I have had plantar fasciitis in my left foot for over three years. I have had three cortizone injections. I have discussed surgery with my sports injury doctor and he has said that it is very rare. I also expressed my concerns with having too many cortizone injections. He said that there was no limit to the number of injections I could have since it would not hurt anything.

I found that I could walk if I just started slow and increased a little every day. I do have a lot of pain while walking but I want the exercise. I also do a lot of biking since that doesn't put any pressure on the foot. Swimming is good too.

Since my post, I have been back to the ortho for my 2nd shot and this time I am in a cast up to my knee for 6 weeks. Ortho dr says this is last shot and if no significant improvement he will refer me for sx. I had shot/cast one week ago and so far pain is worse than ever. I did not hurt one second after first shot/boot. This time my heel hurts badly but I can't do stretches due to cast. Also my ankle and foot aches terribly. Maybe I am just too whiny.

I have resigned myself to sx but am willing to do this to get back to normal. I am glad you have found a way to walk through your pain and even lessen it, unfortunately those things have not worked for me. We have had to cancel our first ever family trip to disney this summer because there is not way I could walk the part for even 1/2 a day.

If anyone else reading has had the surgery I would appreciate hearing about your experience.

Hi - I came across this forum while searching for info on arthroscopic surgery for plantar fasciitis. I had surgery on my right foot three years ago after undergoing every other alternative treatment the prior year - stretching, physical therapy, shots, night splint - you name it. The doc said surgery is a last resort reserved for less than 5% who don't respond to other treatments - I should be so lucky when playing the lottery. Anyway, I had to go to the local hospital, be put under anesthesia and face many weeks of recuperation, but it worked! I had no more pain for the first time in I don't know how long. So now the demon has returned in my left foot. It has passed the point of no return and I have been researching any other option, possibly arthroscopic surgery, to lessen the recovery time. I am not looking forward to more time on crutches if at all possible but I need the pain to go away. I know it's been a few months since you posted your question but maybe you will still read this. I have also read that the surgery isn't a guaranteed fix in some cases.

I had eswt on both feet over 3 months ago for chronic pf. I am almost painfree. So please look into this before surgery.

i had bi-lateral surgury 3 years ago with absoluetely no success at all !
my doctor told me i have to live with the pain for the rest of my life...
so i took matters into my own hands.
You see the doctors just want there money they dont care about you or your problems..I know this as my best friend is a doctor and
its just a good paying job for them. ( most of them anyways)
After 4 years of taking pain killers like ultram, tylenol 3,4, vicodin,motrin, and a few other Extremely harmfull drugs to ease the pain of simply being awake. my friend recommended i try something less harmfull and maybe as effective. So i did, and to my complete surprise not only did it ease the pain, but after only 7 months i have absolutely NO MORE PAIN EVER !! I"M CURED !! FINALLY !!! My nightmare is over and so is all the effects of being in chronic pain like , depression, severe mood swings...
The problem with my found cure is that it is still illegal here in the states.
What i found to work for me wasnt surgury, orthotics, expensive goofy looking shoes like z-coils, although i tried them, my cure is marijuana.
I have never smoked pot recreationally although the side effects of the pot quickly subsided( paranoia and such) just like havn a few beers now, only its not addictive and far less harmfull to your body. Works for me and im sure it will work for others if they do a study. Pot has many mediscinol perposes and this is definately one of them try it maybe itll work for you too. But be carefull as its currently illegal although i cant see any reasons why !

Having had plantar fasciitis and heel spurs for 2 and half years now! i'm at the end of my tether! As i've said to my doctor I'm 36 not 76!
Anyone who has never had the condition, struggle to understand what a debilitating condition it is.
I've had many cortisone injections,which really helped. But as time goes on they are becoming less effective. Have also tried physiotherapy,light therapy,accuputure,gel heel pads and orthotics specially made for me to keep the arches up.
Have very recently seen orthopaedic surgeon,only to be told I may have pf and spurs for another 2-3 years! Doctor said he can't remember when he last did surgery on heel spurs it was that long ago and the few times he has ever done surgery was it never sucessfull! So painkillers anti inflamatory tablets and walking stick to help me get about. This is effecting my life,I try so hard not to let it get the better of me,but it is depressing at times!

Oh forgot to say surgeon told me that after surgery that often having to walk again,but on scar tissue is often just as painfull and that scar tissue never goes away?

Help? I'm open to suggestions,but would like to paticularly like to hear from anyone in the Aberdeen (Scotland) area!
Thanks for reading all this and good luck everyone!

Hi just ordered a pair of z-coil shoes from ebay.
These are meant to be great for P.F.
Have had P.F. for months now and got injection into foot other day but is no better do coritsone injections take a while to kick in????
Has anyone else tried these z coil shoes????

You might consider ASTYM therapy. I had terrible PF--so bad I would cry. I was told by a doc that I had to get surgery, no options. Then a physical therapist recommended ASTYM therapy--and it worked. My PF is GONE now. You can check it out online, there's a lot of info there. Good luck!

I just had PF Surgery on 3/7/08. I had been dealing with PF for over a year, cortizone shots-no relief, Physical therapy-no relief, iontophoresis-no releif. Last option was surgery. My surgery entailed his making 2 small incision one on each side of the heel one for the camera and one for making the cut. The surgery took less that 15 minutes-- preping me for the surgery took longer. Went into the Surgery Center at 11 and was out by 1:30. I am currently in a walking cast- which I have been walking around since the day of the surgery. I get the 2 stitches out tomorrow 3/13/08 and will be back in a normal shoe then. It really was not that painful and I stopped taking any pain meds 2 days after the surgery. It is a little tender when I put full weight on it(it's only been 5 days) but not nearly as bad as it hurt before surgery. I am so happy with the results I will be scheduling my left foot to be done right away.
I hope this helps.

I had PF surgery Feb.7, 2008 on my right foot. SO FAR SO BAD! I am in so much pain still, I went to the Dr. last Friday for more pain meds. and to find out why it is taking so long to heal. I guess I'm one of the percentage that is not responding to the surgery well. This is so discouraging to me, because surgery is permanent, and I guess there was always a chance the PF would heal eventually, even if it has been 19 mos. of PF.
He put me back in the post surgery boot for 3 weeks, I start therapy next week and he wants me to take a dose of steroids. My thyroid Dr. tells me the steriods make losing weight harder, and I know losing weight will help my foot problem some.
I can't wear any shoes without being in severe pain.
Please, if you are considering this surgery, you need to know it may make your problem worse.
I'm wondering if the ASTYM will help me now, I wish I had read your post before surgery.

I have been suffering and you know I do mean suffering with Plantar fasciitis for a year. About 3 weeks ago I got up and crept around waiting for the pain to go away before I attempted the flight of stairs down to the first floor and to my surprise the pain never let up. I have had constant flaring pain especially in my left foot for 3 weeks now. My question is, does that mean I have something else going on besides Plantar fasciitis?

I have Googled until my eyes are crossed and I believe it is possible instead of or maybe on top of Plantar fasciitis, I also have Lyme disease. All the symptoms including constant foot pain seems to fit. I went to my doctor yesterday and told him all I have researched and he totally ignored me and wouldn't order up a blood test to see once and or all if I have Lyme.

I can barely function and don't see spending the rest of my life incapacitated like this at the age of 52. So before I go spend more money on another doctor, I need to know if anyone else experiences day and night Plantar fasciitis. Thanks in advance. D

deathbyinches,

My husband also has been diagnosised with SEVERE PF and he too has constant pain in both feet. It keeps him from sleeping, driving and working. He has had injections, PT and orthotics. We are now looking at surgery in the near future.

Thank you jm24b,

I have had problems with my feet since I was a little kid, so I shouldn't be surprised, now that I'm older that feet problems are back. In all my reading about plantar fasciitis, it all implies the pain goes away after a few minutes each morning. That was true for the first year, but this sudden constant pain makes plantar fasciitis unbearable.

Because of an odd rash I had a year ago and pain in my neck and shoulders before my feet started hurting 24-7, I decided I had a case of Lyme disease. The symptoms match. But my barely English-speaking doctor would give me a simple blood test to find out, so now I'm stumped.

I am not overweight and I don't stand on concrete all day or in any other way abuse my feet. I am diabetic, but the pain I'm experiencing doesn't match what I read about diabetic foot pain or neuropathy. All I know is with great pain I now walk like I'm 97, I can't mow my own yard and living like this the rest of my life doesn't sound like an option.

Good luck to your husband, I'm not lying when I say I feel his pain! D

Hey guys, I hope you are all doing well. I am 35 years old and had plantar fasciitis last year October 2007, after too much basketball running around and jumping too much. I had it cause I removed the Spenco cross trainer sole on my Nike basketball shoes and used the paper thin sole of the original shoe.I started to go back playing again just the first week of May 2008 and I'm so happy.I work everyday standing for 7 hours and moving most of the time wearing my old Havana Joe boots that had very worn soles.I did icing my foot 3 times a day,calf stretches but it didn't went away totally until I finally got rid of the Havana Joe that had worn out sole. My pain went away when I changed my working shoe to the New Balance 926 walking shoe then using Spenco in sole cross trainer!The New Balance 926 are very comfy shoes that have thick under soles and they are walking type shoes.I am not promoting the product, just try them.Do not forget to change the in soles to Spenco too because they are made for protection and confort.Buy the Spenco cross trainer not the regulars.I would suggest you buy the Spenco insoles at ProMeddirect.com because they cost only $11.75 and they ship fast. Footlocker sell them for $20. I bought 3 pairs so I use them on different shoe.I don't know for those who are using cortisones but maybe this method of mine will work for the minor cases.Good luck and hope you fell well!

Hello fellow sufferers and especially jm24b,

It's too early to tell but I may be on to something. Since I can't walk so good I've had more time on the Internet Tubes. Every time I move my left foot it reminds me of the biggest problem I have in life right now....a very very painful foot.

So the other night while doing the 400th search on Google for some relief I ran across something interesting. It seems that a few people, maybe too few to notice, but if your foot hurts like mine does, you'll notice....some people have discovered that the statin medicine their taking for high cholesterol is causing their constant leg and foot problems. It also appears that if you're diabetic, you have a better chance at having problems with statin medicine.

I've been taking Pravastatin for months, can't really remember or tell how long and since one doctor told me I had the cholesterol levels of a high school athlete, I'm not really sure why another doctor put me on Provastatin unless the pretty little drug rep had just left his office.

Anyway, jm24b, there is a chance if your husband is taking a statin medicine that could explain his sudden chronic foot pain. I quit taking Pravastatin 3 days ago and my foot is better.....I don't think I'm having a placebo effect, but it is too early to know. I have read it is OK to quit taking your statin medicine, but my bottle of pills says do not quit taking without consent from the doctor. The only way to tell if this is what is causing my horrible foot pain is to stop the medicine. I figure if I wait a week and can walk around pain free....I've found what's causing my problem.

If any of you are taking a statin medicine, you might want to try a safer route and talk to your doctor before you toss your pills. What I read about diabetics and a statin reaction is that most doctors will just think it's neuropathy caused by diabetes since the symptoms are the same. So this explains why my doctor totally ignored my pleas for help and just renewed my diabetes meds and the Pravastatin.....nice doc....but no cigar. I am not a doctor! Listen to me at your own risk. But if you've suddenly developed leg and or foot pain and you're on a statin medicine....that little pill could be the cause of all your pain, so check it out! I will be back in a few days with another report on my poor feet. D

having suffered with PF for about 9 years and spending alot of money on so called remedies I like probably everyone reading this post will try anything to gain some relief. My latest and most successful course of treatment is a tablet called CORTAFLEX, after just a few days I was amazed at the improvement I had made. I am hoping that by staying on cortaflex for a couple of months I shall be cured. Google cortaflex to find a supplier and read their websites(they dont mention PF) I look forward to reading fellow sufferers replys when they have tried a course of treatment.

I am also considering surgery. I have had ASTYM, tons of cortisone injections, physical therapy, special shoes, excercises, just about everything there is and my pain is debilitating. I just went on my honeymoon and couldn't even walk around Vegas with my husband. I am 32 and had a kidney transplant 1 year ago. When I was on Dialysis, my feet started hurting. I have been in constant (day and night, sitting and standing, etc) pain for 3 years now and I'm done. I'm going to see a surgeon next week. A guy that I work with just had the surgery 2 months ago and he is doing REALLY REALLY REALLY well! I hope it works for me, too.

My orthopaedic specialist gave me 2 exercises to do. Before getting out of bed I put a strap around my foot &, with my leg up in the air, I pulled the toes down. I did this for 3 minutes on each foot. The 2nd was to stand on a step with my heels dropping down, 3 times a day for 3 minutes a time. I was told to dispense with my orthotics and wear heel pads inside good supportive shoes. It took 12 months but the pain is gone (& I also had had trouble standing)
Hope this helps.

I've had pf for 3 years. Had the operation in 2007 (open surgery - full release) and I'm now worse off than ever before and the drs can't seem to decide why. The pain is more severe than before the operation, they have damaged nerves and now I must live with the pain. Great. If you're considering surgery, I wish you all the best. It has worked for some - but definitely hasn't worked for me. I'm still under treatment but I'm just been sent from one place to another and there has not been anything that has actually helped.
Good luck to anyone considering surgery.