Post-partum heel pain?

[looseseal]

I am 3 1/2 mos. post partum.  I have been noticing pain in my heels when I first stand after being seated or lying down, and it seems to be getting worse.  It's sharp, like a tendon pain maybe? I'm bad at describing this stuff, lol. The pain subsides after I've taken a couple of dozen steps.  It doesn't seem to matter what shoes I was wearing that day, and doesn't seem to be affected by whether I'm wearing shoes at the time.
Anyway, anyone else experienced this? Is it silly to think this is post-partum related, or am I just getting old? Would you see your GP or OB?

[katandkevin]

It sounds like plantar fasciitis. I am not sure it is related to being post partum. I would see a podiatrist or your gp.

[LauraMoser]

I have this issue too. It started not longer after having my third baby. If I sit or lay down for a while, my left heel hurts like crazy to walk on at first, like there is a nail going directly into the bottom of my heel. I haven't brought it up to the doctor yet, but I'm told by others who experienced similar things that it may be a heel spur. From what I know, they eventually need surgery to remove, so I'm stalling on telling the doc because of that.  Also, I find that if I spend a lot of time on my feet during the day, then sit down for a little while, that it is quite a lot worse than on a normal day.

Take a frozen water bottle and use your heel to roll it back and forth. I find this does give me some relief.

[karmasabiotch]

No pain is off limits when you have a baby. It's worth asking a Dr. about though.

[ElizabethBennet]

OMG! I had this too. I never saw a doctor for it but I probably should have. It did eventually go away.

[looseseal]

Sept 10, 2013 22:15:17 GMT -5 ElizabethBennet said:

OMG! I had this too. I never saw a doctor for it but I probably should have. It did eventually go away.

Okay, in reality this is what I want.  To know that it's normal-ish and if I continue to ignore it/do nothing, it will just go away.  LOL, my kids are going to hate me when I'm older.  I have no leave left for this year, though, after mat leave and I'm already taking time off for so many other appointments.  I'll try to stretch it and ice it, and if it's still bothering me when I have more sick leave I'll see my doctor.

[Jalapeñomel]

Heel spur?

[flufferkitty]

I had this happen after both of my babies. After the first one I did physical therapy and wore night splints and it went away. It has been five months since I have had my youngest and it seems to do ok with calf stretching. I saw the same orthopedic doctor I see for running injuries.

[peas]

I had this and it was plantar fasciitis - I went to a podiatrist and shegave me a cortisone shot. It helped immensely (after 1-2 days of more pain since she put it directly into my heel) and I still wear inserts / ice / stretch it to make sure it doesn't come back but it was totally worth it to go get the shot. I also put it off for ~5 months and now that I know a shot can help I definitely wouldn't delay if it came back.

[peas]

Sept 10, 2013 22:45:29 GMT -5 @buster said:

I have this and it's not plantar fascitis unless it's a super mild case. I run with no problems, but first thing in the morning it hurts. Who am I kidding though, my whole body hurts in the mornings!

That's common with plantar fasciitis - it hurts the most in the morning or when you've been sitting for a while.  I too could go for a run and not feel any pain, but then feel a lot of pain with the first few steps each day.  That's why it's so easy to ignore; because once you get going during the day you think you're feeling better!   

You might still want to get it checked out or at least try the icing / stretching / inserts; my podiatrist said those are all ways of making it feel better. 

[auntie]

This isn't that unusual after pregnancy.

It's sounds like classic plantar faciitis. I would see you family doc to confirm and then hit a good shoe store. I would avoid a podiatrist because they like to operate and surgery won't necessarily improve the situation. It could make things worse.

I developed nasty bone spurs/plantar faciitis after DS was born. I was pretty crippled by the combo which impacted both my feet; chasing DS once he became a biped was hard. 

My doc gave me a antinflamatory for a few weeks and turfed me to a guy who made me semi-cutom orthotics to wear to provide serious arch support. The orthotic guy also gave me some exercises (the water bottle ice thing as well as stretches I do before getting up each day), but the biggest help was wearing shoes with more arch support. I wore New Balance sneaks for a couple months until my feet became less angry. These days I'm OK in most shoes that fit my orthotic (Dr. Scholl's are just about as good as my semi-customs, btw)- a slight heel is good. I do OK in Danskos, Birks and Abeos. So long as I avoid flip flops and cute ballet shoes as a regular daily shoe, my feet no longer bother me and I avoided foot surgery.

[JayhawkGirl]

I had this after DS and my ob was clueless. Fast forward to this year and one of my best friends has it postpartum, but actually has an orthopedic dr who specializes a bit in postpartum madness. Friend is in a boot to help,keep,it stretched and has had good relief.

If it happens again with this pregnancy I'll be headed to her dr. Four years ago I could find exactly nothing when I googled postpartum foot pain. It's actually really reassuring to see so many others have had this.

[sunny]

Whoa me too! I haven't done anything about it. I figured it was because I wore crappy flip flops during my summer pregnancy.

[tigress]

It sounds like plantar fasciitis to me too.

When I was pregnant with my 2nd my feet started to kill and my back if I'd been on my feet for a long time and then sat/laid down for a while. I figured it was just from being pregnant.

But then I realized that 4 months after having the kid I was still having the same issues. I would get up in the middle of the night and hobble to go nurse her. It hurt when I would get up after sitting at work. So I googled my pain and self diagnosed plantar fasciitis. I started wearing supportive shoes or sandals all the time and that has pretty much fixed it for me. I don't think I had a super severe case.

[snickers]

It sounds like plantar fasciitis to me too, my mom has it and it can be awful I HOPE yours is relate to postpartum and it goes away soon.