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Running with PF? (Read 1755 times)

danworley


    i'd like to put my two cents in.  i have had plantar on and off again for over two years.   Usually it is more of a nuisance than anything and i just warmed up slowly and ran on it and the pain went away as i warmed up.  But i have had a bad flareup and did everything under the sun to get it better and was unable to run for several weeks. but several things came through

     

    It is encouraged to run through/with plantar fasciitis.  You need to get fitted for correct shoes and maybe have orthotics or superfeet moified by a podiatrist. Also taping your feet with athletic tape to support the arch can help.  modify your stride length and pace.  the slower you run and the smaller the stride length the less stress on the plantar.  So easy runs and no tough speed work. 

     

    Where good footwear all of the time including at home and when you get out of bed at night.

     

    if a lot of pain in the morning get a strassburg sock to wear at night to prevent plantar flexion at night. 

     

    Get to a professional running specialist--podiatrist , phyiscal therapist or chiropractor.  They can help you and alleviate your fears.  They can also help you weed through all the advice as most of the advice given is good but it depends on what to do based on where you are in your injury process. 

     

    Lots of good advice and treatment ideas on this page.  currently i am doing a golf ball massage as i type this-then my shoe goes back on. 

    wickedlady


      2 things to add that haven't been mentioned:

       

      1. Stretch every morning before getting out of bed.  All night long, the fascia tighten; this is why it often hurts the most first thing in thr morning.  When you just get out of bed and plunk down on your foot, you end up re-injuring it every day.  Making sure I stretched out my calf and foot for a few minutes before getting out of bed alleviated this a lot.

      2. Taking fish oil every day.  As a natural anti-inflammatory, I believe this also helped aid my recovery.


      Menace to Sobriety

        To answer the OP's question, I never really stopped running because of it. It normally wasn't an issue once I got going and warmed up, but could be pretty painful when I first got up in the morning or sat for a long time.

         

        I had kind of the opposite experience with PF as some of the other posters. I was running in a more flexible non structured shoe when I got PF. Switched to a motion control (slight) and it eventually went away. I guess the moral of the story is there is no "one size fits all" cure, except maybe taking time off, but who wants to do that?

        Janie, today I quit my job. And then I told my boss to go f*** himself, and then I blackmailed him for almost sixty thousand dollars. Pass the asparagus.

          I've had it on & off for years.  The worst it ever was, was last year in Aug-Sept.  I ran a 5k in Sept. and the pain was so bad it was shooting up my leg, and I ended up running on the side of my foot for the last mile.  My hip hurt for a few days after that.  I didn't run again until it calmed down, and after a week or two, it was back to being mild.  Not sure what happened those 2 months but it was really painful.  I did another 5k in December and it was fine then. 

           

          The way I keep mine mostly at bay is NEVER EVER EVER going barefoot, and I always wear shoes with solid arch support.  No flip flops or cheap flimsy shoes.  Not even keds-type shoes.  I have helfinger (or whatever the fancy brand is) slippers even, and I wear them around the house until I sit down on the bed at night, and they get slipped back on before I take a step out of bed.  That, and the golf ball trick, seem to keep it mild for me.

          Michelle

          jdais


            PF bothered me for a few months until I strengthened my feet and calves.  I guess it got inflammed when I changed to a mid-foot striker.  Stretching at night/morning, icing after a run, and an adequate warm up keeps it away.  I no longer need to wear arch supports in my shoes and can walk barefoot on wood floors.  I am flat footed, but motion control shoes did not help, so I changed to a more flexible shoe(support) and it helped out a lot.

            Swim , Bike, and Run A LOT

              I'm at about a year and a half of having it I guess. If I ignore it then it gets so bad the next day after a run that I can't really walk (over time anyway). Lately I've decided that's no longer an option, especially since I backpack as well, and there isn't exactly ice available in the middle of the woods.


              I now try to take care of it, though I'm still running (more and more as I'm training for a race a few months away actually). Ice roll and lots of flexing and stretching have so far done a lot to help. It's now fairly minimal most days, even with a long run before. I'm getting custom orthotics made this week so hopefully in a few weeks I'll get to start trying those and seeing if they'll help me.


              The barefoot/FiveFingers etc. thing definitely didn't help, it made things much much worse I think. This may be because I have extraordinarily high arches, as well as some other really bizarre bone structure that can't be seen without an x-ray. 


              Rest won't necessarily help with PF though (certainly didn't for me anyway), so you don't have much choice except to run with it and ignore it, or run with it and do the things you should do (according to whatever treatment plan you want) to take care of it. Or not run I guess, but that's kind of like cutting off a leg, so maybe not the best plan.



              ~J


              Half Fanatic #846

                Wow - for every thing that seemed to work for one person, that same thing seemed not to work for another.  So the "cure" seems to be experimenting with various recommendations, hoping to find a solution.  In some cases, it may be nothing more than time that's needed. Before getting into running, I recall having PF on the right  foot many years ago that simply went away after about 6 weeks - all I did was to "take it easy" by not placing very much stress on that foot.  

                 

                I have high arches and believe that barefoot running helped me get rid of my most recent PF.  X-rays also showed that as a result of this much longer bout of PF, I have two opposing bone spurs on the afflicted heel, but so far am unable to tell (just like the arthritis the x-ray tech so helpfully pointed out to me).  Or maybe the PF was going away anyway about the time I quit wearing regular shoes and started running barefoot.  Who knows?  Obviously, there are way too many variables to point to any universal remedy.  So IMHO, the PF antidote lies in experimentation and time

                 

                Sorry to add the possibility of bone spurs to the mix.  PF has been described as the curse of all running injuries - no wonder it's so frustrating! 

                "I don't always roll a joint, but when I do, it's usually my ankle" - unk.         "Frankly autocorrect, I'm getting a bit tired of your shirt".                  I ran half my last race on my left foot!                                  

                ezrida


                  Hi

                   I am also running and I am dealing with plantar fasciitis for more than a year now. There are many things you can do to treat your PF although I understood that treatment efficiency is very individual. If something works for one it may not work for the other.

                  I understand that you did try taping? I have found it very useful. Taping will keep your foot from getting injured again and will help you get through your daily routine. There are a few Taping techniques you can find in YouTube - just type "Plantar Fasciitis Taping" in YouTube search.

                  Think about your gait. This is the key for your recovery.

                  Try swimming and riding a bicycle. I used to run and I got plantar fasciitis so I started to swim and cycle. Today I’m better with my PF so I ended up as a triathlete.

                  I also found a very informative website in: http://www.plantar-fasciitis-elrofeet.com

                  Take care & Good luck

                   

                   

                  <script></script>


                  My prewash:)

                    I haven't tried taping yet, but plan to.  The thing with pf is that it is so hard to compare to other people.  For me, going barefoot around the house helps as well as gently stretchning my calves.  The sock does help me a lot.  I ran yesterday and after about 1.5 miles the pain went away and is not real bad this morning.  Orthotics were not helpful for me, but running in a less structured shoe seemed to help.  Some people I know have opted for surgery or cortisone shots which are not an option for me.  I do have bone spurs in heels, but research says these really don't bother you once the inflammation is down.

                     

                    I am going to try fish oil and taping.  The feet exercises help also.  If someone could find a cure for this one, they would be a millionaire!

                     

                    I am also a triathlete of the sprint and oly nature so I try to cross train as work allows.  Biking and swimming are really good for me to rest the foot.

                    "Carpe Diem"

                    RunrGreg


                    @RunrGreg

                      Recovering from PF is far less complicated than all that.

                       

                      To allow the plantar fascia time to heal, you have to stop using it.  Just pick your feet up.  Stop pushing off with your toes.  And after you recover, don't go back to pushing off with your toes.

                      gregw


                        Recovering from PF is far less complicated than all that.

                         

                        To allow the plantar fascia time to heal, you have to stop using it.  Just pick your feet up.  Stop pushing off with your toes.  And after you recover, don't go back to pushing off with your toes.

                         

                        This is a good point.  I'm re-injured mined trying to consciously lengthen my stride in a race.

                        If you don't have flexible shoes though, it's hard to just pick up your heels without toeing off.  The combination of not toeing off and wearing flexible shoes is what I think helped me.  As was said before though, everyone seems to be an experiment of one with PF.


                        My prewash:)

                          To allow the plantar fascia time to heal, you have to stop using it.  Just pick your feet up.  Stop pushing off with your toes.  And after you recover, don't go back to pushing off with your toes.

                           

                           

                           

                          Confused about this one.  How do you run and not push off your toes? 

                          "Carpe Diem"

                          nextyearcubs


                            I had it last fall, and orthotics (in my day-to-day shoes) and superfeet insoles (in my running shoes) did the trick in a few weeks.  My case was a little different than most, I had pain in the front of the foot, just behind the big toe.  I would run for a couple of miles pain-free, but after two miles the pain was back and it only became more intense as I continued.  It felt like my foot was literally falling apart in my shoe, and I tried running on the outside of my feet which only made things worse.  The next day I'd be able to walk pain-free, so I would rest it a week and try again, only to re-injure it.

                             

                            I have flat feet, and even though I was running in Brooks Beasts, this wasn't enough support.  I tried to do "research" in the internet and didn't find very much out there, because most cases of PF are felt in the heel.  I couldn't even find out what I had.  A trip to a podiatrist (which I should have just done from the start) was what it took to get me back running again, it was amazing what a little arch support could do.  I was able to run seven miles pain-free that day, and I did the Chicago Marathon (poorly, I might add, from the lack of training while I rested the foot) the next weekend, with only a little bit of pain late in the marathon. 


                            If you're confused from all the different remedies, that is because the PF is big ligament and it can be inflamed at various places from various causes.  If you have health insurance, seeing a podiatrist can save you time and money.  

                            5K 20:20 9/17/11 13.1 1:36:58 6/12/11 26.2 3:34:19 9/23/2012

                              I've started getting heel pain about two months ago. I'm glad I found this page it's got lots of good things to try out. So far I've done stretching, massage, and taping. The taping is really giving me a break from the pain.


                              #artbydmcbride

                                Confused about this one.  How do you run and not push off your toes? 

                                 Run like a duck?  Confused

                                 

                                Runners run

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