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. ...
A decade ago, I had very painful plantar fasciitis. Since then, I've had other foot pain, including gout and now wonder if it's all from Psoriatic Arthritis. The pain in your heel from Plantar Fasciitis is debilitating. It feels like a knife sticking into your heel when you walk. Well, there is hope. It might take a while, but the pain will improve. Treatments for plantar fasciitis include stretching, physical therapy, ice, massage, and sometimes cortisone shots.