I do a lot of barefooting be we never have any snow here.

I do live somewhere with dewy meadows, flowers and grass, but I have hardwood floors inside. What helped me was getting a dedicated pair of Birkenstock sandals that I wear only indoors (original variety with suede straps, cork footbeds and rubber soles). These have helped my feet immensely (I also had 3 pairs that I alternated when I worked in healthcare doing 12-16 hour days). They seem to give just the right amount of arch while relieving heel pressure - and they're easy on my hardwood floors.

I'm mostly barefoot indoors, and don't mind concrete or asphalt as long as it isn't too hot. If you walk barefoot enough, the bottoms of your feet toughen up.

You guys have brave feet! (I'm wimpy when it comes to feet...I think if I did barefoot a lot more, it would improve).

I had plantars fasciitis once years ago. Very painful. A nurse told me to stand on a stair with the back of my feet hanging off the stair several times a day. It worked for me and I haven't had it since.

That's pretty much what the night splints do for you, they stretch the tendons on the bottom of your feet.

Being a guy (and that means sometimes stupid) I ignored the pain for a while. I'm not going to let a sore foot compromise my life, and I continued to do the same things that irritated it in the first place. When I finally decided something needed to be done, it was pretty bad, and took a long time to heal.

Lesson learned? I'm not sure

Bob

I'm a return-ee here, and have been suffereing with PF for the last 4 months or so. Finally saw my GP yesterday and had it confirmed.
adjustments to be made.. so a great thread for me to read.

I do find cycling is fine for me though so perhaps an alternative to running? No good for a marathon but good for fitness.

I have had PF for over 15 years. I cannot walk barefoot, which was my favorite for my entire life up to that point. I have had physical therapy, where they taught me stretching exercises and used ultrasound on the tendons to reduce inflammation.

It was recommended I find supportive shoes, and after watching countless doctors and nurses over the years, noted most of them were wearing Dankso brand clogs. Expensive, but worth every single penny.

I now have several pair, one for inside only, and I wear them anytime I'm not in bed or showering. Seriously. No more foot pain. I'm going to invest in some open strappy ones for summer as well.

In my tennis shoes I wear firm OTC insoles from Powerstep. Tried the hard plastic heel cups in the past, and they helped, but nothing like the Powerstep brand.

Between the insoles in every tennis shoe and boot I own, and the Dankso clogs for indoor and shopping use, my feet are finally pain free every single day.

I'm currently dealing with of and it's taking a long time to heal up. I can't get into my pt until the 14th so just dealing on my own. I booked a trip to the hot spring resort this week and looking forward to doing as little as possible for a few days. My tennis league starts up at the end of March and I will be ticked if I can't play!

When you do, don't get those shoes that are soft inside - the create and aggravate PF.

I read a study that revealed that since Nike and others started selling shoes with soft insoles the incidences of PF went sky high. Something that was unheard of in long distance runners suddenly became common.

I haven't bought any soft insole shoes since I found out about that, and I haven't had the problem reoccur.

Bob