Brief Answer:
Plantar fasciitis is the likely cause of your pain.

Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome to "Ask a Doctor" service,

I carefully read your query and understand your concern.

By what you explain it is less likely the pain is due to a neuropathy unless you feel burning or numbness/tingling in a certain area of the foot as well. Neuropathy is more likely in patients with diabetes.

If you complain only of pain when walking, and you have no burning, tingling, numbness, and you do not suffer from diabetes, it is very likely the pain is musculoskeletal in nature (due to the soft tissues such as tendons/fascia/muscles or bones and joints in the area).

In my opinion, plantar fasciitis sounds the most likely diagnosis is your case, as this pain is worse with the first few steps, especially in the morning. The patient tends to feel the pain the rest of the day but the pain tends to be a bit less with the continuation of the activity (walking). Certain shoes may make it worse and generally, sneakers do bring some relief from the pain from plantar fasciitis.

Plantar fasciitis is generally treated:
- with ice (massaging the painful area with ice cubes a few times a day).

- You may take ibuprofen 600 mg every 6 hours after food to help with the pain and inflammation (be cautious of stomach pain with ibuprofen use).

- You may use Omeprazole 20 mg 30 minutes before breakfast to protect the stomach while using ibuprofen

- Exercises: In the morning, before starting to walk, you may use a glass bottle and slowly roll it under the sole of each foot. This will help stretch the plantar fascia and ease the pain. Also, you may gently pull up your toes and keep them stretched for a few seconds and repeat this several times. You may repeat these exercises any time you start to walk during the day, at least 2-3 times a day.

- seeing a physiotherapist is even more helpful to make sure you do the exercises the right way.

- you should wear proper shoes that offer good support to the foot but are not too tight. Sneakers are best tolerated by patients, sometimes some orthotic shoe inserts may be of great benefit due to better support

- rarely, if the above measures do not help enough then local steroid injections can be done

If you try the above measures and you find no improvement in a couple of weeks, or you think you are any worse, it is best to see a doctor.
It may still be plantar fasciitis but it is best to have a thorough check to confirm the diagnosis and determine the best next step of treatment in your case.

I hope this gives some answers to your query. I remain at your disposal for further medical assistance.

Regards,
Dr. Antoneta Zotaj
General and Family Physician

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