Customer Reviews

Form Fit PLANTAR FASCITIS Night SPLINT MEDIUM

5 star:		(45)
4 star:		(33)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

Some comments about night splints for people with plantar fasciitis:

What's the purpose of a night splint? One of the hallmark symptoms of plantar fasciitis is that you have excruciating pain when you take your first steps in the morning. Why does this happen? Because the plantar fascia TIGHTENS over night as you sleep. So, when you get out of bed and put your bodyweight on your foot, well, this suddenly stretches it and..... ouch!

What does a night splint do and how does it work? Night splints keep the plantar fascia STRETCHED OUT all night. So, because the plantar fasciia STAYS stretched, you can get up in the morning and start walking without pain. Even more importantly, because you haven't stepped on a tight plantar fascia in the morning, which irritates it and damages it even more, you've eliminated further stress- which gives it a chance to heal.

Do they work? Yes. As summarized in the book The 5-Minute Plantar Fasciitis Solution, there are numerous clinical trials that have shown that night splints are indeed quite effective at getting rid of plantar fasciitis.

If you're up for trying this treatment for your plantar fasciitis, be aware that you have to wear a night splint ALL night long for it to really work, so, pick one that looks like something you could actually sleep in. The BIRD & CRONIN PLANTAR FASCITIS SPLINT MEDIUM is a little bulkier than some, such as the Futuro brand- BUT THEY ALL DO THE SAME THING. It's simply a matter of finding the most comfortable one for you. Some of the things I do like about this particular model is:

-has lots of nice soft padding for comfort and protection against skin irritation
-fits either the right or the left foot
-available in different sizes

Thanks for the previous reviews to convince me to purchase this product. I have achilles tendonitis and a heel spur on my left foot. The pain is (was) an inch from the bottom of my heel just left of center.
I have had days recently where I limped all day because of the pain. I have been wearing the brace at night for about 4 weeks. I have had several 'pain free' days in the past week for the first time in a year. The first steps out of bed are just 'tender' at worst.
The brace is slightly awkward in bed but you get used to it. I keep the velvro super loose because of comfort and it still works like a champ.
This product has done more for me in 4 weeks than sixteen 45-minutes sessions of physical therapy.
I'm a coach, balloonist, and 38 year old school teacher and am pumped up about the prospect of lots of physical activity with my 4 and 6 year old kids again. Wow.

I'm going to make this as extensive as possible to try and help others out. I wish someone had told me what I know now.

I've been suffering from plantar fasciitis for about 5 months now in my right foot. About a year ago I noticed the fallen arch in my right foot and began experiencing knee pain related to the flat foot. I've been wearing Super Feet insoles since then and everything seemed fine. After a long period of flip-flop wearing and running, I developed PF in the same foot and have been in pretty incredible pain since then. I went to my podiatrist who gave me a cortisone injection and for about a week my foot was fine. The pain slowly started back and unfortunately my whole leg began to hurt because of the odd way I was walking to prevent the pain.

After doing some online research and with the blessing from my podiatrist that my insoles were great I began a buying binge on Amazon for any and all potential cures. I tried the 5-minute PF solution, heel cups, archxercizer, and pro-stretch. I did not have any luck with the archxercizer, heel cups, PF solution. I'm not saying anyone else won't, but simply they didn't work for me. The heel cups weren't hitting the right spot, the PF solution didn't give me the feeling I was supposed to be experiencing from the stretches, and the archxerciser was just awkward.

The pro-stretch did provide short term relief by stretching out my calf, but the pain would usually creep back within a few minutes. This also didn't alleviate the terrible first step out of bed pain that typically accompanies PF. I've been trying this night splint for about a week and while I originally had a lot of problems getting the fit right, has been wonderful. The first time I wore it, my foot kept going numb because of pressure from the straps. I encourage you to keep at it, eventually you'll find the fit that lets you sleep all night with it on. I've now had three pain free morning that lead to fairly pain free days after wearing the night splint. No pain walking around in the morning and continued throughout the day. I can't tell you how thrilled I am by the results. It's a bit soon to write this review, since I don't know how long I'll have to continue to wear before the results stick. Rest assured if my thoughts on this product dip at all, I will revise.

Hope this helps.

Before seeing a podiatrist, my primary care doc suggested a night splint. Based on user reviews, I purchased this one.

I used this product for a week, and could never sleep through the night. No problems with circulation, but in the middle of the night, the pressure from the bottom plate against the ball of my foot would become unbearable. I tried different tension adjustments, but never got it right. Also a big hassle if you need to get up in the middle of the night for anything, since you can not walk on it. It's a little cumbersome with all the velcro straps.

When I did see a podiatrist, he said night splints don't work. He recommended Superfeet inserts (superfeet.com) and some physical therapy exercises (see below). Within a week, I'm feeling 90% better.

You can get Superfeet on Amazon.com but I'd recommend looking for a shoe store that carries them, where they can fit you properly. I've come to understand that every case of plantar fasciitis is a little different, but after several weeks of pain and false starts, here's what is finally working for me:

1. Superfeet inserts
2. 5 minute calf stretch (per leg) before getting out of bed each morning, using a belt
3. 5 minutes (per foot) of the massage ball before getting out of bed
4. After work, massaging the foot by rolling it along a frozen water bottle for 10 min
5. Standing calf stretches for 2 min per leg
6. 5 more minutes of the massage ball before going to bed.

You can find the stretches online. Look for ones that stretch both the gastroc and soleus muscles of the calf. Hamstring and quadricep stretches are helpful too.

I've learned that even if you're feeling better, you should continue with at least some of the exercises. It can take months, even years to completely heal. Hope this helps.

This splint is a bit tough to fit. If you fit it too snug, your heel rises (which is the opposite of what you're trying to get), and the toes get numb. Still, it really did help me a lot. I don't want to plant false hope in anyone, but it's night and day the way my heel feels now as opposed to pre-splint. So I would say get a splint for sure; if it's this one, then size up (it runs very small); and don't fit it too tight. Good luck.

I've had PF for 6-7 months. I can't seem to beat it. I'm a runner and ABSOLUTELY HATE not being able to go jogging, or walking or anything without pain. It sucks.
I ordered this brace after reading the reviews.
I've worn the brace now for 3 nights, and already there is no pain when I get out of bed in the morning. Although I still have pain as I go through the day. I'm hoping with time it will go away completely. Overall, it's been a great product so far. The other posters on here are correct in what they said..
I will update my progress on here for others to read.
Good luck!

*** I'm putting this review on all sizes of this product, sorry for any redundancy. I'm hoping it will be helpful for anyone considering it ***

I have been wearing this splint for about a month now to combat a pretty severe case of plantar fasciitis and want to update you on the effectiveness and my experience with it. My plantar fasciitis was caused primarily by weighing too darn much, plus moving into a house with mostly hardwood floors and walking around barefoot/in socks without foot support. I had never heard of the injury until it was too late.

First of all the product. I started out with the medium size based on my shoe size but my toes stuck out over the edge and my foot felt kind of squished so I switched to the large. My foot size is "around" 10 or so, I would suggest going to the large if you have any question.

How I adjusted the straps. The top strap keeps the thing from sliding up and down and as such I have that one somewhat tight. The middle strap (goes kind of over your ankle) is important in that it keeps your foot in the proper position. If too loose, your foot can position so that the ligament is not stretched properly and can tighten overnight. So I tighten this strap as much as comfortable so that my ankle can't bend and separate from the device much. If you find you can point your toes downward, then this strap is probably too loose. The bottom strap (over the top of your foot) is not as important in positioning as long as the middle ankle strap is correct, and I have that one quite loose. The bottom one if too tight is very uncomfortable and cuts off circulation in my case. As far as the side straps, pull them tighter to increase the stretch, generally just a gentle stretch is all you need. If you change these side straps much, you will need to adjust the other 3. This is just what finally worked fairly comfortably and effectively for me, your experience might be different. I definitely agree it does take some getting used to.

Effectiveness - I had immediate relief for that "first step" in the morning. I was able get out of bed and walk normally where before using this product I was hopping around on my good foot for about 5 minutes. I could not put any weight at all on my bad foot. My foot pain was not entirely gone, but felt just "normal" as though it was during the day. I also now have orthotics designed for plantar fasciitis in every pair of shoes/slippers I own (fortunately I am male so that is not many ;-)..) and am very careful not to walk on any non-cushioned surface without these orthotics.

Is my injury "fixed"? Not yet. I think if I were to go a night without this splint I would still be in a lot of pain in the morning. So this has reduced/eliminated that problem but I still have to wear it and of course the goal is a "cure" and no longer needing to wear it. I have a feeling that overall my problem is improving, and if I continue to wear the orthotics and use this product it MIGHT over time go away. It took a long time to get the injury and I'm just trying to be patient in my self-treatment of it. At some point I may see a podiatrist but for right now this is sufficient.

I'll update this review if I have any major breakthroughs.

In the meantime, I would recommend it highly at least for relief of morning pain.

***** Update 9/28/10. My foot has been feeling better so tried a couple nights without the splint. It wasn't as bad as before (about like after an hour or two nap) but gradually worsened. I started wearing it again and better in the morning and all day. Just have to be PATIENT I guess. But the goal is to not hurt/injure the foot so anything which prevents pain is important. Just not ready to stop wearing it yet. But I'm hoping soon with the other steps, not quite yet. Still keeping up with the orthotics.

***** Update 11/18/10 (last one). I think I've reached the break-even point where the inconvenience of the splint (although not bad) outweighs the benefit I get. At most 10 to 15 seconds of stretch is all I need now in the morning to be quite comfortable and now I'm also quite comfortable all day. I still use and will continue using inserts (plus have lost 23 lbs, yay, 44 more to go). But for now I consider my plantar fasciitis if not cured, at least very livable and tolerable. I expect it to continue to improve still.

Was this product worth it? It certainly helped with the extreme discomfort and for that I would definitely recommend it. I'm not sure that it helped with my (near) cure, but it certainly wasn't a good thing to allow that ligament to tighten up so badly every night. I'm fairly convinced that the overnight stretch did at least speed the process. If you can stand to wear it, I would say it is definitely worth it.

I have bilateral plantar fasciitis; mild in one foot, severe in the other. At first I had tried the BIRD & CRONIN splint from my podiatrist but found the narrow straps cut into my ankle if I tightened them enough to get a good flexion.

I had spent many hours researching and reading reviews looking for a splint with wide straps that wouldn't cut into the top of my foot, accommodate my high dorsal arch, was low profile to allow me to turn in bed with both feet splinted.

I tried the Night Splint Body Armor Darco, which is a DORSAL splint. I liked the idea of the toe loop to give my foot the dorsal-flexion it needed. Unfortunately the dorsal splint did not meet up with my expectations. At most with this dorsal splint on I was able to get my foot to stay in a neutral position, no flexion. That was only after tightening the straps so tight as to ending up with numbness on the top of my foot. Loosening the straps allowed my foot to be able to slide forward enough to make it ineffective. After adding a 1 inch thick foam pad to the front of my foot/calf was I able sleep with the splint in place all night. Positives: It was light weight, comfortable, easy to walk in. I think this one may work for some.

Third I tried the Swede-O Deluxe Padded Plantar Fasciitis Night Splint. This was by far the most comfortable. The straps were wide and I was able to strap my foot in well enough that I had a solid splint. It also comes with a extra wedge to increase flexion. (I did not try this) I had the same complaints as others. I wear a womens 9 and ordered the smaller size Medium. the splint is still fairly big and I think I could have even gone with a size small. The velcro is very strong and the edges of the velcro can be irritating. Positive/negative: as it is very well padded my foot got too warm to be comfortable (and this is winter in Wisconsin) I doubt I would be able to stand it in warmer weather.

I am back to using the BIRD & CRONIN splint. I found that if I cross the two bottom straps I get a snug fit that doesn't cut into the top of my foot and keeps it flexed. This one is very open and allows for my feet to stay cool. Still bulkier than I would like, it will have to do.

I have tried several night splints for my plantar fascitis. This one is by far the most comfortable to wear and the easiest to put on. It takes a little while to find the right "settings" for the straps. At first I had trouble with my foot falling asleep or aching. But once I got the straps set right it was easy due to the quick-release buckles. And the ability to adjust the angle of the stretch is the best feature of all!

I'm 54 years old and noticed a pain in my left heal about 2 months ago. I thought it was due to walking uphill on a treadmill at the gym; so I cut that out. My pain didn't go away, so I stopped taking daily walks. Then I started staying off my feet altogether, as much as possible. Not only did the pain not go away, but it continued to get worse. It got so bad that I could hardly walk those first few steps when getting out of bed in the morning. I knew I needed to see a doctor, but decided to check on the web to see what I could find out about my condition.

I found out that I may have had a condition called plantar fasciitis. So I ordered this splint. I was happy to see it show up in only a few days. I wore it the night it arrived - all night. It was a little uncomfortable but not too bad. I am very happy to say that the pain in my foot was about 80% gone when I woke up in the morning. And the improvment held throughout the day. I dont know if it will get better over time, but I think it will. I'm so happy about this that I had to write this review.

If you have a problem with your heal when you get out of bed in the morning, and throughout the day, give this product (or one like it) a try. There's a good chance it will work for you, as it has worked for me.

Note: There are no affiliate links here, and I'm not trying to sell anyone anything. Just trying to help.