Sol Step for Plantar Fasciitis and Heel Pain Relief, Embedded Ice Therapy Cold Pack, Large

I have Plantar Fasciitis. I was using KT Tape Pro synthetic tape to provide support. It worked ok but at $19.99 a roll you can't keep that up for very long! I started trying to find some braces or arch supports that I could use instead. Despite the mixed comments about this product, I decided to give it a try and I'm glad I did!I ordered 2, one for each foot. There is a gel pad in the bottom and it is not removable. The description says you can put it in the freezer, but I have not done that. There were some negative comments about this but I'm not sure what people expected. I find that it provides ample cushioning for my heel whether it is cold or not. It is a soft gel and is small so I wouldn't expect it to stay cold for any length of time. I tried some other arch supports from Flexamed and was very disappointed - don't waste your money on these  Plantar Fasciitis Arch Support (Large) . They provided absolutely no support around the arch when I velcroed them on and there is no support or cushioning for the heel area. I returned them and the company was very nice and did issue me a refund, although I had to pay for the return shipping. None of the shipping costs are refunded either.The Sol Step fits snugly enough to provide support to the heel and arch area where you typically experience the most pain. It supports almost as well as taping but has the benefits of being flexible and not having to fuss with tape constantly. It does fit in a lot of the sandals I wear and does not stand out as much as tape or other braces. It stays in place and doesn't shift around much. The gel pad and back part that comes up over the heel do slip a little at first, but once you have worn it long enough to let it mold to your foot it pretty much stays put.I wore these on a 10 day vacation that involved walking all day, hiking, and walking on sand. Because of these, I experienced significantly less pain than I would have if I had not worn them. Some days I didn't have any pain at all at the end of the day. I was able to wear them in the water and sand and all I had to do was rinse them out in some warm soapy water and hang them up to dry. They fit just as well afterwards.(Shhhh, don't tell my doctor! -> -> -> I am able to walk barefoot with only these supports on and do not experience any pain but I do typically wear them with a pair of orthotic flip flops when I'm around the house. I wear them all the time and can definitely tell the difference when I am not wearing them.These should be used in conjunction with the other methods recommended by your doctor. I do my stretches and I sleep in a Active Ankle DNS Dorsal Night Splint  Active Ankle Dns Dorsal Night Splint Small (men 5-10 Women 5-9 1/2) , It is not the highest quality of products, but it works well and I am pleased enough with it that I am going to order a second one. I prefer the dorsal splints to the other type - far less cumbersome and way more comfortable, and you can walk in them if need be.I also bought some orthotic insoles and a pair of orthotic shoes. I don't wear the Sol Steps when I wear them but I don't see any reason why I couldn't. For the ladies, I purchased some Gel Thong Sandal Inserts  Gel Thong Sandal Insoles  to wear with thong-style sandals. They provide a lot of cushion and you can easily cut them down in the back to get the right size.I have written reviews for all products (good or bad) mentioned in here. You can go to the individual products to see full descriptions.

I spent hundreds of dollars on Podiatrist visits, cortisone shots, and orthotics, and was still suffering with nerve pain in my heel. My doctor had made all the suggestions about icing my heel, but the pain was radiating from the side of my heel to the bottom.I actually looked in stores for tiny gel bags that I could freeze and put in my sock to chill the inflamation, but didn't find anything suitable. When I went on line, I stumbled upon a picture of the Sol Step with a Gel Insert, and decided someone else had experienced the same problem. I read all the pros and cons, and decided to place an order.As others have mentioned, the Sol Step gel pack does not stay cold for very long--maybe 5 minutes or so. It has a non-removeable gel pack in the heel, and does not fit very well due to the odd, open heel design that was not visible on the picture of the item. It was kind of like wearing a flip-flop with a flap that slapped your heel and moved around. The design would have been better with a closed heel.Since my pain was on the lower side of my heel, this product did not provide me with the relief I was looking for, primarily because the gel did not stay cold long enough. I did find better relief with another product (also made by Brown Medical), so I cannot say with certainty that this product would not be helpful to someone with heel pain on the bottom of their foot. It was just not good for my problem.

I bought this in desperation as many of you will. I think the padding is too thick and unnecessary if you already are wearing a heal cup like I was, the support on the arch is minimal and it was hard to wear in most of my shoes. It is really not helpful, the padding is irritating and makes your shoe tighter. I would suggest getting a support sleeve from Feetures brand instead, it's $25 but well worth it in my book. I am finally cured of PF and when I get a flare up I throw that sleeve on an immediately I can feel it helping me heal. This one is a waste of money.A note on curing yourself: as I know this condition is chronic and I had it for 2.5 years in pain. I tried everything. As I said I preferred compression sleeves (by Feetures) which I found in a local running store, for my foot and lower leg. I also found that arch support was the opposite of what I needed, I needed study shoes with little arch support contrary to what everyone recommended. PF I have found, is very directly related to tightness in the lower leg. I finally solved my terrible case of PF years with compression, ice, stretching, rolling on a ball, plastic pipe, etc. several times a day and several sessions of Active Release therapy and a well placed cortisone shot followed by (as soon as pain and tightness from shot cleared up) a 90 minute DEEP tissue massage on the inner part of my calf/shin area and foot. It hurt, but I had severe pain in the area due to tightness and once that cleared up my foot got relief. I tried other things like orthotics and physical therapy as well as acupuncture and these are the things that I felt actually helped. The coritsone was only successful when i combined it with massage, I has 6 shots in my two feet, only the last one helped. GOOD LUCK

I have heel pain occasionally and this support really help alleviate the pain when walking. The pad is slightly smaller than I’d like as it tends to shift over to time which loses the surface coverage.

Initially I was skeptical after seeing other reviews but I was desperate for relief from the Planters fasciitis. I wore I wore this for a couple of days while at work and it felt very awkward and bulky. When I walked I felt like I had a limp even more than before. However by the end of the day I did not get that burning pain in my heel like I did before. So while it may be awkward at first the results were definitely worth it, it definitely alleviated some of the pain but it is definitely not a cure.

Merci !