I’m not a doctor, just someone speaking from experience. After a lame-brain stint of playing basketball barefoot (this was many years ago), I strained my feet and developed plantar fasciitis. The conventional treatments, I tried: stretching and orthotics. But the more I thought about it, this seemed, well, stupid. Why would you stretch something that’s torn or strained and getting more strain every walking waking minute? So I started doing the opposite, and started clenching my foot, curling the toes down tightly, to strengthen the muscles, hoping they’d give more support, reduce the stretching of every step. It worked! In just a few weeks, the pain was gone. The problem did return a couple of times, but each time the clenching worked. Today, a local radio host was complaining about his PF not going away, saying he’s been doing all the stretching. Once I thought I read a story on the net about the strengthening approach, but I’m having trouble finding it now. Maybe it hasn’t caught on? If you’re having persistent problems, why not ask your doctor if this approach is worth a try?