How do I overcome plantar fasciitis if I want to join the military?

fisky wrote:

InjuredRunner887, on April 12 in a different thread, you wrote: "By the summer of 2021, the pain was still present, so I went to physical therapy. I was in physical therapy for several months, but the pain remained so I went to another doctor. I got a MRI that showed I had talonavicular arthritis in the right foot, so I was in a cast for around 6 weeks."

On April 12 in that thread, I wrote: "Everything so far has focused on PF. This is an entirely different injury, although I see how someone could mistake it for PF. Your podiatrist is guessing it's PF, but the MRI provides a better diagnosis."

PF and talonavicular arthritis (TA) are different injuries. The podiatrist is guessing it's PF, but MRIs are usually more definitive. The exercises you did for PF might not help TA and some of those PF exercises could make talonavicular arthritis worse!

What you should do now is:

1. Get another MRI to confirm whether your injury is PF or TA... or both.

2. Post back here with the results. We might be able to help. I've successfully treated an injury similar to TA. I'll post how I treated it for your consideration once you confirm whether or not it is the underlying problem.

Injuries everywhere wrote:

This is a mess. I think you need to start from scratch. Re the injury. Contact a running club or somewhere similar and get a recommendation for a good physiotherapist. Or speak to someone in your geographical area who has recovered from injury and get a recommendation that way. Or contact a university sports science department (politely) and see if they can recommend anyone for treating sports injuries. This is affecting your life. You need to find someone who is very good at their job.

Your big first hurdle is finding a good professional. This is a massive issue. Get someone good.

When you go to them, start from the beginning. Document your history in bullet points and give them the information. Be concise but don't miss anything out. You don't want an essay, just the important points. They need the information about the injury history.

They need to examine you physically and it has to be in person, not webcam or anything like that.

Follow their advice to the letter. You need a proper diagnosis. Is it PF or is it talonavicular arthritis? Or both? Or neither?

You seem to have gotten nowhere with your current professionals. I've been in that situation myself. They refused to order an MRI for months. When I finally got one it revealed that there was a serious injury and I needed surgery. There never should've been months of delay or all of the angst about knowing something wasn't right and them insisting I could run on it. It caused more damage no doubt too. Professionals can be wrong. The first people I went to - their diagnosis was incorrect. This was shown by the following MRI and what was discovered during the surgery. If they're wrong you'll get nowhere. Mine got worse during that period and I felt like I was banging my head against a brick wall. I wish I'd left them after a week and moved to a different professional straight away. It sounds like you're getting nowhere too. has there been an improvement? No? If so, move on, straight away.

** Find a good professional **

This is the key to solving this.

You need a recommendation, maybe from a sports club, or elsewhere. Then start the process. You need the correct diagnosis, and the correct treatment programme.

Good luck. You CAN solve this.

Injuries everywhere wrote:

This is a mess. I think you need to start from scratch. Re the injury. Contact a running club or somewhere similar and get a recommendation for a good physiotherapist. Or speak to someone in your geographical area who has recovered from injury and get a recommendation that way. Or contact a university sports science department (politely) and see if they can recommend anyone for treating sports injuries. This is affecting your life. You need to find someone who is very good at their job.

Your big first hurdle is finding a good professional. This is a massive issue. Get someone good.

When you go to them, start from the beginning. Document your history in bullet points and give them the information. Be concise but don't miss anything out. You don't want an essay, just the important points. They need the information about the injury history.

They need to examine you physically and it has to be in person, not webcam or anything like that.

Follow their advice to the letter. You need a proper diagnosis. Is it PF or is it talonavicular arthritis? Or both? Or neither?

You seem to have gotten nowhere with your current professionals. I've been in that situation myself. They refused to order an MRI for months. When I finally got one it revealed that there was a serious injury and I needed surgery. There never should've been months of delay or all of the angst about knowing something wasn't right and them insisting I could run on it. It caused more damage no doubt too. Professionals can be wrong. The first people I went to - their diagnosis was incorrect. This was shown by the following MRI and what was discovered during the surgery. If they're wrong you'll get nowhere. Mine got worse during that period and I felt like I was banging my head against a brick wall. I wish I'd left them after a week and moved to a different professional straight away. It sounds like you're getting nowhere too. has there been an improvement? No? If so, move on, straight away.

** Find a good professional **

This is the key to solving this.

You need a recommendation, maybe from a sports club, or elsewhere. Then start the process. You need the correct diagnosis, and the correct treatment programme.

Good luck. You CAN solve this.

fisky wrote:

This is great advice! You mentioned an MRI in a Dec 2025 post, according to another poster. When was that MRI? If it was more than a year ago, you should be able to get another MRI. If your PT refuses, FIND ANOTHER PT or doctor.

I have been told at least three... wait, make that five... times by doctors that I had an injury or condition that was untreatable. Twice, I found another doctor. In one case, the 2nd doctor solved the problem in ONE VISIT! This was a problem that I had for YEARS! Three times, when doctors didn't help, I found an alternative medicine approach. Looking back, I had had these problems respectively for 7 years, 3 months, 2 years, 5 years, and 2 years before I found a solution.

So... be persistent. If your PT can't/won't help you, find another medical professional.

Finally, don't expect a quick fix or miracle treatment for a chronic injury. Again, here's a personal story. In September 2024, I was told by a surgeon with 30 years of experience that there was a 100% certainty I would need surgery for spinal fusion and to remove bone spurs. After which, there was a good chance I would be able to walk without pain, but I might not be able to return to running at a high level. That was 20 months ago. I am not cured, but the bone spurs are gone and I returned to high level training six months ago. I didn't find one approach, but when something didn't work after a few months, I would try something else. The morale is you have to be persistent and not give up.

One of Thomas Edison's quotes when asked about his continued failures to invent the light bulb, said, "Of the 200 light bulbs that didn't work, every failure told me something that I was able to incorporate into the next attempt."

track chick wrote:

Exactly. They can and do get it wrong. No one is infallible. The guy who got my foot injury diagnosis wrong - said there was absolutely no chance it was a morton's neuroma - was meant to be one of the best in the area. Everyone said he was brilliant. His clinical assessment was wrong. Ultrasound finally revealed a large morton's neuroma. Was categorically told it couldn't be that prior to the ultrasound. He didn't even say anything about it after.

fisky, I'm sorry that you've been through this too. Told that it was untreatable - when it was treatable. Told you 100% needed surgery and you'd never return to high-level running when you've been able to return to high-level running. It smashes health and it's a credit to you that you were that persistent. Imagine if you'd accepted their opinion of it not being treatable? The outcome for you?

My mistake was that I put too much faith in health professionals. They're not always right.

Now I stay away as have lost all faith in the system. Maybe one day I'll go back. But I can walk without much pain now and kind of want to leave it at that. Had several years of barely being able to walk so it makes sense not to mess with it now, even though it's not ideal.

They make mistakes.
They're not always right.
Sometimes they miss things.
Sometimes the treatment can make the injury worse if any of the above (and/or more) apply.

Get more than one opinion. It's your body and your health and life, after all. fisky's story is a cautionary tale and shows that it can be overcome. The issue is finding the right professional and the right approach. And unfortunately, that can be really difficult.

Glad that it worked out for you fisky. A lot of people wouldn't have been that persistent.

You're taught not to question doctors and people are highly critical of you if you do. But if I hadn't pushed so hard for that ultrasound I wouldn't have had the resultant surgery and may not have got my walking back. And that's huge. So being able to walk was dependent on me challenging the doctors and all for the sake of an ultrasound. Outrageous really. They were adamant it couldn't be a morton's neuroma. Just as they were adamant that I couldn't have torn my meniscus when it turned out that I had, badly. It completely sucks. I went through h3ll with all of this sh!t and it could have been so very different. Esp. if both of those had been diagnosed correctly in the first week. When it affects running it's one thing but when it affects walking/your daily life it's another.

Listen to what fisky says. He's right. Good luck.

fisky wrote:

Injuries everywhere wrote:

This is a mess. I think you need to start from scratch. Re the injury. Contact a running club or somewhere similar and get a recommendation for a good physiotherapist. Or speak to someone in your geographical area who has recovered from injury and get a recommendation that way. Or contact a university sports science department (politely) and see if they can recommend anyone for treating sports injuries. This is affecting your life. You need to find someone who is very good at their job.

Your big first hurdle is finding a good professional. This is a massive issue. Get someone good.

When you go to them, start from the beginning. Document your history in bullet points and give them the information. Be concise but don't miss anything out. You don't want an essay, just the important points. They need the information about the injury history.

They need to examine you physically and it has to be in person, not webcam or anything like that.

Follow their advice to the letter. You need a proper diagnosis. Is it PF or is it talonavicular arthritis? Or both? Or neither?

You seem to have gotten nowhere with your current professionals. I've been in that situation myself. They refused to order an MRI for months. When I finally got one it revealed that there was a serious injury and I needed surgery. There never should've been months of delay or all of the angst about knowing something wasn't right and them insisting I could run on it. It caused more damage no doubt too. Professionals can be wrong. The first people I went to - their diagnosis was incorrect. This was shown by the following MRI and what was discovered during the surgery. If they're wrong you'll get nowhere. Mine got worse during that period and I felt like I was banging my head against a brick wall. I wish I'd left them after a week and moved to a different professional straight away. It sounds like you're getting nowhere too. has there been an improvement? No? If so, move on, straight away.

** Find a good professional **

This is the key to solving this.

You need a recommendation, maybe from a sports club, or elsewhere. Then start the process. You need the correct diagnosis, and the correct treatment programme.

Good luck. You CAN solve this.

This is great advice! You mentioned an MRI in a Dec 2025 post, according to another poster. When was that MRI? If it was more than a year ago, you should be able to get another MRI. If your PT refuses, FIND ANOTHER PT or doctor.

I have been told at least three... wait, make that five... times by doctors that I had an injury or condition that was untreatable. Twice, I found another doctor. In one case, the 2nd doctor solved the problem in ONE VISIT! This was a problem that I had for YEARS! Three times, when doctors didn't help, I found an alternative medicine approach. Looking back, I had had these problems respectively for 7 years, 3 months, 2 years, 5 years, and 2 years before I found a solution.

So... be persistent. If your PT can't/won't help you, find another medical professional.

Finally, don't expect a quick fix or miracle treatment for a chronic injury. Again, here's a personal story. In September 2024, I was told by a surgeon with 30 years of experience that there was a 100% certainty I would need surgery for spinal fusion and to remove bone spurs. After which, there was a good chance I would be able to walk without pain, but I might not be able to return to running at a high level. That was 20 months ago. I am not cured, but the bone spurs are gone and I returned to high level training six months ago. I didn't find one approach, but when something didn't work after a few months, I would try something else. The morale is you have to be persistent and not give up.

One of Thomas Edison's quotes when asked about his continued failures to invent the light bulb, said, "Of the 200 light bulbs that didn't work, every failure told me something that I was able to incorporate into the next attempt."

InjuredRunner887 wrote:

fisky wrote:

This is great advice! You mentioned an MRI in a Dec 2025 post, according to another poster. When was that MRI? If it was more than a year ago, you should be able to get another MRI. If your PT refuses, FIND ANOTHER PT or doctor.

I have been told at least three... wait, make that five... times by doctors that I had an injury or condition that was untreatable. Twice, I found another doctor. In one case, the 2nd doctor solved the problem in ONE VISIT! This was a problem that I had for YEARS! Three times, when doctors didn't help, I found an alternative medicine approach. Looking back, I had had these problems respectively for 7 years, 3 months, 2 years, 5 years, and 2 years before I found a solution.

So... be persistent. If your PT can't/won't help you, find another medical professional.

Finally, don't expect a quick fix or miracle treatment for a chronic injury. Again, here's a personal story. In September 2024, I was told by a surgeon with 30 years of experience that there was a 100% certainty I would need surgery for spinal fusion and to remove bone spurs. After which, there was a good chance I would be able to walk without pain, but I might not be able to return to running at a high level. That was 20 months ago. I am not cured, but the bone spurs are gone and I returned to high level training six months ago. I didn't find one approach, but when something didn't work after a few months, I would try something else. The morale is you have to be persistent and not give up.

One of Thomas Edison's quotes when asked about his continued failures to invent the light bulb, said, "Of the 200 light bulbs that didn't work, every failure told me something that I was able to incorporate into the next attempt."

The last MRI was in October 2025 and was a scan of the plantar fascia in the forefoot (which is where the pain often is).