How to Cure Plantar Fasciitis in One Week

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.

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:

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 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.

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 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.

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

• 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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!