Planar fasciitis or a side effect?

[bejuce]

Hi everyone,

My right foot has been very painful for a few months now. I mentioned to my oncologist a few times and saw my primary care doctor, and they both said I have planar fasciitis - probably a result of the flat shoes I started wearing during chemo, or maybe my old tennis shoes that I wear when hiking, or maybe a result/side effect of some of my treatments?

It hurts a lot, especially after I've been resting - say when I wake up and step on it, I can barely walk. It's getting to be very bothersome, to the point that it is impacting my quality of life. I want to start a running program now that I've moved closer to a lot of trails, or even continue my hikes, but until this is resolved, I'm at a standstill.

Has anyone dealt with this before? Any tips?

Thank you so much!

Marcia

On another news, I had a CT scan yesterday and it was all clear, woohoo! They found a cyst in my ovaries, but honestly, that's nothing to worry about compared to everything I've dealt with so far...

[Jackie07]

Marcia,

I would qualify it as a side effect since it happend after you'd undergone treatment [having to wear flat shoes]... :)

Here's a good site for information on the subject:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/plantar-fasciitis/DS00508/DSECTION=treatments-and-drugs

About the ovarian cyst - did you ask your doctor if it needed to be removed? Have you considered a genetic testing? Didn't mean to put you back to the 'patient' mindset. But since you caught it when you were 'too young to get it', you might want to do some further check.

Be sure to follow the advice and be off your feet as much as possible... [And yes, you need to get a new pair of tennis shoes.]

Hope you feel better soon.

[caya]

Marcia, I had plantar faciitis last summer... I remember I was out walking and I felt that "pull" in my right heel.

I ended up going for 6 weeks of physical therapy - 2x/week. The therapist did ultrasound and laser therapy on my foot - I bought a new analgesic cream called Voltaren which she rubbed into the sole of my foot before using the machines. Then I would sit with a cold pack wrapped around my foot for about 15 minutes.

There are some great exercises you can do to help... just google "plantar faciitis exercises"and you should get some good suggestions. One good one is to freeze a 500 ml. water bottle, and roll it under your affected foot for 5- 10 minutes a couple of times/day.

Great news on the clean scan - and I had ovarian cysts throughout my 30s and 40s... no big concerns for me at all.

Hope this helps.
all the best
caya

[Pam P]

I've had this in the past also (pre-chemo so can't claim it as a side effect). Wearing an orthoditic - an off the shelf heel insert from the drug store helped a lot. Also stretching exercises before I even got out of bed in the morning helped too. I think going for some physical therapy would be really helpful too. You'll need to rest it for awhile but I hope it will improve quickly so you can get out on the hiking trails.

[sarah]

Would a podiatrist be able to make you an insole to help take pressure off the painful area and put it where it should be?
I didn't have that but did have some feet problems and wearing a specially made insole, helped my foot get back to the correct position. It was painful the first week but then what relief. Don't even need to wear them anymore although I keep them in my tennis shoes for my dog walks.
sarah

[Laurel]

Hey, Pam, love the new Avatar!

[Rich66]

Custom orthotics and pretty religious adherence to a stretching regimen every morning seems to help mine. Gets worse when my running shoes get old and less supportive. I did have ultrasound when it was at its worst and I sought help.

[bejuce]

Thanks, everyone! I'll follow up with my primary care doctor to see if I can get a referral to a podiatrist or PT. The weather is so nice here and I can't wait to enjoy all the trails near my house this summer.

On another note, I felt very proud of myself today. My firm is hosting a ping-pong tournament and I won my first match against a very buff and young summer associate. Mastectomy and planar fasciitis and all will not defeat me! :)

[schoolteacher]

Marcia,

Congratultions on your good scans. Sorry about your foot problem.

Amelia

[dchips1]

I have had this in both feet for several months, like the previous post google the excercises and do them, it really helps. I paid 25.00 for a form fitting orthotic that you can mold in your oven yourself at BIG 5 Sports. I like the fit and like that it is a full insole. Good luck to you


Darita