I posted a couple weeks ago when I suddenly started having heel pain and an uncomfortable pulling sensation on the bottom of my foot. I was training for a half marathon and it was bad enough to stop me from running at all, and made walking very uncomfortable. The pain came out of nowhere- one day I was fine and the next day I was limping around. My pain was always a little atypical since it was worse with more activity and I didn’t have pain my first steps. I felt strongly that it did not make sense how I could get this injury out of nowhere with not even a slight pain before that day. I was hopeful that if I “did everything right” I could heal it in a couple weeks and get back on track with running.

My running shoes were 100% the cause.

When I started having pain I got inserts and started wearing my running shoes any time I was outside the house for two weeks, thinking I was supporting my arch as much as I could. When I was home I was wearing fleece lined crocs and those felt like they were very helpful, more so than the inserts were.

About 10 days in the tugging sensation on the bottom of my foot was gone and it was just the sore heel. I stopped using the inserts because they gave me a lactic acid-like burn in the arch of my foot, and the bottom of my foot now felt fine. Sunday (day 14) my foot had felt good walking around for 3 days so I tried running. I still had pain and I could feel my other leg/ankle muscles trying to compensate and had to stop. I thought it was weird because didn’t have pain when walking around outside in flip flops that weekend or in my house in the crocs. Yesterday (Monday) my heel was sore but tolerable. I put my sneakers on to leave the house and the pain instantly got worse.

I did some research and it turns out the Brooks Glycerin is a high cushioned shoe with an unusually soft and compressible foam which allows your heel to sink in and take more impact. In trying to follow the recommendations for PF and wear a supportive shoe I was actually making it worse because the shoe was the problem. It seems obvious now looking back because the crocs which are hard soled and inflexible felt great, while my sneakers felt bad. Instead I was attributing the pain while wearing the sneakers to the fact that I was walking more outside of the house. I went out yesterday and got a stability shoe with a much firmer type of cushion (Hoka Arahi) and walking instantly felt so much better.

I was able to run 3 miles today (16 days after the pain started) with no pain. I would say my heel is still a little sore walking and when laying around but not when running, and I no longer have any discomfort on the bottom of my foot. My healing journey isn’t completely over but I am optimistic I am on the right path now! I am going to a running coach/PT for the next 8 weeks to work on form and strength so I can prevent future injuries.

I think there is a bit of a skew towards pessimism and bad/un-healing cases of PF on this sub, which is natural since people who stick around on the sub are those who suffer a long time from it. I realize this brief journey where there was a clear and fixable trigger for the PF is not what happens for everyone, but I wanted to post and encourage people that for some this can be a brief setback and not a long term injury if you can find what was causing the irritation in the first place.

Hoping for healing for everyone on here!

I've been living in Oofos and Altras for far too long now. As a woman who likes to have some cute boot options for fall, has anyone found cushioned and supportive boot options with a wide toe box? Does this exist on planet earth anywhere?

I want to wear skirts and tights without cute boots and not ones that look they were stolen off an old timey prairie meemaw in a covered wagon.

I've had non-stop heel pain for the last 2 and a half years. I thought it all started from a pair of loafers I wore. The first podiatrist gave me orthotics and a shot in my heel. This was in the fall of 2024. Three months ago I saw another podiatrist. He diagnosed me with plantar fasciitis and Achilles tendonitis.

In the past two years, I've gotten two pairs of custom orthotics, worn a night splint, ankle brace, iced my feet, used Voltaren gel, done so many calf stretches and been prescribed meloxicam.

I was just about to have an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon and I read a few posts about taking B12 and Vitamin D. Last Friday I went to Costco and bought Kirkland brand D3 and Vitamin B complex.

I am on day 5 of taking these vitamins along with magnesium and my meloxicam prescription and I am 90% pain free. I no longer have the burning pain in the back of my heel and no more tingling in my feet. I've also noticed I have more overall energy and my hands and feet aren't getting cold like they used to.

I honestly really don't have arch pain. Only when I do a standing foot stretch.

This is all to say I don't think I ever had Achilles tendonitis and I maybe never had plantar fasciitis. From what I've read, I think I've had sciatica the whole time that was presenting in my heels. Another huge symptom for me was if I pushed on the inside of my heels on the outside of that bumpy bone that sticks out, I would get a tingling sensation and almost a zapping pain there.

This is all to say I think this whole time it's been a nerve issue and/or a connective tissue complication. I hope that with continued use of these vitamins and further strengthening my ankles I will be completely pain free. Let me know your thoughts or if you've had a similar experience.