RECENT CASE STUDIES OF PATIENTS WITH PLANTAR FASCIITIS
CASE 1
A 45 year old pickle ball player who was playing 5-6 hours of pickle ball a day in flat court shoes. This person had fairly flat feet and had recently started playing pickle ball at a high level. We cut his hours playing pickle ball and began our basic plantar fascia stretching and strengthening program. We got him in appropriate orthotics and new shoes. His pain dropped from 8/10 pain down to 3/10 pain in three weeks. We then began taping his ankle for two weeks and his pain dropped to 1/10. After two more weeks of our program his pain was gone and he returned gradually to full pickle ball competition in 7 weeks.
CASE 2
A 35 year old female with two kids who runs 20-25 miles per week. She developed plantar fasciitis a year ago and pain was getting worse with time. She was wearing older running shoes that looked new on the outside but started hurting more and more each time she wore them. She has pain in the morning with her first steps and during the first five minutes of her run. She rated her pain at 8/10. She got new shoes and cut her running mileage in half. She started wearing a special simple off the shelf orthotic that has helped. She started doing her home exercise program and after three weeks her pain was down to 2/10. She began taping her arches and then gradually increased her mileage and her pain went away completely after 8 weeks.
CASE 3
A 29 year old grocery store cashier who works 30 hours a week standing. She wears flat shoes with an old orthotic that she has had for 9 months. She has 8/10 pain in the morning for the first few steps and whenever she stands up after sitting. She has severe pain by the end of her shift. She has had plantar fasciitis off and on for several years and is frustrated. She began the exercise program and got new shoes and a new special orthotic. She also began wearing a night splint at night-but this took a while to get used to and some adjustment in the brace. After four weeks her pain dropped to 4/10 pain. She then began taping her arches and 6 weeks later she was pain free. Her pain reduction took 10 weeks.
CASE 4
A 25 year old avid runner who is a sponsored semi-pro. Has had severe chronic plantar fasciitis for 8 months now at 7/10 pain. He continued to run through the pain because it only hurt the first half mile of his runs. He had severe pain his first couple steps in the morning and after sitting. He was wearing really good new running shoes and a very good orthotic, both of which he changed frequently. He was going bear foot at home and wearing flip flops when going to stores. We had him get a new pair of shoes that he wore always even in his house. He stopped going barefoot or wearing flip flops. He started doing our exercise protocol. After 5 weeks his pain dropped to 2/10. He cut his mileage in half and then slowly began building up his miles again being very careful to be gradual and notice how his pain was the next morning. At week six he wore a night splint and four weeks later, after 9 weeks, he was running again pain free and stepping in the morning without pain.
CASE 5
A 68 year old woman who is trying to walk every morning for 30 minutes to lose some weight. She has had severe plantar fasciitis for over a year and rates her pain at 6/10 pain in the morning, during her walks, and when she stands in the kitchen. She is wearing walking shoes that look brand new but are over two years old. She has very flat feet that are collapsing with age. She bought new shoes and started using our simple arch in her shoes. She also started wearing her shoes around the house and not going barefoot. The plantar fascia exercises and protocol begin to give her pain relief after three weeks. She continued with the plantar fascia program for five more weeks until she had almost no pain except if she stood for over an hour in her kitchen in which she would have 0-1/10 pain. She was satisfied with this improvement.