How I Fixed My Plantar Fasciitis
Plantar fasciitis is a common kind of repetitive strain injury afflicting runners, walkers and hikers, and nearly anyone who stands for a living — cashiers, for instance — especially on hard surfaces — Paul Ingraham, PainScience.com
You wake up. Get out of the bed. Start walking. And your sole hurts. Congratulations, you got plantar fasciitis!
So… what can you do about it?
The Problem
It’s a tricky condition, because it’s annoying, but rarely compromises your quality of life enough to ever consider fixing it. And for this reason scientists aren’t super excited to work on it either. So they tend not to. It’s a stubborn problem that we barely know what it is, let alone how to fix it.
You may need to throw everything but the kitchen sink at your feet before it yields — Paul Ingraham, PainScience.com
My Story
Throughout my childhood I played football. A lot. At one point, all I remember life was is to wake up, go around the neighborhood inviting the other children to the ground, play football until sunset and go home. The neighbors called us “pályalakók”, which roughly translates to “the kids who live on the pitch.”
What probably didn’t help this pitch was made of gravel and we often played barefoot. Even later on it was a rare occasion when I found boots that fit my feet properly. Sore foot was just a part of life until I became 16.
Over time, even when I stopped playing, my feet wasn’t getting any better. In my twenties I moved to Taiwan and I got so into getting foot massages every day, that I suspect these aggravated my plantar fasciitis even more. It was a common occurrence that my feet was still sore from the strange and strong massage from yesterday, but I somehow convinced myself to sit in another session today.
Eventually, I decided to fix it once and for all. Me being a geek, I sought out the most comprehensive book I can find on the matter and spent a year reading it every single day.
The nature of the beast is more complex than I have ever imagined and to my disappointment I have found no magic bullet in fixing this condition. My best bet was to try out as many treatments as I can and stick with what worked. I figured if something works, it should work within two weeks, so I embarked on a year long journey of testing out each and every plantar fasciitis treatment methods I can get my hands on. What you’re reading now describes my N-of-1 experiment on what worked, what didn’t and what made it worse. I hope you can get some value out of it.
Week 1–2: Ice Bottle Trick
The idea is simple: roll your foot over a frozen water bottle several times a day. I did this six times daily for five minutes per session. The plantar fasciitis felt strangely different, flaring in various parts of my feet instead of just my heels. Perhaps this scattering of discomfort meant something positive was happening, but results were ambiguous.
This was supposed to ice and massage your feet at the same time, but ultimately I found it to be the worst of both worlds.
Week 3–4: Voltaren Forte Gel
It’s a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory cream. Applied twice daily for two weeks, accompanied by occasional trigger-point therapy sessions. Surprisingly effective! Pain levels decreased significantly, especially noticeable during mornings. This felt like genuine progress.
Week 5–6: Locomotion Exercises
A diverse range of dynamic movements (e.g., tiptoe walking, crawling, duck walks). Although initially promising, I ended up overexerted, especially around my ankles. Near the end, I felt close to injury and motivation waned. Despite setbacks, by the conclusion, plantar fasciitis symptoms almost vanished — though with a lingering suspicion that flare-ups could return anytime.
Week 7–8: Icing Gel (Virde Pferde Balsam)
Hey, maybe I can ice it with a gel?
Despite its extensive herbal ingredients, my plantar fasciitis slightly worsened. Disappointing results; the gel likely irritated rather than healed.
Week 9–10: Static Stretching
Calf and arch stretches twice daily, progressively intensified.
Disaster struck — my plantar fasciitis flared terribly. Stretching seemed beneficial in theory, but in practice, it aggravated areas previously symptom-free. This approach might work better in minimal doses, but my intensive stretching protocol was clearly counterproductive. Spoiler alert: doing it less frequently seemed to work, at least a little. Read on!
Week 11–12: Mobilization Exercises
Quick, easy movements three times daily (foot circles, toe curls, foot wiggles). Remarkably, these simple routines brought huge improvement, significantly reversing the damage from static stretching. Or was it just the overdue healing after what static stretching messed up?
Week 13–14: Slow Walks
Extremely slow, deliberate walking exercises had no noticeable impact. Neither improvement nor worsening occurred. It was cool though.
Week 15–16: Qigong Mobilizations
Initially underwhelming, but unexpectedly beneficial by the end of the second week. A baffling but ultimately positive outcome.
I’m not into the woo business, but the exercises looked reasonable in the video.
Week 17–18: Fat Loss
Significant weight loss via protein sparing modified fast and strict diet (−6.4 kg in two weeks) coincided with substantial relief from plantar fasciitis pain.
Week 19–20: Standing on Shakti Mat
Surprisingly stimulating yet ineffective for plantar pain relief. Neither worsened nor improved symptoms.
Week 21–22: Cold Spray
Entirely ineffective, even ridiculous. Spraying felt wasteful with zero therapeutic benefit, and plantar fasciitis slightly worsened independently.
I exhausted many bottles of cold sprays.
Week 23–24: Massage Gun
Did massage gun every 3 hours for two weeks. (That was quite some work.) It provided no clear results. Pain fluctuated unpredictably, possibly influenced by excessive walking rather than the treatment itself.
Week 25–26: Stretch & Contract Method
Although static stretching was a huge failure, it might be because I overdid it. In fact, its impact on plantar fasciitis — even negatively — may indicate that stretching could be beneficial at the right dose. So this time, I’ll stretch only once a day, only as long as it feels right, and I’ll also add a contraction to the stretch. The stretches include gastrocnemius muscle stretches (locked knee calf stretch), soleus muscle stretches (bent knee calf stretch), arch stretches (broken yoga pose), ankles (seiza), and outer ankles (ankle inversion stretch). Results: This made my plantar fasciitis worse — not greatly, but noticeably — even with significantly reduced volume and added contractions.
Week 27–28: Balance Exercises
Simple balance work notably improved symptoms in week one. For week two I used a balance board but the improvement plateaued. Nonetheless, overall improvement was undeniable.
Week 29–30: Stretch & Vibrate Method
Although static stretching and the stretch-and-contract methods were significant failures, it might still be due to overdoing them. So, this time, I’ll stretch even less frequently — every second day. To maximize efficiency, I’ll also introduce vibration using a massage gun while stretching. I’ll vibrate the targeted muscles (arch and calf) before, during, and after each stretch. Results: Surprisingly, this improved things noticeably. In the first week, I experienced significant improvement, but during the second week, progress stagnated. The only drawback was that aiming the massage gun at certain areas during stretching was quite awkward.
Week 31–32: Mobilization From Inactivity
I performed 20 ankle rotations in each direction for both feet every time I experienced one hour of inactivity (sitting or lying down for extended periods). Results: I noticed neither improvement nor worsening, though my ankles felt slightly tired from the frequent rotations. Practical experience: Often, I had to get up quickly, leaving no time for rotations, but morning rotations felt particularly good.
Week 33–34: Morning Mobilizations
Immediately after waking up, I performed 20 ankle rotations while still in bed, followed by sitting up for 20 seated calf lifts, and then walking out of the room on the sides of my feet. Results: This was less effective than expected — I noticed no meaningful improvement, although walking in the mornings might have felt slightly easier.
Week 35–36: Revised Morning Mobilizations
Upon waking, I sat up to massage or tap my feet, performed a seated forward bending stretch, and completed 20 seated calf lifts. Results: No noticeable change; significantly less effective than anticipated. Massaging or cupping feet in the morning was particularly difficult since hand strength is minimal upon waking. Similarly, effective stretching was challenging, compounded by the need not to disturb the hot girl beside me.
Week 37–38: Dynamic Stretching
Every second day, I performed dynamic stretches including “picking up potatoes,” leg swings, moving around in a broken yoga pose, and moving in seiza position. Results: I didn’t notice significant changes, although my plantar fasciitis might have improved slightly.
Week 39–40: Comprehensive Mobilization, Stretch & Strengthen
Every second day, I combined ankle rotations, walking on the sides of my feet, “potato picking,” dynamic broken yoga pose stretches, and calf raises. Results: I barely noticed any difference, mainly because my plantar fasciitis symptoms had already significantly diminished. Consequently, recent results have been inconclusive.
Week 41–42: Massage Ball Therapy
I massaged the soles of my feet daily with a massage ball. Results: I felt absolutely no change — it’s almost as if my plantar fasciitis had disappeared entirely.
Week 43–44: Ultrasound Therapy
I gained access to an ultrasound device and planned to use it daily for 6 minutes per foot, progressively increasing intensity from 1.2 W/cm² to 1.8 W/cm². In practice, I wasn’t fully consistent and combined sessions with massage ball therapy, because it felt good. Results: inconclusive. My plantar fasciitis symptoms are barely noticeable, maybe it’s all in my head at this point, so no clear benefit was observed.
Summary
I’m 2 months after my experimentation and my plantar fasciitis never came back. I had many more ideas to test, but unfortunately — fortunately for me — I cannot subjectively feel any pain anymore. So here’s a nice summary to close this article with. Hope you find it useful.
┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Rank │ Method & Duration │ What I Did │ Results │ Outcome │
├───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 1 │ Locomotion Exercises (2 weeks) │ 30s each exercise, increased 10s daily. │ Almost felt fully cured; ankles slightly over- │ 🟢⬆️ │
│ │ (#3 in notes) │ Included tiptoe walking, hopping, crawling, etc. │ used near the end but plantar fasciitis nearly │ │
│ │ │ │ vanished. │ │
├───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 2 │ Mobilization Exercises (2 weeks) │ 3x/day foot circles, toe curls, foot wiggling. │ Huge improvement, quickly reversed the damage │ 🟢⬆️ │
│ │ (#6 in notes) │ Very simple to do anywhere. │ from static stretching. Easiest method so far. │ │
├───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 3 │ Qigong Mobilizations (2 weeks) │ Follow-along chair exercises from a YouTube video. │ Initially underwhelming; by end of second week, │ 🟢⬆️ │
│ │ (#8 in notes) │ Tried twice a day, ~13 min each. │ saw huge improvements. Oddly effective. │ │
├───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 4 │ Balance Work (2 weeks) │ First week: 10 min static balancing (Y-exercise). │ Great improvements in week one; second week │ 🟢⬆️ │
│ │ (#14 in notes) │ Second week: 10 min on a balance board (some eyes-closed). │ plateaued but remained good overall. │ │
├───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 5 │ Weight Loss (2 weeks) │ 1-day fast + 14 days protein + veggies diet (RFL). │ Substantial relief; barely noticed morning pain. │ 🟢⬆️ │
│ │ (#9 in notes) │ Lost 6.4 kg. Also stopped smoking, began solid cardio. │ A couple flare-ups but net positive. │ │
├───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 6 │ Stretch & Vibrate (2 weeks) │ Stretch every second day with a massage gun on arch & calf │ Marked improvement in first week, plateau in │ 🟢⬆️ │
│ │ (#15 in notes) │ (before, during, after). │ second. Awkward to aim the gun, but beneficial. │ │
├───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 7 │ Voltaren Forte Gel (2 weeks) │ 2x/day application of anti-inflammatory gel, │ Decent improvement, especially in mornings; │ 🟢⬆️ │
│ │ (#2 in notes) │ plus occasional trigger-point therapy. │ felt like genuine progress. │ │
├───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 8 │ Dynamic Stretching (2 weeks) │ Every other day: “picking up potatoes,” leg swings, │ Didn’t notice much; perhaps slight improvement. │ 🟢⬆️ │
│ │ (#19 in notes) │ broken yoga pose, seiza movement. │ PF might have eased a bit. │ │
├───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 9 │ Ice Bottle Trick (2 weeks) │ 6x/day, 5 min rolling foot on a frozen water bottle. │ Felt ambiguous. Pain scattered to different │ ⚪➡️ │
│ │ (#1 in notes) │ Combined with ballet foot & football sole exercises. │ areas, not clearly better or worse overall. │ │
├───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 10 │ Slow Walks (2 weeks) │ 3x/day, extremely slow stepping (10–20 seconds per step). │ No improvement or worsening. Interesting │ ⚪➡️ │
│ │ (#7 in notes) │ Shift weight carefully, foot by foot. │ exercise, but neutral outcome. │ │
├───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 11 │ Standing on Needles (2 weeks) │ Twice daily on a Shakti Mat: ramping up time from │ Felt increased blood flow, but zero positive or │ ⚪➡️ │
│ │ (#10 in notes) │ 5 min (with socks) to 20 min (barefoot). │ negative change in PF symptoms. │ │
├───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 12 │ Mobilization from Inactivity (2 weeks) │ 20 ankle rotations each direction after 1 hr sitting/lying. │ No noticeable improvement or worsening, ankles │ ⚪➡️ │
│ │ (#16 in notes) │ Morning rotations felt good, but often had no time otherwise. │ just a bit tired. │ │
├───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 13 │ Morning Mobilizations (2 weeks) │ Right after waking: 20 ankle rotations in bed, 20 seated │ Less effective than expected; maybe a tiny │ ⚪➡️ │
│ │ (#17 in notes) │ calf lifts, then walk on the sides of the feet. │ boost in morning comfort, but basically neutral. │ │
├───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 14 │ Revised Morning Mobilizations │ Massage/tap feet, seated forward bend, 20 seated │ No real change. Early-morning hand weakness and │ ⚪➡️ │
│ │ (2 weeks) (#18 in notes) │ calf lifts. │ not wanting to disturb others made it awkward. │ │
├───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 15 │ Mobilize + Stretch + Strengthen │ Every other day: ankle rotations, walking on foot sides, │ Plantar fasciitis already barely noticeable, so │ ⚪➡️ │
│ │ (2 weeks) (#20 in notes) │ “potato picking,” dynamic yoga stretches, calf raises. │ results were inconclusive. │ │
├───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 16 │ Massage Ball Therapy (2 weeks) │ Daily sole massages with a small spiky or dense ball. │ No change; by then PF felt almost gone anyway. │ ⚪➡️ │
│ │ (#21 in notes) │ │ Possibly too late to detect a benefit. │ │
├───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 17 │ Ultrasound Therapy (2 weeks) │ Planned daily 6 min per foot, 1.2→1.8 W/cm², but not fully │ Inconclusive. PF was already negligible, so hard │ ⚪➡️ │
│ │ (#22 in notes) │ consistent. Combined with massage ball sessions. │ to tell any true effect. │ │
├───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 18 │ Massage Gun (2 weeks) │ Used every 3 hours, mostly on soles and calves. │ Pain ups and downs seemed related to walking │ ⚪➡️ │
│ │ (#12 in notes) │ Unsure if frequency was too high. │ more than the massage. No clear improvement. │ │
├───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 19 │ Icing Gel (2 weeks) │ 3x/day, using a menthol/camphor-based herbal gel (Virde, Pferde). │ Plantar fasciitis slightly worsened; maybe │ 🔴⬇️ │
│ │ (#4 in notes) │ │ irritated rather than soothed. │ │
├───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 20 │ Cold Spray (2 weeks) │ 3x/day, trying to “ice” the foot without real ice. Overloaded to │ Got worse. Essentially no beneficial effect; just│ 🔴⬇️ │
│ │ (#11 in notes) │ 3 sets by Week 2. │ wasted multiple bottles. │ │
├───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 21 │ Stretch & Contract (2 weeks) │ 1x/day moderate static stretching of calf, arch, ankles, │ Still caused worsening. Even reduced volume + │ 🔴⬇️ │
│ │ (#13 in notes) │ adding contractions. │ contractions aggravated plantar fasciitis. │ │
├───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ 22 │ Static Stretching (2 weeks) │ 2x/day calf/arch stretches, gradually increasing hold times. │ Terrible flare-ups; easily the biggest negative. │ 🔴⬇️ │
│ │ (#5 in notes) │ │ Possibly okay in micro doses, but I overdid it. │ │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
