Having had chronic PF for the last 30+ years, I can not emphasize the importance enough, of wearing the right shoes. For me, that means a pair of comfort moccasins. Mine are real leather, and have a good built in arch support, with good flexibility in the ball of the foot. Because they are slip on shoes, they cause me to grip the insides with my toes when I walk, to keep them on my feet, and that helps me a lot. And despite them already having good built in arch support, I do have an additional arch support insert in them, because I have high arches and need it.
In fact, I own multiple arch support inserts, because I have to change the type I use, as needed. Some days are best with just a foam one, some days I need extra support from one with a rigid piece of plastic in them. But I don't wear a full foot supports, because that impedes my ability to bend at the ball of the foot, making my problem worse. Your mileage may vary, and you need to experiment and find what works for you.
When you are in pain, take the time off and rest your feet, as your doctor recommended. Do the stretching exercises and foot massaging recommended by others here.
Perhaps get yourself a couple of hollow rolling pins that can be filled with water, and keep one in your freezer, while using the other with hot water. Alternate using them for pain relief, setting one on the floor and rolling it with the arch of your foot. (socks on for the ice, unless you want frostbite!) Use the frozen one for no more than 15 minutes, wait 45 minutes, then use the hot one for 45 minutes, wait 15 minutes, then repeat the frozen one. Keep doing this till your feet feel good again.
Once they have healed enough, start slowly with the walking...not too much, and not too fast. Always start each walking session with a warm up for your feet, by walking slowly, with more exaggerated steps, going heel to toe, picking up your toe higher when you place your heel down, rolling off the toe with your heel higher off the ground. It's good for stretching out your feet before you get into a normal pace of walking. I do this for about a block.
Start with a low step goal, of perhaps 3K per day for a week, then increasing that to 4K for a week, then 5K, etc.. If you wake up the next morning feeling sore at any point, rest that day, and dial back to the previous step goal for awhile. What you are looking for is the sustainable sweet spot for those shoes, where you can do it every day, consistently, without feeling pain. This is your shoe benchmark number.
Try different arch supports in those shoes and see if your benchmark number changes. You are looking for the combo that will give you the highest step count, consistently, without pain.
Every time you get a new pair of shoes, rate them by that benchmark number. Can you keep the same step count without pain? Can you consistently get a higher step count from them, without pain? If your count is lower, try them with different arch supports and see if that improves your step count. It it doesn't, throw them away. If it's higher, keep them and find their benchmark number, like before.
A few more tips...
When sitting for long periods of time, take off your shoes. Sit on the edge of your seat, not all the way back. Put your feet under the seat, back far enough that they bend at the ball of the foot.That will help keep them stretched out so that they aren't tightened up when you get up to walk around, later.
Always wear your shoes when walking, even around the house. Never go barefoot unless you are sitting down.
On those days when you have to take the time off for healing, you can still exercise...a LOT. And you don't need to go to a gym, or buy any expensive equipment. Search Youtube for "chair aerobics".
Olga Kobzar has 3 for people with bad/injured knees or feet. Try hers:
Paul Eugene has some good workout videos, too. Take what you learned from Olga's workouts, about the use of weights, if you find Paul's workouts to be too easy for you.
If you continue to have problems with your feet, that you can't live with, talk to your doctor about it, and perhaps the use of night splints.
Hopefully, in the long run, you will have a better prognosis than me. My problems are chronic and rather permanently disabling, forcing me to make a career change. I now work from home, freelancing, over the internet, because daily commuting by bus is a killer for my feet. But more recently, I have come upon some shoes with a good benchmark, allowing me 10K steps per day, so bought out the store's entire stock. But since I like freelancing so much, I don't plan on giving that up. 🙂
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