@_Lilac_ Warning: This is long and all about Plantar Fascia, fixing it now and prevention.
I hated when I had PF, but mine was torn along with a tear in my achilles tendon. Major athlete that I am, I got it from bending down too much. I was wearing old hiking shoes and taking photos of flowers for a few hours. Felt some pain and, being too tough for my own good, pushed past the pain to take more photos. I don't recommend it. I was in PT for ages, had to see a rehab doc, and see a podiatrist who works with ballet dancers. I couldn't walk on it for a long time and walked minimally with a limp for awhile - all told it took over a year. (my year of gaining weight part 1). I'm not a doc, but I learned a lot which I'm happy to share with you. I now know way more about feet than I ever wanted to know.
First - do not tear it. The tear feels like a burn, instead of an ache. I hope that makes sense. If you think it is torn, I'd recommend a rehab doc because they will get you some appropriate gear for it. Athletes tear their tendons and can be sidelined a year. Tendons do not heal easily, as they are delicate and there isn't the same blood flow that a muscle gets.
It is totally logical for it all to be the same leg. When one tiny part of a leg is out of kilter or aching, we adapt our walk to protect it and that puts different pressure on every other part. That is also true if our muscles aren't strong enough or flexible enough. Athletes get tendon problems because they tend to over strengthen the muscles they use in the sport, and ignore the rest. It happens easily if our shoes aren't just right for our feet. Or if we don't stretch enough or the right way.
Assuming you have an ache, not a burn, you can ice it when it hurts badly. That will lower inflammation. In PT I was also told to put some warmth on it at other times to increase blood flow there, but I think exercising it works.
Rules:1. Do not put any weight on it when it is cold - if you have been sitting or sleeping, warm it up.
2. Do not walk barefoot. It needs support and protection.
Basically, I had to work my whole leg. Starting with the foot:
Before you get out of bed, you want to warm it up and stretch it. It has been in one position all night, so it needs some help before you put your weight on it and really use it. Depending on how bad it is, just wiggling your foot around, wiggling your toes, all very gently, should get it warmed up. Put your foot down gently so you know for sure you did enough.
The exercises: (do both feet/legs) Do NOT do anything that causes more pain. Do everything gently, on a warmed up foot. If anything hurts more, cut back. You have to keep learning just what your tendons are ready for each time, every day as they get stronger and more flexible. Do not push them, protect them.
1.Put a towel on the floor in front of you when you are sitting. With bare feet, scrunch the towel. Over and over, but dont over do it. More advanced: pick up marbles with your toes and put them in a bowl.
2. With your foot dangling, write the alphabet. Yes, with your foot and penmanship counts!
3. Lean your foot against a wall. Be very gentle with this. Shoes on. Put your heel on the floor, toes on the wall. Get a good angle so you can gently push and stretch the tendon. If you have something with a slant to it, that might be gentler than the wall.
When you sit awhile knitting or writing, wiggle your feet. Before you walk the dogs, warm up your feet.
You also need to do your entire leg - calves, hamstrings, quads and hips. You may not have been stretching enough for the amount of walking you have been doing. I'll get those exercises for you if you want. Each PT session I had was 3 1/2 hours! Exhausting.
Shoes - our needs change as we get more and more active. You went from zero to 100 in a relatively short time and you may need to try different shoes, different inserts. I ended up with about 10 inserts, all very well made, for PF and Achilles. Some worked better when I was first healing and needed more support, some work better now. It's an expensive experiment. The best seem to be (according to podiatrist, rehab doc and PT): superfeet, which come in different levels, Vionics, obeo. There are probably dozens more. If you get terrific inserts, put them in everything. I have mine in hiking shoes, work shoes and sneakers. I even wear flip-flops with an arch.
Lilac, you are one of the toughest women I know. You have toughed out a lot of things and pushed past all kinds of pain. With this, you need to think gentle, protective. Learn from my mistakes, please.
I'll check with my PT folder and see if there is more for the foot.
The activity that seems impossible today, will soon be your warm-up
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