Brief Answer:
Likely to be plantar fasciitis.

Detailed Answer:
Hello and welcome,

Without the advantage of being able to examine you it's hard to say with 100 percent certainty, but I can say that plantar fasciitis would go with the description you gave. With PF, during the day, the fascia (covering over the muscles, ligaments) gets stretched and may get little tears. This can be from a heel bone spur, or from shoes that are too soft and flexible and don't provide enough support. So inflammation and tiny tears happen and then while you sleep, the fascia tightens and contracts the way damaged tissue does when a scar forms. When you go to flex your foot in the morning, and especially when you step down on your heel, it retears and there is further inflammation.

So, some recommendations:
1. Wear shoes with good support, especially with a sole that isn't too flexible. You should not be able to twist the shoe easily when holding the front and back of it with 2 hands.

2. Try a rigid orthotic, especially that covers most of the bottom of the foot. You can try orthotics from the store, but you may need to have one custom made. A podiatrist can do this, and you can check if the physical therapists at the local clinic or hospital can do this too.

3. Stretching exercises - one is to put your hands against a wall, and put one foot on the floor in line behind the other, both feet facing forward for several seconds. You should feel a stretch in the achilles of your back leg. Then repeat with the other leg. Stretching the achilles tendon helps as it is connected to the heel/fascia. Another exercise is to lay a towel flat on the floor and with your feet on the towel, scrunch the towel towards you. You should be using your whole foot for this.

4. If you can tolerate NSAIDs such as ibuprofen, you can take ibuprofen 3x/day after you have food in your stomach. This will help with inflammation. It should only be used on a short term basis (10 days) while you work on the other things to stretch and protect the fascia.

Now... if these things don't work, it's time to go in and get an X-ray of your foot. And if the X-ray is ok but you continue to have symptoms of plantar fasciitis, your doctor (or podiatrist, or physical therapist) may have you use a splint at night that keeps your foot in flexion which keeps the fascia stretched and prevents the fascia from contracting down overnight. And possibly you may need a prescription shoe orthotic.

I hope this information helps. Please let me know if I can provide further information.

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