Running with Plantar Faciitis (Read 347 times)

Here's my experience, to add to the pile.  I just got back from an office visit with the podiatrist for PF after a difficult training season and disappointing fall marathon.  I've had foot pain since summer 2013, and in spring 2014 used OTC orthotics (superfeet green) at doctor's recommendation while working through achilles paratenonitis.  Got out of them for the summer '14 , PR'd in fall '14, trained ok in the winter, but got increasing heel / foot pain this spring and summer.  Went back into the OTC orthotics this summer when my feet hurt during the run for the first time ever.  It got worse, changed my stride, and I spent the last 6.2 of the fall mara promising myself that I'd fix this before racing again.

I have flat feet and the podiatrist (sports podiatry trained, sub-3:00 marathoner who trains in our club program) demonstrated a number of tight muscle / weak core issues I have that encourage further flattening of the feet / stress on the fascia while running.  He also showed me some errors I made when fitting the superfeet.  He discouraged cortisone and cold therapy, encouraged core strengthening, stretching, rolling, orthotics (custom), and ESWT.  I'm going to try all of the encouraged stuff except for the ESWT, but I'll try that if I'm not better by New Years.  I'm also going to cut way back on the mileage and a little on the frequency.  I won't get cortisone under any circumstances.

The orthotics seem like the only thing unusual - everything else seems like stuff that every runner ought to be doing all the time.  Anyone have a favorite strength training routine for runners to point me to?

I'm 1 year into a bout of PF that has wavered between severe/debilitating and just annoying.

 

In my experience, taking time off running appears to be the worst thing I can do. Stretching my calves, rolling my calves with a foam roller, and rolling my feet with a lacrosse ball help as long as I'm consistent with it. Wearing beefier/more slightly posted shoes has helped. Avoiding dress shoes also helps, as does being barefoot as much as possible. The only thing I haven't tried that I think would help is sleeping in a strassburg sock (which I still may try). Very often I wind up sleeping on my stomach with my left foot (the one with the PF) hanging off the  bed so that my ankle can rest at a 90 degree angle.

 

I'm in a zone where running in the Hoka Clifton 2's, rolling my feet several times a week and stretching my calves almost every day has me on a very slow improving trajectory and I can run. The first mile or two of every run is usually a bit painful, but then things loosen up and I'm basically fine. I've even been able to run in flats and spikes for my last 2 races while still doing 90% of my weekly running in the Hokas.

 

If my PF only bothered me for the first couple of steps in the morning, I'd consider myself 100% uninjured. That just sounds like being a runner to me.

I'd like to revise my answer I reached a breaking point about a month ago, stopped running for 3 full weeks, and started sleeping in the Strassburg Sock. That thing is magic. My foot is by far the best it's been in over a year. More to follow.

I had pretty bad PF a few year ago and nothing seemed to help.    Went to Podiatrist and he did some work (Strapping) and it helped some.

One day in CVS I can across some Dr Sholls PF Inserts.   The inserts were only $8.00 so I bought some and put them in my street shoes.   The PF went away in about 7 days.

Not going to work for everyone but for me they were like magic - but for you or anyone else worth a try.

I sometimes suspect PF just disappears when it is good and ready to....and whatever method you were using to combat it at the time it goes makes you think you found the cure. 

Yeah, I fear that's the case with several of our ailments.

I'm not entirely sure if you should run through the pain, but usually the hurting stops when I stretch and get warmed up. It's common for it to only happen to one foot, but it's better if you massage and stretch both feet. Do it first in the morning, and repeat three times during the day.

What ever you do, DO NOT RACE IF IT IS FEELNG BAD. I had it this fall and I thought that it would go away. After about a month it kept getting worse. Then I did the Navy mile race in DC and with 200 to go I TORE MY PLANTAR FACIA. Quite possibly the worst feeling ever you feel a pop and it moves and you can barely walk let alone run. So take care of it. Use a golf ball and do the PT recover for PF Tears now to strengthen it up. Trust me you do not want to tear it. Listen to your body

I had a fairly severe case in high school (10ish years ago), and I still occasionally deal with its after effects. The tendons in the bottoms of my feet still stick out more than they did beforehand. The pain is mostly gone at this point, but it does come back if I'm on my feet for too long without proper arch support or if I wear shoes that are too tight.

I found that, in addition to stretching my calves better and rolling something along the bottoms of my feet, icing helps immensely. My favorite treatment was to freeze a plastic water bottle, and roll my feet on that; it combines icing and massaging, very helpful.

I've heard of plantar fasciitis from dancers, too. People really do have different ways of dealing with it. Some stretching and ice massage seems to do it for me.