My feet hurt, please help

July 17, 2018 11:08 AM

I have weak arches, and the soles of my feet hurt. It feels like they are getting stretched on the inside, which I think is classic plantar fasciitis. I'm underweight and not a runner, but I do walk a fair bit and my shoe heels wear out on the outside edges first. I've tried a few different orthotic inserts in my hiking boots; our local running store sold me walking sneakers and inserts; and an acquaintance suggested the X-brace, which I haven't tried yet. What say you, Metafilter? What should I try for foot pain?

Bonus difficulty: I'm busy enough that I have a hard time getting to a medical professional if it isn't an emergency. "See a podiatrist" is good advice, but are there other things to try first?

posted by RedOrGreen to Health & Fitness (28 answers total)

Is it worse if you haven't been walking for a bit, like first thing in the morning, or after you've been sitting for a long stretch? That's one of the classic signs of plantar fasciitis, so if you're experiencing that it seems like a pretty solid place to start. If that's the case, gentle stretching (lots of p.f. stretches online if you search a bit) and icing can help quite a bit. A night splint can help by keeping your foot in a good position while you sleep. There are softer and harder ones, and while the hard ones are a pain in the ass to sleep in, they were the only ones that did me any real good. Self-massage by rolling your foot around on a ball can be great; at one point my desk drawer at work was a riot of golf balls, lacrosse balls, tennis balls, bouncy balls, etc for various levels of intensity.

If it's p.f., it's not going to get dramatically better or worse right away, most likely. It's not a "get thee to a podiatrist immediately" situation. Spend a few weeks in your new inserts, doing regular stretching/icing/self-massage, and see where it gets you. Wear supportive shoes basically always, possibly even in the house if you can bear to.
posted by Stacey at 11:18 AM on July 17, 2018 [2 favorites]

Yoga helped me tremendously with plantar fasciitis. I go for a while, it clears up really quickly, then I stop going, and it comes back after a few months or so. Then I start again. I read about some of the medical treatments available and yoga is easier and cheaper.
posted by Vatnesine at 11:31 AM on July 17, 2018 [3 favorites]

Best answer: I have had had plantar fasciitis from time to time, and I find that the appropriate stretching exercises, performed regularly, make it go away.
posted by ubiquity at 11:33 AM on July 17, 2018 [3 favorites]

Watch it with the inserts - I managed to hobble myself for a year after a few days with a pair of rigid plantar fasciitis inserts that the salesman insisted would only hurt for a few days. Unintuitively, rigid soles are better than sneakers, as long as the shoes have enough room for your arches and toes. It's the right weather for Birkenstocks - if they fit your feet, the molded rigid support should be a relief, and they make great house slippers for the summer.

In my case (severe) it took custom molded orthotic inserts and about a year until I could wear sneakers again. Nearly a decade later I still wear the orthotics with thin-soled shoes.
posted by I claim sanctuary at 11:33 AM on July 17, 2018 [1 favorite]

Agreed on the stretching--I had a tenacious case of this years ago, that I eventually chased off just through stretches and anti-inflammatories (ibuprofen), and it's never come back since. Along with stretching the plantar fascia themselves, don't forget to stretch the calf muscles and also (crucial for me) the Achilles tendons.
posted by theatro at 11:45 AM on July 17, 2018 [3 favorites]

I have this and have custom orthotics my podiatrist built. I also wear New Balance sneakers 90% of the time, make sure you get sneakers with a "roll bar" for extra stability. I second the use of a night brace, stretches, and tylenol. If it gets really bad, make time for the podiatrist. The only thing that helped me initially was a steroid injection.
posted by mareliz at 11:56 AM on July 17, 2018 [2 favorites]

Stretching exercises where what finally cured it for me, that and a ball to roll under the arch of my foot. I do the exercises even now the pain has stopped to try to be sure it never comes back.
posted by wwax at 12:06 PM on July 17, 2018 [3 favorites]

Superfeet Green worked for me, and a handful of other people I know.
posted by booooooze at 12:13 PM on July 17, 2018 [1 favorite]

I used to get a pain behind the ball on my feet and in the arch until I discovered that the shoes I was buying were too narrow.
posted by tman99 at 12:14 PM on July 17, 2018 [1 favorite]

Foot wakers really helped my PF. If it gets really bad, sleep in a rigid boot brace for a few weeks (it sucks at first but you get used to it.)
posted by egeanin at 12:21 PM on July 17, 2018 [1 favorite]

Yeah, what tman99 said. The ball of my feet would start hurting after walking a mile or even just standing in my sneakers for an hour. I have weak arches too. Went to a foot doctor who prescribed overpriced orthotics that didn't help. Even though my feet are not wide I finally figured out I need wide sneakers with good arches. Maybe my feet spread out a bit after I'm on them a while? I've never had plantar fasciitis.
posted by mareli at 12:41 PM on July 17, 2018 [1 favorite]

icing and ibuprofen.

The few times I've had it it's been down to particular shoes. Once I got rid of the culprits it cleared up quickly
posted by scruss at 1:05 PM on July 17, 2018 [2 favorites]

Best answer: In addition to stretching and rolling in a hard ball (which can be extremely painful, but is worth it ime), strengthening exercises might also help. Here's one (there are a lot if you google).
posted by trig at 1:26 PM on July 17, 2018 [1 favorite]

Had plantar fasciitis bad a couple of years ago. Wearing Danskos worked. So did losing weight (that
helped the most). Nothing else helped, none of the rolling, icing, sleep braces, etc. I got heartily tired of wearing Danskos.
posted by Peach at 2:15 PM on July 17, 2018 [1 favorite]

A plantar fasciitis boot helped me a lot. It took some getting used to, wearing it in bed all night, but it almost completely prevented the morning pain. Also, when I had to sit during the day I gently bent my ankle up and down to avoid having pain when it came time to walk around.
posted by wryly at 2:21 PM on July 17, 2018 [2 favorites]

It is also commonly suggested to freeze a bottle of water and roll your foot over it to ice the area. Like NSAID's, this can help with any associated swelling/pain.
posted by k8oglyph at 2:54 PM on July 17, 2018 [2 favorites]

Nthing stretches, especially in the morning before getting out of bed. The best one for me is to lay on my stomach and keep my toes flat on the bed with my heels to the ceiling, stretching the arches out. Rolling over a water bottle is also helpful if they are swollen, as k8oglygh said. A pair of shoes turned out to be a trigger so I got rid of them-getting rid of shoes before they become too worn out helps. None of the insoles I tried helped including Superfeet, but ymmv!
posted by DTMFA at 3:28 PM on July 17, 2018 [1 favorite]

Stretching, Spenco inserts (and flip flops), and no longer walking barefoot around my house all helped.
posted by TwoStride at 4:58 PM on July 17, 2018 [1 favorite]

I was suffering from plantar fasciitis during the summer and fall. When winter came, I stuck my feet into my ski boots and, I know this seems insane, but it cured it. That plantar fasciitis boot that wryly has suggested might do the same trick - the ski boot holds your foot in an aggressive angle that the boot seems to mimic.
posted by Foam Pants at 5:02 PM on July 17, 2018 [1 favorite]

The superfeet green insert made all the difference in the world for me, but YMMV. Running shoes + superfeet insert is my foot apparel of choice, whether or not I'm exercising. My Birkenstock sandals aren't quite as good, but they're still comfy enough that I can walk in them without much pain for long periods of time.
posted by litera scripta manet at 6:32 PM on July 17, 2018 [1 favorite]

I agree about the Superfeet Green inserts, but they are merely a shadow of what custom orthotics will do. My original pair of orthotics finally wore out, but I misplaced the molds until we moved last month. I will be taking them to the podiatrist to have new orthotics made, because the PF is coming back and the Superfeet are barely holding it off.

Superfeet are great, by the way. Not especially what you need, but great inserts and worth every penny when they help.
posted by lhauser at 8:01 PM on July 17, 2018 [1 favorite]

I cured my plantar fasciitis by switching to expensive shoes. It’s annoying, but now I can only wear Vionics and running shoes, anything else brings it back. No more stupid night brace!
posted by bq at 8:26 PM on July 17, 2018 [1 favorite]

Tape your feet! There's a method of arch support taping for plantar fasciitis that is like heaven for your feet. It pretty much works by putting overlapping strips of athletic tape under your arch and anchoring them with tape running around the back of your heel and edges of your foot. I had problems with arch pain when i was marathon training and also putting in 10+ hour days in kitchens on my feet. I never found an insert that worked for both my kitchen and running shoes, and finally stumbled upon arch support taping in a book called Runner's Repair Manual. I eventually got in to a podiatrist who ended up taping my feet the same way i had been doing. Taping worked for me because even without shoes on, i still had the arch support and It didn't change the way my shoes fit. Athletic tape is cheap and once i got the system down, i could have both feet taped in about 5 minutes. It's pretty easy to figure out and you can tell if the tape is too tight or loose as soon as you put weight on it.
posted by August Fury at 8:52 AM on July 18, 2018 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: > Tape your feet! There's a method of arch support taping for plantar fasciitis that is like heaven for your feet. It pretty much works by putting overlapping strips of athletic tape under your arch and anchoring them with tape running around the back of your heel and edges of your foot.

So this doing what the X-brace (as recommended to me) is supposed to do?

Thank you to all for the fantastic suggestions and advice so far - I already know that a few kinds of inserts (Superfeet, Dr. Scholl's Arch Support, ...) don't work for me, but I'm starting with the stretches and exercises, as well as the ball rolling.
posted by RedOrGreen at 9:15 AM on July 18, 2018

I have never used the x brace, but it looks like it would accomplish a similar purpose. Personally, i would spend $5 on tape to see if it helps before i would drop $60-$80 for the x braces. When i started taping my feet, it was an almost immediate improvement, so you should be able to figure out fairly quickly if supporting your feet that way will work for you.
posted by August Fury at 11:11 AM on July 18, 2018 [1 favorite]

Best answer: The bones of your foot function quite a bit like the stones in the arch of a bridge, but in order not to be dependent on something to push against the way a stone bridge pushes against the land masses at both ends, your foot has a tensioning cable instead: the plantar fascia.

And if the arch begins to flatten a little for some reason, that will produce greater tension in the cable, and potentially lead to plantar fasciitis.

Overweight can cause this, but you are underweight. However, suboptimal mineralization of the bones can cause it too, and as a person of Indian descent who might not get outside enough to allow the production of vitamin D through direct exposure of skin to sunlight to reach requisite levels, you are more likely to need supplements to keep your bones fully mineralized.

It would be ideal to have a blood test for vit. D levels, but if that's not feasible, I think you should add supplements to any mechanical approach to a solution.
posted by jamjam at 12:56 PM on July 18, 2018 [1 favorite]

And for a little clinical backup:

GPs can do very positive things for some patients with aches and pains as many such patients are Vitamin D deficient. Vitamin D deficiency commonly presents with widespread aches, weakness, and tiredness, and can also present with focal symptoms. If a patient has several musculoskeletal diagnoses over time (for example plantar fasciitis, hip pain, back pain, and knee pain) then Vitamin D deficiency should be suspected. Deficiency can be confirmed ...

Note that the initial doses she recommends (after a blood test showing deficiency) are much higher than the RDA, and also higher than the amounts recommended by OTC supplements.
posted by jamjam at 8:18 PM on July 18, 2018 [1 favorite]

I was having similar issues, but without the pronation (or supination? whatever direction that causes uneven shoe wear) and kept getting shin splints on top of all the sad arches. Pretty much all of my current shoes are garbage for people with high arches, and these were the likeliest culprit for me, so rather than go to a podiatrist, I went to a shoe store that specialized in high quality shoes and orthotics. They had one of those stride analyzers that helps measure how your feet touch the ground so they can help find the right shoes or insoles and helped me try out a couple of different shoes and insoles.

I left there with the most expensive shoes I've ever bought, and they are far from the cutest things I own, but I took those babies on vacation and walked 8+ miles a day and felt BLISSFUL NOTHINGNESS outside of the usual end-of-day fatigue. #worthit (They were Arcopedico shoes, if you wanted brand specifics.)
posted by helloimjennsco at 7:36 AM on July 19, 2018 [2 favorites]