Plantar fasillitus

[Ganggywaller]

Hi i have just been diagnosed with the above, any of you nice people out there know if its connected to the thyroid or vitamin deficiency. Or how to resolve it thankyou.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

Yes, strongly linked to low Ft3 and/or low vitamin D

Looking at your last test results your Ft3 is below range

So likely this cause

other posts mentioning plantar fasciitis

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[Ganggywaller in reply to SlowDragon]

Thanks slow dragon , i have an app end of april with endo. Hopefully fingers crossed he will prescribe t3 if deemed necessary. What is the safest t3 synthetic or natural . Any advice would be welcomed. Any questions I should be asking him, just so im prepared thanks in advance .

[Obsdian]

Interesting you brought this up and the first response links it to low t3.

I don't have plantar facilitus exactly, but get a very similar foot pain when I pass my activity limit. It goes away overnight and only returns when I over exert.

[Buddy195 Administrator]

Also worth doing gentle stretches, a little at a time. I found the ball exercise particularly useful when I experienced similar pain:

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[Reefseeker]

This is very interesting. I developed plantar fasciitis last year after 18 months of low, in range ft3 levels. Had no idea there was a link. I'm seeing an acupuncturist who connects plantar fasciitis with a poor immune system. She also says my endocrine system is a mess and that my pituitary gland function is very poor. I got very short shrift on this from the endocrinologist!

[Ganggywaller]

Thankyou lovely people for all your advice on excercise. Will try these.

[helvella Administrator Thyroid UK]

I had plantar fasciitis with untreated hypothyroidism.

Some things that were suggested to me (specific exercises and some special insoles) made it worse - much worse. So be careful.

Levothyroxine helped me. And ultrasoft diabetic insoles - if they can fit into your footwear.

[Jumbelina]

I have Hashimoto's and low T3 . I take levothyroxine only and I have had two episodes of plantar fasciitis over the years, each lasting, maybe, a few weeks. Commiserations -I'm sorry you are suffering from this. Like Buddy I found the ball exercise helpful and soothing. I asked for advice at John, Bell and Croydon, a large pharmacy in London with a big foot section. They recommended hard, arch support insoles so I bought these. I can use them in all my shoes and sandals and I find them comfortable and helpful. For me the pain would start each day as soon as I put weight on my foot in the morning so I took to doing foot exercises in bed (point and flex plus rotating the ankles) so my feet were loosened up before putting any weight on them. If the pain came on as I was walking, I found a hamstring stretch to be helpful.

I didn't know the thyroid and PF were connected but I've just remembered that my GP , while discussing my request for T3, once tested my ankle reflex. My ankles were completely unresponsive- no reflex whatsoever. I've just looked this up ,"Assessment of the Thyroid: Achilles Tendon Reflex (Woltman’s Sign)" but I don't think I can put a link on here.

Good luck

[Sparklingsunshine]

I had PF years ago long before I was diagnosed with Fibro, PF is basically a repetitive stress injury, used to be known as policeman's heel. Its often associated with being on your feet a lot, either due to work or doing lots of walking or high impact exercise.

What happens is the achilles tendon is often tight, this pulls on the heel bone, the plantar tendon, which is a big, thick band of fibrous tissue that runs on the underside of your foot then becomes irritated and inflammed. You can also end up with heel spurs, extra bits of bony growth, as I did. The plantar also gets micro tears in it due to the repetitive stress, these can heal but this causes scar tissue which means the plantar gets tighter and more inflexible causing more pain.

What to do, rest, ice, elevation. Calf stretches are really important as many people with PF have tight calves. There are several you can do, look on Youtube, but you need to do them several times a day. Many find early mornings the worst as the feet have tightened up overnight.

Getting some good orthotics for your shoes is a must as these will correct any problems with how you walk and provide cushioning. Often people prone to PF have low arches, a good orthotic in your shoes will support your arch and relieve the stress on your heel.

You can get custom made ones from a podiatrist or Amazon sell generic ones. I had surgery on my PF in the end but still wear orthotics in all my shoes, even slippers as it can come back.

[humanbean]

I had PF for years while I was untreated for hypothyroidism. I never saw a doctor about it because the pain would usually disappear about an hour after getting out of bed, and would stay away until the next morning.

Once I started treating my thyroid it didn't take long for the PF to go away. I never had any success with exercising my feet, and wouldn't recommend it. I suspect it might damage the feet long-term.

[SlowDragon Administrator]

I had plantar fasciitis for about a year before T3 was prescribed alongside Levothyroxine

Within few weeks of starting T3 PF completely vanished