I had it pretty bad for a year. Finally went to a podiatrist and he had me do three things. (1) Stop exercising until the inflamation goes down. This doesn't mean "slow down" or "take it easy". You have to stop. (2) Stop wearing old shoes. (I had been wearing spikes for occasional baseball, football, and soccer that I originally purchased in college. Bad idea.) You don't necessaryily need special shoes, but old ones are bad and new ones must fit. (2) Stretch the foot before and after exercise. Stretching the calf and pulling back on the toe worked for me. He also recommended a roller kind of thing for the flat of the foot, but I didn't have to do that.