuncture! I went to help with my anxiety, he questioned me about where I was having pain in my body, and after about 6 treatments I was less anxious and had absolutely no heel pain.
posted by bessiemae at 11:37 AM on April 28, 2013

Response by poster: Thanks for all the info. One thing I can add is that I've recently been wrapping my foot with Vet-Wrap, and this works well and is much easier to use than athletic tape.
posted by partner at 4:13 PM on May 2, 2013