Plantar Fasciitis Shoes: A Guide to Shoes and Other Plantar Fasciitis Treatments

April 24th, 2010

If you happen to feel any sort of heel pain in your foot, plantar fasciitis may be the main cause. Plantar fasciitis is a condition where the bottom of the foot is prone to inflammation. This is often caused by overstress of the heel, either from sports or stress.  The pain of the inflammation is usually at it’s peak in the morning and lessens gradually as the day goes on.

Plantar fasciitis treatments can very but will often involve the use of special bandages, inserts, splints, sprays, and exercises. Probably the most effective treatment is to get some special shoes for plantar fasciitis. These are essentially shoes for heel pain and they work by protecting your heel from stress, allowing the injury to actually heal. There is no “quick” solution for plantar fasciitis – treatments can take about a year.

So, if you’ve seen a professional and have been informed that the inflamed plantar fascia is causing the problem, you are probably trying to find the best shoes for plantar fasciitis to help your feet heel.

Keep in mind that it’s always important to consult an actual professional. I don’t claim to be a doctor. But I’ve suffered from plantar fasciitis condition for many years. It took me a few years to figure out how to finally treat this condition – so I am fairly knowledgeable about this condition.

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I’ll give a list of good recommendations for plantar fasciitis walking shoes, dress shoes for plantar fasciitis, and various athletic shoes for plantar fasciitis.  Ultimately, you’ll just have to experiment to see what works best for your individual condition, however.

You might want to know why you should find the best shoes for plantar fasciitis. It’s pretty simple, really. The best shoes for plantar fasciitis will give your feet the proper arch support they need. There is a remarkable difference in how quickly your feet will heel if you use high quality plantar fasciitis shoes and cheap plantar fasciitis shoes. Keep in mind there are an assortment of different plantar fasciitis shoe options. You might need dressing shoes, running shoes, walking shoes, and so on.

If you are active in sports, say a runner, soccer player, or basketball player, it’s vital that you get a pair of orthopaedic shoes that have high shock-absorption and proper arch support for your feet.

The actual kind of shoes you need will vary of course. Here are a couple reasons:

  1. The arch of your feet. Do you have high heeled arches or do you have flat arches?
  2. Do you supinate (inner feet turning outward) your feet when you walk or pronate (inner feet turning inward)

If you don’t know the answer to these questions, then you might need to visit a podiatrist to find out exactly what you do with your feet. This is important because the way you walk with your feet will determine what sort of plantar fasciitis shoes you need. In some cases, you may even need to pursue custom orthotics. Custom shoes tent to be more expensive however. A good compromise that I’ve found both effective and easier on the budget are heat mouldable orthotics. These are basically special inserts that have a very hard layer of support with thick cushioning. You slip these into your shoe. You are able to mold them to your feet by applying heat to them.

One question that should be addressed is “where does plantar fasciitis usually hurt?” You can look at the diagram below to get an idea of the areas of pain you may or may not have when you have this condition.

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Best Running Shoes for Plantar Fasciits

One issue that comes up a lot are running shoes. It’s important for you to get the best running shoes for plantar fasciitis because your feet really take a pounding.

In regards to specific recommendations, I suggest you look at getting special Brooks Adrenaline shoes. These specific shoes have really helped my feet feel comfortable, even when running long distances.

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It’s very important to correctly control the motion of your feet – that’s why you need to wear shoes for plantar fasciitis. There is no magic to these shoes really, they simply force you to walk in such a way that your heels are not stressed. It’s probably a good idea for you to consult with a physical therapist to find out what sort of motion control you need. Not all people will need shoes that rigidly control motion. It’s possible to heal your food condition with shoes that offer a much “lighter” motion control.

There are plenty of models you can look at. My personal recommendations (and the recommendations that I’ve found from fellow suffers are) will be listed below, according to the type of motion control they offer.

Extreme motion control plantar fasciitis shoes:

  • New Balance 1123 shoes
  • Brooks Beas
  • Saucony ProGrid Stabil

Moderate motion control plantar fasciitis shoes:

  • Brooks Adrenaline GTS 8
  • Ecco RXP 1660
  • New Balance 90
  • Light motion control:
  • New Balance 1010 /W / S
  • Mizuno Wave Nexus 2
  • Asics GT-2130

You may want to look at a few of the other brands to see what’s offered too. I’ve only given a brief recommendation for a few of the brands, but it’s not a comprehensive list by any means.

Click here to buy Plantar Fasciitis Running Shoes on Amazon

Best Walking Shoes for Plantar Fasciitis

If you are looking for some casual plantar fasciitis walking shoes or dress shoes, there are quite a few recommendations out there to look at.

For one, if you are a woman who needs the maximum control, you may want to buy CrocsRC Cloud. This specific model of shoe has some pretty positive reviews on Amazon. You might also want to look to see what some of the shoes makers like Birkenstock and Carks offer. These manufacturers do produce normal shoes that have extra support – shoes that can help your condition.

For a pair of casual shoes, I suggest Clarks. These are very comfortable, light, and offer superior heel support. What was most important for me was a pair of shoes that looked good, suitable for casual walking around or casual office dress. The Clarks performed this job admirably.

There are some other types of shoes you might want to consider, sandals for one. The best sandals for plantar fasciitis or the best flip flops for plantar fasciitis need to have a few special qualities. They must have proper support of the arches and a good amount of cushioning too. I can personally recommend you look at Chaco sandals or Birkenstock sandals – either of these with offer the extreme arch support that’s needed to help you feel comfortable when you walk.

General Treatment Tips for Plantar Fasciitis

  1. Makes you ditch any of your old worn out shoes. Shoes that are past their prime can cause a lot of problems with the feet. Generally, if your shoes are starting to look ragged or you flip the shoe around and notice the treading on the bottom worn down near the heal or toe area of the shoes, your feet are not getting the sport they need.
  2. If you have never worn shoes with heel support before, you might want to gently introduce your feet to the concept to avoid pain. Start off wearing your shoes gradually, then slowly start to increase the time you wear them until you can wear them all the time.
  3. It’s important to wear your plantar fasciitis shoes on both feet, even if you only suffer the condition on one foot. Wearing only one of the shoes can cause extra strain on your feet.
  4. You can do specific calf exercises for plantar fasciitis to help relieve the condition. You need to perform these exercises on a regular basis though. I suggest you find a guide online on how to perform these specific exercises.
  5. There are a variety of special support accessories you can purchase to help provide relief for your feet. These include various arch support insoles and wraps. For night time, you might want to consider using plantar fasciitis night splints. You can see some of the plantar fasciitis accessories here.
  6. Some people often confuse Heel Spurs and Plantar fasciitis. Heel spurs are basically calcium deposits that have built up on the back bone of your foot. These don’t usually cause any pain, however. If you have plantar fasciitis, you will have inflammation.
  7. Above all, consult a professional about your condition. You may think you have plantar fasciitis when you really have Achilles tendonitis .

Here is a video about plantar fasciitis treatment options: