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1. Plantar fasciitis – Ugh! I suffered with it for two years; then I bought my first pair of Birkenstock sandals and the angels sang! Really, the relief was that immediate, and I haven’t been bothered with it since – going on 20 years. I read later that heel instability in shoes contributes to plantar fasciitis and the deep heel cup in Birkenstocks stablizes the foot. Maybe this will help someone else because PF is awful.

2. Truly, plantar fasciitis can be horribly painful; there were times I crawled rather than walked! Years of treatments by a podiatrist really didn’t solve the problem. Earlier this year, I drove my parents to their PT appointments. The physical therapist asked how I was doing, which stunned me, as I wasn’t a paying patient. I told him about my poor, painful feet – the plantar fasciitis and the surgery for hallux rigidus, which really wasn’t as effective as the surgeon had led me to believe it would be. He asked me to take off my shoes and walk across the floor a few times; in retrospect, it is odd that no other doctor watched me walk. In the following five minutes, I learned more about walking in general, and my feet in particular, than I had in all the previous years. Did you know the foot has three arches? That walking is one of the most complex movements you make, involving movement in six different planes? That gait problem cause a whole host of issues involving the feet, knees, and back? I could go on, and on, and on. To shorten the story, I am a severe overpronator. This caused all my foot problems, plus contributed to the arthritis in my knees. At this point, I can’t correct the damage that has been done, but with the right shoes and exercises I can slow down or halt (I hope) future damage to my feet and knees. I suppose the point of this rant (sorry!) is that none of the doctors ever took the time to watch me walk. They dealt with effects, rather than causes. I hope you can find somebody who will find and treat the causes of your foot problems. Walking really is one of those things you take for granted till is becomes painful to do it.

3. Check out Katy Bowman’s work. http://www.restorativeexercise.com/

4. My experience with footwear and orthodics has been pretty good. The doctor I saw did actually watch me walk (like in the above comment) and came up with orthodic inserts for me. For the first couple years I don’t think I had the right boots (for work) and like in another comment above I think my feet moved around too much. I have Merrell’s now and have really noticed a difference. I don’t have PF but more back & neck pain. I’ve noticed now that I have the right shoes & inserts my back pain is much less.

   I imagine that if I trained and worked my muscles and built up good callouses I could go without shoes but I don’t think I’ll be doing that. My work is mainly outside walking in fields and I know that would get tough.

   Regarding the uniform idea I noticed that I kindof have a uniform. I wear blue jeans and t-shirt everyday. They’re all different colours for variety but really – same thing is all I need. I won’t be getting into sewing clothes but maybe I’ll get into sewing cushions instead of just buying them.

5. Erik, ask your physical therapist to kinesiotape for feet and calves for PF. It can dramatically reduce your discomfort while you rehab. It’s not a cure but it can be used repeatedly to manage the pain and inflammation while you rebalance your feet. The tape is different from athletic tape…give it a try. If it doesn’t help, it is inexpensive!

6. Erik you got to listen to this youtube video, it helped me to understand all about it… it is called “tips on healing plantar fascitisis”

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GO3erc7la-g

   Please reply what do u think and if it help you.
   hugs
   Slavka

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