Medications

Your doctor may recommend medicine to relieve the pain and inflammation caused by plantar fasciitis. Drug treatment does not cure plantar fasciitis. But by reducing pain, medicine may make it easier for you to follow other treatment steps, such as stretching. You should not use medicine as a way to continue the activities that are causing heel pain.

Medicine options include:

• Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibuprofen (Advil or Motrin, for example), naproxen (Aleve, for example), or aspirin. You can buy these medicines without a prescription. NSAIDs are often used if you have only had symptoms of plantar fasciitis for a few days or weeks. They are less likely to work if you have had symptoms for more than 6 to 8 weeks. NSAIDs come in pills and in a cream that you rub over the sore area.
• Corticosteroid shots. Your doctor may recommend shots if you have tried other treatments for several weeks without success.¹ Doctors may recommend shots sooner for some people.

Surgery

Surgery is usually not needed for plantar fasciitis. About 95 out of 100 people who have plantar fasciitis are able to relieve heel pain without surgery. Your doctor may consider surgery if nonsurgical treatment has not helped and heel pain is restricting your daily activities. Some doctors feel that you should try nonsurgical treatment for at least 6 months before you consider surgery.¹

The main types of surgery for plantar fasciitis are:

• Plantar fascia release. This procedure involves cutting part of the plantar fascia ligament. This releases the tension on the ligament and relieves inflammation.
• Other procedures, such as removing a heel spur or stretching or loosening specific foot nerves. These surgeries are usually done in combination with plantar fascia release when there is lasting heel pain and another heel problem.

Experts in the past thought that heel spurs caused plantar fasciitis. Now experts generally believe that heel spurs are the result, not the cause, of plantar fasciitis. Many people with large heel spurs never have heel pain or plantar fasciitis. So surgery to remove heel spurs is rarely done.

For more information on making the decision about surgery, see:

Plantar Fasciitis: Should I Have Surgery for Heel Pain?