If you have developed a plantar fibroma you may have questions, as did I, such as “Can you shrink your plantar fibroma naturally?” and “How do you break up a plantar fibroma?” because you want to get rid of the darned things! First, to the base question, what is a plantar fibroma, and then I will tell you how I flattened (shrank, and broke up) my plantar fibroma naturally, without injections, surgery, or orthotics. In fact my fibroma went from a hard, round, pea-sized lump when I first discovered it on March 5, 2024, to barely noticeable 5 weeks later, and it has stayed flattened and ‘broken down’ ever since. I am including a picture at the bottom of the page of the things that I mention using.

What is a Plantar Fibroma?

According to the Cleveland Clinic, “A plantar fibroma is a rare benign growth on your plantar fascia, the rubber band-like ligament that stretches from your heel to your toes. Plantar fibromas are small — usually less than an inch — and grow on the arch of your foot. You might not even notice one at first, but eventually a plantar fibroma can cause foot pain, especially when you’re wearing shoes. Plantar fibromas are always benign, which means they’re never a symptom (or cause) of cancer. If you get plantar fibromas frequently, you might be diagnosed with plantar fibromatosis, a condition that means you’ve shown a tendency to develop future plantar fibromas.”

And according to PDLabs, the exclusive manufacturer of Transdermal Verapamil gel (often prescribed for plantar fibroma, PDLabs compounds it), “Plantar fibromatosis is a fibrotic tissue disorder of the plantar fascia that consists of excess collagen or fibrotic tissue. The excess collagen is commonly referred to as a fibroma.”

This was interesting to me because I have a very rare autoimmune condition, localized scleroderma, which is also related to excess collagen and which I developed while I was taking a collagen booster

Anyways, basically a plantar fibroma is a small, round lump made up of what is essentially scar tissue.

What I’ve Learned About What Does and Doesn’t Work to Get Rid of Plantar Fibromas

First, this is not by any stretch of the imagination intended to be either authoritative or exhaustive. It is not advice. It’s just my experience, based on my own research, experimentation, and experience.

After discovering my fibroma, the first thing I did (because I thought that’s what I should do) was to make an appointment with the podiatry practice here (‘here’ is in Colorado) who actually offers the enzyme injections (so lucky to have that as a resource here, at least, even if I never use them :~) ). But the more research I did while waiting for the appointment, the more that I realized it was overkill and that I wanted to reserve that as the last resort, not the first (so I cancelled the appointment).

Perhaps more importantly, in the research I did, which included joining online groups of people who also are dealing with plantar fibroma, I learned that none of the available medical treatments are permanent and some are actually worse than having the fibroma.

As a result I ruled out steroid injections as they are not a cure (they do help some for a while, but the fibromas come back), enyzme injections (ditto, plus insurance doesn’t even cover the injections), radiation which is hit or miss and may do more damage than good and, as with the injections, I’ve never heard of anyone who had it who didn’t still have fibromas come back. And surgery was a 100% no-go as it is known to cause other, irreparable damage.

So I started combing the groups and researching the net for other treatments and, more importantly for what others had found had and hadn’t worked for them, and developed my own system for treating my plantar fibroma, reducing it and beating it into submission. All of this is based on my understanding that fibroma are similar to scar tissue and so it makes sense to me that treating it similarly would be effective; when I broke my wrist (a dance injury) the doctor who was advising me told me to be sure to really work my wrist, even though it would hurt along the surgery site, because I needed to break up the scar tissue to ensure that I kept my range of motion. This is also how the enyzme injections work – the enzymes break down the scar tissue.

So what I did and am doing is based on that knowledge, and the information and experiences of people who had done the injections, physical therapy, the radiation, the surgery, and various topicals and supplements. I combined all of the topicals and actions that others had said worked for them to a greater or lesser degree, rejecting everything that either didn’t work or that worked for a while but not permanently (such as the injections and surgery).

The Result: Flattened Fibroma for the Win!

Fairly quickly my fibroma went from a hard, round, painful pea-sized marble to being flattened out and ‘crunchy’ when I rub it hard (just like broken down scar tissue). My fibroma is still there, but flattened, and it doesn’t hurt, and it doesn’t interfere with walking, working out, or generally with my life at all. I’m still working on it and I believe it will get smaller still.

At a recent visit to a podiatrist, he pronounced it “crepitus”, which in this context meant ‘crunchy’, because, hey, that scar tissue has been broken up! Going from hard and painful to flat and crepitus is exactly what you want.

How I Flattened My Plantar Fibroma without Injections, Surgery, Physical Therapy, Prescription Topicals, or Orthotics

Please note that I am including links for various items, but they are NOT affiliate links as I feel that those degrade the perceived integrity of the links; after all you can’t really know if I really love a product or service, or am just trying to make money off of it. So no affiliate links here, if you feel that I’ve provided you with good information, instead please buy me a latte through my tip jar in the upper right-hand corner of the page. :~)

Chaga and Birch Salve

My method is primarily the result of combining two primary things which others have said worked for them. First, a woman named Robin in one of the groups very graciously shared that she made a salve of chaga and birch which she rubbed on nightly, and that it had helped reduce her fibroma.

She also graciously shared how she made it, which involved taking chaga and birch and boiling and reducing them, and then sieving them and then mixing the resulting liquid with a carrier oil (I believe it was olive although I could be wrong).

I, being lazy (and also at very high risk as I’m immunocompromised so don’t really go to stores, and have no birch woods in the area) scouted around and found an awesome service that will make custom solves and essential oils for you, and had them compound a salve with chaga and birch.

They are called Willow Herb Healing and you can find them at WillowHergHealing.com. The round dark pot with the pink lid in the picture at the bottom of this page is the salve.

Deep Massage (Rubbing) of the Fibroma to Break It Up

Another woman named Pamela shared a video of how her podiatrist had shown her how to firmly rub back and forth against the fibroma with her knuckle or nail, 100 times, to help break it down, saying it had helped shrink hers to the point it no longer bothered her. I wish that I could find Pamela again to thank her, and to share her video, but it looked exactly as it sounds: she was quickly rubbing her knuckle back and forth over the fibroma, 100 times.

However instead of using my knuckle or nail, I bought a Gua Sha tool, which can be purchased on Amazon for under $10. This is a flat, stainless steel tool which is specifically made for, among other things, the breaking up of scar tissue. You can see it in the picture, it’s the flat, shiny thing. This is the one that I purchased.

I use this to scrape across my fibroma (dry foot) 100 times in the morning, then I cover the fibroma with the patch that I describe below.

Topicals

Three oils were mentioned over and over: Bergamot essential oil, Frankincense essential oil, and castor oil as a carrier. I don’t know if they help or not, but I know they can’t hurt. So, I buy these patches which are meant for you to put castor oil on them and then you put it over your belly button (the edges are adhesive), but instead I put a dollop of the salve, and a couple of drops of the castor, Bergamot, and Frankincense oils on one, and then adhere it to the bottom of my foot, over the fibroma. I wear it all day. You can see one of the patches in the picture at the bottom of this page, it’s the white square thing to the left of the salve pot.

Then at night, while sitting watching tv, I remove the patch, put a little more salve on the area, and rub it hard (with my knuckle or nail) 100 times. I could use the Gua Sha tool at night too, but, as I’ve mentioned, I’m lazy, and the tool is downstairs and the tv is upstairs and besides, I don’t want to have to wash the tool by using it with the salve. That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t though, if you want to.

Supplements

Across the net I had seen several mentions of both nattokinase, and serrapeptase, as helping. I even found one brand of serrapeptase that is vegan (as am I).

Serrapeptase and Nattokinase

Serrapeptase and nattokinase are enzymes that are known for breaking down scar tissue. “The fibrinolytic enzymes serrapeptase and nattokinase have been shown to be effective in removing fibrous scar tissue,” explains a study published in the National Institute of Health.

I take this serrapeptase and this nattokinase.

Mushroom Supplement

I also found a powdered supplement for dogs that is supposed to help with lumps, and the ingredients were all different kinds of mushrooms (including chaga!); so I found a similar supplement in capsules for people. This is the mushroom supplement I take. I generally try to do everything organic as much as possible, but I haven’t yet found a mushroom supplement that is organic and also contains all of these mushrooms.

So I am taking the nattokinase, the serrapeptase, and the mushroom complex.

A Warning About PABA

I’ve seen using a PABA supplement recommended in places. That makes sense to me because, as I mentioned above, I have localized scleroderma, which is a very rare, incurable (but fortunately superficial and benign) autoimmune condition which also is related to collagen (as are fibromas) and a doctor recommended massive doses of PABA to me, saying that it would cure it. Instead, it landed me in the hospital, putting me in a stroke-like state, and almost killed me. It turns out that (at least very large) doses of PABA are known to be toxic. In fact a note on the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) website says that “there is considerable evidence that PABA taken orally can be toxic.” You can read other reports on PABA toxicity here.

The Results! Tah-Dah!

As I mentioned, I discovered my fibroma on March 5, 2024, I discovered it when I suddenly felt very evident pain in my right foot when walking. I felt the hard, painful lump, and immediately started the research discussed above.

Fairly quickly after starting the above regimen my fibroma went from a hard, round, painful pea-sized marble to being flattened out and ‘crunchy’ when I rub it hard (just like broken down scar tissue). My fibroma is still there, but smaller, flattened, and it doesn’t hurt – I’m still working on it and I believe it will get smaller still.

I hope this has been helpful to some!