Ouch kitty and snoopy . I suffer from it on an on and off basis, my arches can never seem to decide if they want to stay in place or fall. But when they fall, I rub them on a tennis ball and ice alternately and have found that using some plain old medical tape around my big toe and attaching it to the inside of my foot with just some light pressure on the taped toe seems to help put my arches back in place. (Normally I use the white cloth tape but used clear in the photo below just to give an idea on pressure, but you need the little extra stretch that cloth tape provides to be able to walk still with it taped up.) Also split sole shoes help a lot too. I need to replace my last pair, but look for ones that you can adjust the lacing on in the arch area of the foot, it will allow you to customize your arch support to wherever you need it (and at only about $40-50 a pair is far cheaper than custom made orthotic shoes).

Gently stretch everyday, avoid walking around barefoot too often, massage the arch and foot throughout the day, ice any inflammation and soothe pain with a nice "lukewarm" saltwater foot bath and if you can tolerate it apply some ligament (absorbine, aspercreme...) but I have found that the so called arch support booties and foot wrap things that only apply pressure to the arch itself are totally useless. They don't address the other parts of the foot being affected and do to address the real issue that is causing it to fall in the first place. (Tighten Achilles' tendon being a main culprit, bunions another though more often if you aren't a card carrying member of the pointed toe shoe brigade it's a side-effect of the fallen arch syndrome.)

But given the length of time you've been suffering as well as the swelling across the top of your foot and your ankle... have they taken an MRI yet? That's not typical of plantar fasciitis...discoloration and mild swelling on the bottom of your foot is normal and expected but it shouldn't be affecting the top of your foot and ankle. Sounds like you have a lot more going on than a simple flat foot, so if the doctor hasn't already ordered an MRI it might be time to find a new doctor, probably a sports medicine doctor.

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aww the poor little curled piggies. Thought I had managed to straighten them out for their photo op but seems they had other ideas when I pushed the button. When not spasming my toes are usually much straighter than that lol. But that's a whole different issue from plantar fasciitis and did highlight a bit more pressure on the big toe than I intended since it wanted to join in the fun but was prevented from doing so by the taping.

Kitty have you been to a Podiatrist? That's who evaluated my feet and ordered my custom Orthotics (inserts). The good news is insurance is covering it and all I will owe is $24.00. The Podiatrist said part of the problem would be due to tight calves (spasticity). That was a light bulb moment for me as my calves have been tight and painful for awhile. I use a rolling pin to loosen the calf muscles and have increased doing so.

When your foot is swollen wear shoes, they work as compression and will reduce the swelling. Have you brought this to the attention of your PCP?

Starznight, I have flat feet (no arch), the Orthotics will give me an arch and quite a bit of padding. The top of my left foot hurts, tendons are over stretched and too tight. wrapping any of the toes causes extreme pain as does using padding between toes, I know this because I tried it before seeing the Podiatrist

I saw the PA at my PCP's office first and she recommended trying sports tape to try and reduce the pain while I wait to see the Podiatrist, results were mixed.

The clinic for my Orthotics called this morning and needed to reschedule my appointment so I won't get them until the 30th <sigh>

I got plantar fasciitis from wearing a 1/2 size too small shoes in the summer when my feet swelled..
My chiro treated mine.. low level laser & arch supports and I got rid of those shoes so I never wore them again.. he also did some foot/ankle stretching & massage. but that laser took the worst of that pain away & the arch supports kept it away..
I got extra arch supports off the shelf at the local department stores, some brands are more comfortable than others , so a store that has easy returns is nice..

Even after the pain faded away I liked the support from the arch supports so still use them in certain shoes, but don't need them now..

Snoopy & Jo, thanks for your suggestions.

Snoopy, yes I do have a podiatrist. I might be changing, though, due to distance.

I think most of my problem is that I walk around the house in socks 99.9% of the time. My drop foot makes it nearly impossible to wear shoes in the house unless I want to risk falling. I've bought nearly every kind of contraption on the market to help Plantars Fasciitis but none seem to help much.

Some days are better than others. With my MS if I sit too long my legs start to cramp so I have to at least stand up to stretch every 15 minutes to half hour.

I take Advil which is the only OTC med that seems to help.

Thanks, Starz. I do have one item that keeps cold on the bottom and top of my foot simultaneously so I probably need to use that more often. But I don't have flat feet. I have a definite arch and use flexible arch supports some of the time. It helps a little.

I do think I need to see a doctor about the swelling on top of my foot. I wonder if I have broken a bone...maybe a hairline fracture or something. All I know is it hurts like a *beepity beep* first thing in the morning.

Have any of your doctors talked about an AFO? I have foot drop on the left foot and got a super lightweight carbon fiber AFO, you can barely even feel it.. there was another apparatus which just attached around your shoe laces and wrapped around the ankle, but my ankle wasn't strong enough to control the foot with that one. But even the larger brace is comfortable enough to wear around the house, might be worth looking into at least after they figure out what's happening with the foot itself

Ouch! I have never had plantar fasciitis. I do get tendonitis a lot in other places including the Achilles's tendon. I have tried all sorts of things but haven't found anything to give me complete relief. I had a occupational therapist tell me about horse liniment for joint pain, which I haven't tried yet. I'm wondering if it would work for tendonitis and your plantar fasciitis.

I hope you get relief soon.

I was fitted for an AFO......they made a mold of my lower leg and foot and the end result was a product that was so hard and uncomfortable that it was unusable. Plus it was impossible to find a shoe that would fit with the AFO. Wasted time and money. The lightweight carbon fiber AFO sounds like something I would be interested in if insurance covers it. I'll check into it.

Horse liniment? Do you have to get it from a vet? I'm willing to try (almost) anything to get some relief.

I googled it and here is what I found:

How to Use Horse Liniment for People - Chapman's Premium All Natural :: horse liniment, people, humans, herbal, linament, horses, natural, herbal remedy