During my first encounter with plantar fasciitis, which lasted almost a year, one of the remedies the doctor advised was general exercise. I was allowed no more high impact activity until the plantar fasciitis got better - instead, walking.
He said to get good walking shoes, because it was important to keep walking so the fascia could heal up correctly. If I started to walk and it hurt a little but the pain got better as I went on, that was a good thing, and to keep on walking. He said to stop whenever the pain got worse. And he told me to pay extra attention to my posture and stride while walking.
I did what he said and it seemed to help - that time. I walked a lot. It would hurt at first, then ease up after a couple of minutes. If the heel started hurting after that, I'd know it was time to stop.
The next time I got plantar fasciitis in a big way was years later and things were different. This time, walking only made it hurt more. When I first put my foot down, it would hurt a lot, but that was okay, I expected that - it was supposed to get better as the foot warmed up. But it never did. The pain just got more and more intense until I had to sit down. And each day, it got worse. So during the acute phase of this second episode, walking hurt more than helped.
Then, after I started to heal up, I walked as much as I could. That seems to have helped.
From my walking and stretching experiences, I concluded that walking is very helpful, and that if walking is not possible at all, then there are probably muscles that are tight and need to be released before healing can occur. So I think being able to walk in some comfort for at least a little while is a precursor to healing plantar fasciitis. If it happens again and walking is too painful, one of the first things I will do is make sure there are no tight knots in my lower leg and knee.
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