Eased pain but not entirely comfortable
Having suffered from Plantaar Fasciitis for nearly a year, I saw a Swedish specialist who advised me to buy one of these, as this was standard practice in his home country. I thought it strange that I should go away having to purchase something and was skeptical, but desperate enough to give ANYTHING a try. Running a pub and having an 8 year old daughter leaves me little time to sit down. I have found that the pain has eased tremendously - testament to the fact that i was actually able to go to a wedding reception and wear HIGH HEELS and dance the night away with only slight discomfort (I wasn't wearing the brace obviously) Something I would not have been able to do before. However, I have very narrow ankles and find it difficult to get a proper position for the Achilles heel pads to work completely effectively. It has to be put on really tightly and the air pads pulled down really low to work. After a couple of weeks I started to get itchiness around the back of the heel and had to stop wearing it. I have gone back to the arch supports I bought in Boots. But I would say that without the initial assistance from the air heel I would not be walking anywhere near as well as I am now and overall they are worth it, although expensive. I have also found that by combining the arch support and air cast at night it has helped to stretch the tendon at night which also helps with the heeling process.