Plantar fasciitis and shoes, by the numbers

Aggregate figures from 2,714 first-person comments by people with plantar fasciitis, collected from Reddit, running forums and YouTube. Each person is counted once per shoe. Free to quote. Last recount September 2026.

2,333

first-person verdicts on a specific shoeacross 40 shoes with enough reports to rank

21%

of those verdicts say the shoe made it worse500 of 2,333. More than one in five.

38 of 40

shoes carry at least one made-it-worse reportNo shoe in this data works for everyone.

people said the Hoka Bondi made their plantar fasciitis worseIt is also the most recommended shoe here, with 205 saying it helped. The most-discussed shoe is the most polarizing one.

92%

of Vionic wearers said it helpedThe highest rate of any shoe with at least 40 verdicts (45 of 49).

The shoes people blame most

Counted by number of people reporting the shoe made their plantar fasciitis worse. Volume matters here: a widely worn shoe collects more of both verdicts.

The most-discussed shoes

Citing this

These numbers are free to use. They change every month as new comments are read, so quote the date along with the figure:

Searching For Sole, “Plantar fasciitis and shoes, by the numbers,” September 2026. https://searchingforsole.com/plantar-fasciitis-shoe-statistics

Every figure above resolves to the individual comments behind it, and each comment links to its original post. If you want a cut that isn't here — a specific shoe, a specific group of wearers — the methodology page explains what the data can and can't support.