First Steps: A 12-Week Plan to Calm Plantar Heel Pain (Plantar Fasciitis)

If your heel stabs you on the first steps of the morning, eases after a few minutes, then aches again after a long shift or a walk, you are in very large company. The advice is rarely missing; it is scattered, contradictory and seldom comes with a plan you can follow long enough to work. This book turns the current evidence into that plan.

Who it is for

Adults with plantar heel pain (plantar fasciitis) who want a structured self-management plan: people who stand on hard floors all day, runners, people carrying higher body weight, and anyone who has already tried insoles, stretches or splints without a clear programme.

What you will do with it

• Check that it is the right problem, using a two-minute red-flag and look-alike list
• Score your starting point (first-step pain and three other measures) so you can see real change
• Follow a 12-week plan built on five short protocols, with a minimum version for busy days and a full version when you have time
• Handle flare-ups with a written flare plan, and know when and how to escalate

What is inside

• What is happening in your heel, and why it is more about overloaded tissue than a spur
• Red flags and look-alikes that need a clinician, not a home plan
• The heel scorecard and the week-by-week plan with exact progressions
• Shoes, insoles, heel cups, tape and splints: an honest guide to what is worth buying
• Your situation: shift workers, runners, higher body weight, diabetes, over 60, pregnancy
• Pain relief, medicine safety and the flare plan
• When home care is not enough: injections, shockwave and surgery, with the evidence for each
• Printable tools: 12-week tracker, heel scorecard, daily routine card, shoe and home checklist, clinic visit sheet
• 140 cited sources from a register of 188, with weaker evidence labelled in the text

What you receive

• PDF edition: fixed-page layout that keeps the exercise drawings, tables and tools as designed; best for printing.
• EPUB edition: reflowable text for compatible e-readers and reading apps. Tables and tools are easiest to use in the PDF.

Both files are delivered as downloads after purchase.

Please note

This is general health education, not medical advice, and it cannot diagnose you. Use the red-flag checklist before starting, and stop and seek care if a red flag applies or symptoms worsen. Plantar heel pain usually improves but often slowly: plan for 12 weeks of steady work and expect improvement rather than a guaranteed cure. Information was checked in November 2026.