Get FREE shipping on all orders $125+ 🚚

Your Cart

Get free shipping on orders over {{threshold}}!

Can you cure Plantar Fasciitis in one week?

How to Cure Plantar Fasciitis in One Week

Luke Ferdinands

|

Plantar Fasciitis is the culprit behind many cases of persistent arch and heel pain. Can you cure Plantar Fasciitis in a week or two? It may sound too good to be true, but with the right approach, there’s a possibility of significant improvement, especially if you're in the early stages of the condition.


Even with chronic Plantar Fasciitis, there are things you can do to reduce pain relatively quickly. This is great news for anyone who needs to get it under control quickly, for a race, a vacation, or a big family event you can't miss.


Let's dive into how great physical therapists help patients heal Plantar Fasciitis quickly, or at least significantly reduce pain, so that you can get back to doing what you love to do.

How long does Plantar Fasciitis typically take to cure?

Plantar Fasciitis usually takes 6-8 weeks to resolve, when you use the right treatment consistently. The timeline can vary, depending on factors like the duration of your symptoms and their severity.

Can you cure acute Plantar Fasciitis in one week?

In the acute stage, which is when you’ve just started experiencing heel or arch pain within the past week or so, your plantar fascia is irritated due to overuse, but there’s no significant scar tissue formation yet.


At this stage, it’s possible to cure Plantar Fasciitis in one week, or make a substantial progress at the very least. The key is to act quickly and strategically—resting the affected foot, avoiding activities that exacerbate the pain, and giving the tissue time to start healing.


In the acute stage, a quick cure for Plantar Fasciitis primarily involves letting the tissue rest and reducing the aggravation.

Take the quiz to see if your arch and heel pain is from Plantar Fasciitis
Take the quiz to see if your arch and heel pain is from Plantar Fasciitis

Is it unrealistic to cure chronic Plantar Fasciitis in one week?

After more than a few weeks of symptoms, Plantar Fasciitis has turned chronic. Once it becomes chronic, it’s unlikely you’ll cure it completely in one week.


Here's why: When heel and arch pain persists, it's likely that the initial microscopie tears on your plantar fascia has turned into scar tissue, which is less flexible and weaker than healthy tissue. To heal Plantar Fasciitis at this stage, you'll need to work on transforming this weak tissue, which takes longer than one week.


That said, there are ways to significantly reduce your pain fast, give your injured foot the support it needs so that you can get through what you need to, and set yourself on the path to healing.


Here's what you can do to make a significant improvement in one week:

  • Focus on pain relief strategies like massaging the hot spots in your heel and arch. Bonus point: Plantar Fasciitis massage also helps with scar tissue resolution, a key to long-term recovery.
  • Wear a Plantar Fasciitis Brace to reduce strain on the affected tissue
  • Take nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) to manage pain as needed

These steps can help you stay active and comfortable, as you work on resolving the underlying issue.

Common recommendations to cure arch and heel pain fast

Some common recommendations to cure arch and heel pain “quickly” can be effective, but definitely plan to spend more than a couple of weeks with these strategies:

The RICE protocol

RICE - Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation - is often recommended as a quick remedy for Plantar Fasciitis. While rest can help in the acute stage, and ice can provide temporary pain relief, RICE alone won’t cure Plantar Fasciitis if the condition has been present for more than a few weeks. 


Why is RICE ineffective for chronic Plantar Fasciitis? This approach doesn’t address the root cause: microtears and scar tissue formation in the plantar fascia. RICE can give you temporary relief, but the pain is likely to return once you resume activities.

Strengthening exercises

Strengthening exercises are one of the three key elements of treating Plantar Fasciitis. An absolute must for full recovery, Plantar Fasciitis exercises help rebuild strength and stability in the foot and lower leg.


But exercises aren’t a one-week cure. It takes time for the tissue to adapt to the increasing levels of stress placed on it during exercise. Incorporating these exercises into your routine is essential for long-term recovery, though, so start them now, but be patient with your progress.

Custom orthotics

Some doctors and online sources recommend custom orthotics or Plantar Fasciitis insoles as a quick fix. While these can provide pain relief, they don’t address the root cause; they only mask the symptoms. Another problem: custom orthotics take time to be made and won’t be at your door within a week.

Physical therapy

Physical therapy is an effective, conservative treatment for Plantar Fasciitis. However, in many areas of the United States, it takes a month or more to even get your first appointment with a good therapist. (That's why we founded Alleviate - to make effective physical therapy accessible to everyone.)


So, while traditional, in-person physical therapy is a proven solution for long-term recovery, it’s not always practical if you’re looking for significant relief within one week.

What’s the key to curing Plantar Fasciitis, physiologically speaking?

To effectively cure Plantar Fasciitis, especially once it's been around for more than a week or two, the treatment must focus on:

  • Transforming the tissue: Healing the microtears and scar tissue to develop a healthier, stronger plantar fascia that can support your weight and absorb shock with each step.

  • Unloading the damaged plantar fascia: Supporting the arch to reduce strain on the injured tissue and allow healing.

When left untreated, scar tissue forms on the plantar fascia
When microtears are left untreated, scar tissue forms on the plantar fascia
  • Progressive loading: Gradually increasing the load on the tissue to rebuild its capacity without causing further damage.

  • Strengthening the entire kinetic chain: Improving the strength and stability of the muscles, tendons, and ligaments in the foot, ankle, and lower leg to provide better support for the plantar fascia.

I have just one week to get Plantar Fasciitis pain under control. What can I do?

If you’re under a time crunch—whether it’s for a race, a vacation outdoors, or an important event you can't miss—you can focus on two main goals: relieving pain and reducing the load on your plantar fascia. 

Focus 1: Relieving the pain

A targeted, professional-level massage releases tension and restores the arch
A targeted, professional-level massage releases tension and restores the arch

Use a Plantar Fasciitis massager like the Arch Massager to release tension and reduce pain in your arch and heel. Just 2-3 minutes a day makes a significant difference in your pain levels and your ability to walk comfortably. The Arch Massager replicates the instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization technique used by physical therapists, allowing you to give yourself professional-level relief.

Focus 2: Reducing the load on the plantar fascia

The Alleviate Loft 2 brace relieves Plantar Fasciitis pain.
The Alleviate Loft 2 Brace relieves Plantar Fasciitis pain by lifting the arch.

Wearing a Plantar Fasciitis brace, such as the Loft 2 Brace, during activities that would otherwise cause pain can protect the sensitive tissue from further damage and let healing start. By unloading the injured tissue, you can both relieve pain and allow the fascia to recover.

Want to simplify your Plantar Fasciitis healing?

If this feels like a lot to warp your head around, you are not alone! To remove guesswork from your recovery work and maximize its at-home physical therapy benefits, we recommend using our Plantar Fasciitis System 2.


Once you order the System, you can start doing the strengthening exercises right away in the Alleviate App, as you wait for your Brace and Massager to arrive in a few days. You'll start feeling the pain reduce from the gentle moves at the start of the exercise program.


On the day of your big event, make sure to prepare by massaging your foot in the morning and minimize pain and strain on the plantar fascia by wearing the Loft 2 Brace in your shoe.

What not to do to heal Plantar Fasciitis quickly

Some "Plantar Fasciitis quick fixes" are more detrimental than helpful. We'd recommend avoiding these in particular: 

  1. Cortisone Shots: Some doctors recommend corticosteroid injections (cortisone shots) for Plantar Fasciitis pain. While these shots can reduce pain temporarily, they don’t address the underlying issue, and the medication can cause long-term damage to the surrounding tissue, making full recovery even more difficult.

  2. Overdoing the Exercises: When you have an aggressive timeline to take care of Plantar Fasciitis, it can be tempting to push yourself hard with exercises. (Especially true if you're a Type A high achiever!) However, loading the tissue too quickly can exacerbate the problem. It’s essential to follow a progressive loading plan that gradually strengthens the plantar fascia without causing additional stress. If your pain increases from exercises, that’s a sign that you’re overdoing it (or not sequencing the exercises right).

  3. Not Taking Action: The worst thing you can do is nothing. Plantar Fasciitis rarely goes away on its own, especially once it’s become chronic. Taking proactive steps early on is crucial to speeding up recovery and preventing long-term issues.

Key Takeaways for your recovery

Early Intervention is Key: If you catch Plantar Fasciitis in its acute stage (within the first week of symptoms), significant improvement or potential cure within one week is possible by resting, avoiding aggravating activities, and taking strategic actions quickly.

Chronic Cases Require Longer Recovery: Chronic Plantar Fasciitis, characterized by repetitive stress and tissue changes, cannot be fully cured in a week. However, pain can be managed with techniques like massage, braces, and NSAIDs to set a foundation for recovery.

Pain Relief and Load Management: Key strategies include using massagers to relieve tension and wearing supportive braces to reduce strain on the plantar fascia, allowing it to begin healing.

Bring home the Plantar Fasciitis treatment that works

Alleviate was founded by a patient-and-clinician duo to bring the effective chronic pain treatment from physical therapy offices to everyone's home. With our Plantar Fasciitis System 2, that includes the Guided Recovery Program, you can use the Alleviate Method to recover from Plantar Fasciitis at home. No physical therapy appointments required!

Luke Ferdinands, physical therapist and Alleviate co-founder

Luke Ferdinands, Physical Therapist & Co-Founder


A New Zealand-trained physical therapist with over 20 years of experience, Luke developed the Alleviate Method to bring the gold standard of physical therapy care to everyone's home. Luke leads the development of physical tools and digital physical therapy content, focusing on driving clinical outcomes for people with chronic musculoskeletal pain conditions like Tennis Elbow, Plantar Fasciitis, Runner's Knee, and more.