Skip to main content

Ice: magic cure for heel pain of plantar fasciitis

I can't say for sure what finally helped relieve my heel pain of almost 2 years. I did many things, and my hope is simply to share them with people experiencing the extreme foot pain of plantar fasciitis ("heel spur"), to give hope that relief from the heel pain will come.

These last 6 months, I iced my foot all the time.  I used a store-bought ice pack, a frozen bottle of water, a bag of ice...whatever was available. Sometimes I would even go to sleep at night with the ice on my foot.  It got to the point that my kids would see me sit down and they would bring me ice. 

I really think this might have helped a lot. The physical therapist also iced for about 1/2 hour before the physical therapy.  They told me that the ice reduced the inflammation caused by the plantar fasciitis.

The water bottle did double duty as ice and massage. A small plastic water bottle, frozen, then put on the floor. I would roll the bottle under my bare foot for as long as I could. 

I iced whenever I was sitting down for a minute.  Eating dinner, watching TV. I even iced while driving when it was really bad.

So if you are suffering from the extreme heel pain of plantar fasciitis, try to ice as often as you can and for as long as you can.  I think this really helped my improvement. I would love to say I'm cured, but it's still there. It's just bearable now and is no longer intefering with me living a normal (if that's what you could call it) life.

good luck!!

Popular posts from this blog

Fifteen years later: Maybe psoriatic arthritis

I am not a medical professional.  I am sharing my experience with my joint pain, which may be Psoriatic Arthritis.   Fifteen year ago, I started writing a blog about my Plantar Fasciitis.  I had unbearable pain in my heels.  Eventually, it went away, but it lasted, at varying degrees for a few years.  Since then, I've had other painful issues in my feet.  A few years ago, I was diagnosed with gout in one of my big toes.  It began with a slight discomfort but the pain got so intense that I could not walk.  I was given prednisone, which cleared it up.  Google gout and you will find that it comes on suddenly after a night of drinking and eating red meat and seafood.  I do none of these things, so I always doubted the diagnosis.   The gout came at a very stressful time and during the hot summer.  I often wondered if it was caused by dehydration.   A few years later, I had Achilles tendinitis.  This was also...

What about your socks? Plantar Fasciitis ("Heel Spur") and socks

Last summer, at the peak of my foot pain from Plantar Fasciitis, aka a heel spur, I accidentally purchased a pair of socks with arch support in them.  I didn't even know such a thing existed...it wasn't that I did n't want them...I just hadn't intended on buying them. Putting them on my feet felt so wonderful. I think the action may be similar to the "taping" that some athletes do to help with the pain of Plantar Fasciitis.   It felt like just a little extra "hug" and support on my arch, and I swear it helped with the pain. Next time you buy socks, look for ones with arch support. It's just like a tighter, elastic area around the arch that adds some extra support. I wish you the best of luck with your foot pain. Please remember that I am not a medical professional, and am merely sharing my own personal experience with the extreme pain of Plantar Fasciitis and how I finally found relief.

Plantar Fasciitis and Physical Therapy

As I've stated before, I tried the stretching, I tried the night splint, I even had three cortisone shots in my foot--three times! But I can't say enough about the physical therapy, which was a combination of so many things: stretching, icing, ultrasound, some kind of pain patch, as well as the best and most caring advice I could have gotten on how to help my heel pain myself.  This was to stretch my calves (gently), since this is attached to the bottom of the foot and will stretch there too.  It's hard to explain in writing, but she said it's all connected. I also, during the regular evaluations, was able to see improvement, which gave me hope. Against all my fears, my PT encouraged me to walk for exercise: she advised me about what types of surfaces would be better than others. I didn't walk into the PT office with hope. This was my second round. The first one was not so successful. In fact, I had just about given up. I can't stress enough how important ...