I am about a month away from my first Camino, and I will be walking from SJPP to Santiago. I have developed Plantar Fasciitis. I will be seeing a podiatrist to get customized inserts before I leave. I have been doing the typical exercises and ice, and I have cut back on my walking to see if it will heal.
I am wondering if anyone has walked with this foot condition, and if so, i'm looking for any suggestions and information about how you fared on the Camino.
Thank you in advance,
Jeanne
Disclaimer: I am not a doctor!
However, I feel your pain. I had this for several years and it was depressing as it took all the joy out of walking, something I'd always relied on for sorting out my thoughts and just enjoying the day. (This was before the Camino.) Eventually your condition leads to a bone spur on your heel if it hasn't already.
I did all the recommended exercises to cure it and nothing worked, (comically rolling my foot on frozen ice bottles daily to no avail), and eventually got a coritzone shot in my heel. That brought on about 75% relief, however, I've heard that you don't want to do that too many times. Then, I was advised to never walk barefoot, not even around the house, so I replaced all of my sandals and flip flops with orthotic flip flops, (the abeo line from The Walking Company), and outfitted all of my shoes with Superfeet insoles.
Eventually, several years later, it mostly went away--but it took never walking or standing unless on orthotic insoles, shoes, sandals, etc. (Not the expensive custom made orthotics from a podiatrist but just the footwear and insoles mentioned above.)
You may want to consider a cortisone shot before the walk as it's supposed to bring relief for a month or so, (ask a podiatrist about it). It's a long scary needle but the relief was incredible for me, personally, after years of hobbling around with pain in every step.
Lastly, if an x-ray does show you've developed a born spur, (and I cannot vouch for this at all), but I was interested to read people stating they'd gotten relief and believed they eroded bone spurs by taking something called Acid-Cal. If my pain crops again I will try that and see if it works or not to get rid of my heel spur. Stretching your calf muscles often also seems to help.
I also lugged along KT tape but only ended up using it once so I wouldn't do so again, personally, but I read another comment on this thread where that was a great relief to another person.
Good luck!