I genuinely feel like I will have plantar fasciitis or feet pain for the rest of my life

Fisky has been right about a lot of things and has good pointers. His biggest message here is that what you have been doing to solve the problem will work.

Harvey Glance, the great sprinter once spent most of a clinic uttering the words, "If it is to be it is up to me, if it is to be it is up to me, etc." You have people all around you that can help if you take advantage of those situations. Then, find your own genius plan!

I do not believe in over-night sensations, though.

Dear Chronic,

I definitely do not have all the answers and I also cannot see you or know your complete situation. You need to talk to people that have the opportunity to do that with you. Believe me many of us made nasty mistakes and had many injuries in the 1970s and 1980s. There were literally zeo Sports Medicine Doctors in those days! And before that it was even worse. Coaches knew next to nothing!

I've had friends who had to take several years off, but they were able to return to running. That might be you. (I probably made 30 visits to a clinic in 10 years, when I was in my 40s. Thank Goodness they know more now.)

Does anyone here know LeBron James? He somehow got through PF in about 2 months. Also, I shouldn’t hate the orthotics for everyone, they just made my situation worse.

Have you ever had your uric acid levels tested? The only foot pain that I could not figure out how to fix on my own turned out to be gout. I didn't even know what gout was until it was so painful it literally crippled me before I finally got it diagnosed. I had dealt with it for several years at lower pain levels before getting diagnosed. It's very common among Asian males, though usually middle age and older.

It looks like there is such a thing as early-onset gout though I don't know how rare it is just browsing through some studies on the internet. Gout at 18 to 24 doesn't seem impossible though. If it turns out that you have had undiagnosed gout for 6 years, that would explain a lot, and I'd be sympathetic for sure.

The issue is that the pain hasn't disappeared in SIX years

Last summer I asked if you had tried the Athlean-X stretch, night boots, or Birkenstocks for walking at home. Your answer was as follows:
"Yes to calf stretch
I haven't tried night boots or Birkenstocks"
It's 8 months later. Have you tried them? And have you tried walking and/or running barefoot on GRASS or SAND (NOT indoors on carpet)?

Too many assumptions here. Do you have the right diagnosis? If so, have done the standard of care? If so, have you tried non invasive and semi invasive modalities like Tenex, ECSWT, PRP? If so, have you had surgery like an endoscopic plantar fasciotomy? Don't give up yet. Be thorough and try all the things with the least side effects and risks like the alternative modalities. I have personally performed the EPFs on about a dozen patients- all worked except 1. That 1 was on a patient who had the same procedure (by me) on the other foot and worked? So, the human body can be unpredictable. Also, all these patients were trying to walk pain free. Not train for a marathon. I have no long term follow up.

You need accurate diagnosis and a plan, in that order. At your age, you should be optimistic.

...trying walking and/running barefoot on grass or sand is FREE. Trying out Birkenstocks for walking is also FREE -- go to a store that sells them, and see if there is a difference between walking barefoot in the store vs walking in Birkenstocks.

Many people in these threads have given suggestions but it seems you have only tried following some of them.

Then don't cycle or swim or glide -- these are secondary recommendations only if you want to maintain some endurance fitness without causing more damage.

What about the rest? It seems like you are getting a lot of people willing to help, but then you dissappear without giving feedback.

Did you try stretching the whole chain from your toes to your butt? Do you regularly massage with a golf ball or similar? Did you try morning foot massages and toe-stretching before standing up in the morning? Did you try a boot or a sock?

Lots of questions from lots of people looking for feedback.

I did tried night boots, and it didn't help

Yes, I tried all of that. None helped

I would try the standard of care as I outlined. Assuming you have the right diagnosis. PF often require the kitchen sink, not doing one thing here and there you heard online. I have found Birks to be counterproductive btw. Wear your running shoes indoors and out until you get everything figured out. Avoid flat like the plague for now. If you are resting, avoiding flat shoes/barefeet/flipflops, stretching icing, +/- a cortisone injection and get NO relief, I would strongly question the diagnosis. If you are getting some relief but not durable, and have the right diagnosis, there are the non invasive (semi invasive) alt modalities I Iisted and surgery.

Interesting. For me, Birkenstocks (especially putting them on directly out of bed before hitting the floor) helped me -- the stiff sole meant no tugging or pain on the tender area, and this seemed to allow some healing. And I suggested it for David because it MIGHT be very helpful. What helps some people will not help others, and as you wrote, kitchen sink! Try everything and see what helps. And when I had PF flipflops were just painful, as was walking barefoot on carpet, but somehow jogging barefoot on grass felt good, and I believe that was because it pushed me to recognize and correct slight over-striding. Different cures for different people with different problems that can all result in PF.

Not gout. Gout is in one joint and comes as an "attack" for a few weeks and goes away.

Yes birks >>>barefeet. But by and large anything with more heel is better. Running shoes >>> crocs>birks>>flip flops> bare feet. Flat things aggravate PF pretty consistently.

I know exactly what gout is since I have it. His description has been vague enough (intermittency of symptoms? PF? but not heel, front of foot could be a joint) that it only just came to mind as a possibility despite seeing him here complaining for years. Worth at least considering. It got bad enough to disfigure my left foot, blowing up in size my left bunion a huge amount in mere days that remains that way, so causing permanent damage/possible lasting pain beyond flare ups (if you are not adaptable enough to realize you can't cram foot into the same-sized shoes at least. OP hasn't shown he is adaptable). Also it wasn't really coming and going when I had it diagnosed. It had gotten to the point where I was just about crying in pain on both feet all the time.

I'd at least look at past blood test results and see if uric acid was a tested parameter. If it was tested and not highlighted as abnormal, there you go, not gout. I wasn't on the parameters list of most of my old blood tests (annual from work medical surveillance) except one when I went to a different clinic, but looking back at that one, it showed my uric acid level was high 5+ years before I first had symptoms. I'd get it tested just to have a baseline, costs almost nothing.

Have you tried running until the pain goes away?

Well, I can't help you any further because these are the things that I tried that worked for me.

I still recommend morning massages where it hurts, rolling a golf ball, or with your thumb and knuckles, and pulling the toes to gently stretch the fascia and warm it up before standing up in the morning, putting your full weight on your feet. Do this for months, or for years, or forever. That costs you nothing except a few minutes each morning and the price of a golf ball.

The schock wave therapy also sounded promising to me, for those who have had long term pain where the body has given up trying to heal it. But reported success rates were hit and miss.

Good luck in finding the right diagnosis and treatment.

Then it's Big Shoe for you bro.