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The ball trick and the frozen/cold bottle/can trick never did anything for me.
Wearing compression bands around the arch at night and whenever on my feet for extended periods helps keep flareups down, and shorter when they do occur. Wearing too unpadded of shoes or too flat of insoles is the best recipe for a flareup for me.
While the frozen water bottle treatment is very effective for me, I agree that very flat or unsupported shoes is a recipe for disaster for most people suffering from PF.
It's a shame because I love to run around barefoot but man alive, I can't do it much now.
I can't sleep with anything on my foot - I tried those compression bands and other PF supports and I just couldn't do it.
Compression socks are helpful though - easier in the winter of course though - LOL. Don't wear them with sandals!
For comfortable yet dressy sandals, Clarks Artisan line are the best! Good padding inside, and a strong sole. They hold up very well, also. I tried Birks before and thought they were ugly and uncomfortable.
Birkenstock. Outside of custom made inserts, as in - well made inserts. I normally do not put them into my patient sandals as inserts tend to "walk out" of sandal due to horizontal foot movement on them. But I can be nice and secure them in place with Velcro squares.
To be honest, you have 3 options with PF-s.
1. WELL made custom inserts combined with
2. target exercise for tibialis anterior and posterior
3. do nothing. It resolves between 3 to 8 months. very painful indeed. But it does. I know. Done it twice.
"Good podiatrist" will offer surgery that will take care of pain but cause is not treated so condition will return in rather short period of time.
You can peel back the suede layer in the footbed, and put the inserts inside the sandal, then glue the suede back down. Some Birkenstock stores will do this for you. For someone like the OP, with special podiatry needs, some podiatrist offices have footwear specialist on staff who can do that, and is trained, even, to modify the footbed according to any orthotic specs. This costs extra, obviously, but it's worth it, depending on one's situation.
However, I don't know if Birks fit the OP's idea of office-appropriate footwear. I think she may have to compromise fashionability for the support she needs.
Oh, here's another idea for great sandals - I've bought a pair now two years in a row (different pairs of course) and they hold up well - they're made by Born but under their own name - Sofft. They've been making shoes for 100 years! Love them.
Vionics, Merrills, and Borns are built to be ergonomic. They are also simply very well made. Mostly leather, though the soles are manmade. They have great support, even the flat sandals, though for PF I don't really recommend flat sandals. Like someone else said, a small wedge feels better with PF.
For treatment for this very painful condition, I've found that rolling my foot back and forth on a frozen bottle of water is THE best treatment, along with stretching. Now I stretch every single time before I get up from sitting, or out of the bed. And throughout the day. If I don't stretch those Achilles tendons out, they tighten up and create PF and it's a bear to get rid of.
Merrills are, if I recall correctly, are European sized....and not wide enough. But I do like the looks of them.
I was gobsmacked when several people I know were diagnosed with PF, and NONE OF THEM were given the exercises to do. I told them the stretches, and the frozen water bottle trick. I had the hardest time with the frozen water bottle....it tickled so bad....and then that morphed into itchy. Solved that by putting a heating pad down and heating it up, and switching off to the heat when my foot got tickly. Took twice as long, but at least it worked without making me crazy.
I no longer do the water bottle, but I religiously do those stretches.
With me the fat pad atrophy was the worst. It doesn't go away, and as of right now, no solution. They're working on it, though. They are trying liposuction/injections. They suck out your fat, and inject it back into your foot.
I miss going barefoot...I'd do that in a heartbeat.
Merrills are, if I recall correctly, are European sized....and not wide enough. But I do like the looks of them.
I was gobsmacked when several people I know were diagnosed with PF, and NONE OF THEM were given the exercises to do. I told them the stretches, and the frozen water bottle trick. I had the hardest time with the frozen water bottle....it tickled so bad....and then that morphed into itchy. Solved that by putting a heating pad down and heating it up, and switching off to the heat when my foot got tickly. Took twice as long, but at least it worked without making me crazy.
I no longer do the water bottle, but I religiously do those stretches.
With me the fat pad atrophy was the worst. It doesn't go away, and as of right now, no solution. They're working on it, though. They are trying liposuction/injections. They suck out your fat, and inject it back into your foot.
I miss going barefoot...I'd do that in a heartbeat.
Merrills and Borns are both Euro sized I believe. I am lucky I guess and just have a medium width foot - any medium width anything will fit me if it's the right size. I haven't had any trouble.
I am barefoot now but I shouldn't be! But honestly, since I've been implementing the stretches multiple times a day, I haven't had a PF problem. It's tried to flare up a time or two but I break out the old frozen water bottle and I'm OK in a day or two - instead of a month or three or four. UGH.
They are a bit odd looking, but my feet appreciate them far more than anything "fashionable." Also were a huge help in recovering from knee surgery.
In fact, when I retired from the Pentagon, a good half the civilians there swore by MBT shoes. Those shoes were everywhere.
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