Forums >Health and Nutrition>Treatment for Plantar Fasciitis
About 6 years ago I was stricken with a pretty severe case of Plantar Fasciitis. It was to the point where I lost about 6 months of serious training (needed to stop running for 2 mo., needed PT, etc). I'm currently dealing with another flare-up, but this doesn't appear to be as bad as my last case. I can still run, but the bottom of my foot is tight and feel some mild pain at times (it can come and go on my runs). I don't have any pain in the morning when I get out of bed, so I can tell it's not as bad as my last case. I'm just looking for any advice for treatment of what appears to be a mild case of PF? I have a marathon planned for this coming May, and I'm trying to decide if I need to completely take time off or if I can train through it with some modifications to training plan. I'm so afraid of making it worse like I did before. I am stretching, strengthening, wearing night splint, icing, and doing all I can now to treat it. I was wondering if a good pair of over the counter orthotics would help or some other supportive device. I pretty much know what I did to aggrivate it (increasing mileage to quickly, running too hard too often, and not easing into runs- lack of good warmup), so hopefully I can correct that. Has anyone ever dicovered a fairly quick cure for PF? Any advice is welcomed!
Thanks,Chris
Hobby Jogger Especial!
I found this information to be helpful, particularly the second link with the video about working trigger points in your calves:
http://sock-doc.com/2011/03/plantar-fasciitis/
http://sock-doc.com/2011/03/205/
Las Vegas Dave
Sounds like you need the FootWheel. http://www.amazon.com/The-Stick-FW-400-FootWheel/dp/B000P9UGIC
I had a bad case a plantars too once. I started using the wheel and it got better. Anytime I feel a flare up the wheel seems to take it away.
http://travelingbyfoot.blogspot.com/
When the going gets tough, the tough get going.
I had PF, I switched to more supportive shoes and kept both the mileage and intensity down for a bit, it gradually improved over a period of some months. I did get some treatment from a sports physio. Many people - like me - have recovered from PF whilst running through it. Most people think that complete rest will cure it faster (which may well be true) - even so you're probably talking about at least a few weeks. I don't think that there's a reliable "quick fix" for PF.
The main thing with all injuries or niggles is to assess whether they are getting better or worse. If they're better you can keep doing what you're doing; if not then you need to change something - that might mean rest, or it might mean changing shoes, changing volume or intensity or something else. If something feels progressively worse through a run then it's probably not a good idea to be running on it.
PF is best to asses first thing in the morning before you start moving around. Try and make an honest assessment each morning of whether it's better or worse than the previous few days. Note the "honest" - runners like to run and can kid themselves that things are OK when really they are not; but in the long run you can make things worse by not resting *if* you need to.
Thanks for all the responses. PF is such a frustrating injury. I've come to learn that there really isn't one treatment that works, but different things work for different people. I think I'm lucky that my current case doesn't appear to be nearly as severe as the last. I'm going to try things here and there and see what happens. I think that catching it early and treating it aggressively will hopefully get me healed faster. As I tell my wife though, I'm not the most patient healer.
My husband is a marathon runner and he had plantar fasciitis. He did all of the typical treatments of rest, orthotics, ice massage, ASTYM and physical therapy. None of it worked for him so I did more research and realized his plantar fasciitis was due to plantar fascia tightness. He tried just using his hand to pull up on his toes to stretch the plantar fascia and this helped a littel but it just didn't seem to be getting a good stretch in this sitting position. So, we developed and patented a tool called the JWedge which allows you to get a great plantar fascia stretch in standing. It is a simple stretch you can do 3x a day. You can learn more about this stretch at www.jwedge.com I hope can become pain free very soon.
"Has anyone ever discovered a fairly quick cure for PF? Any advice is welcomed!"
I had plantar fasciitis for a long time - around three years - and in the beginning it seemed as if treatment doesn't help. I had 2 discoveries I wanted to share with you: One is that it is the standing long time on my feet that aggravates my PF and not running. two is that taping helps me the most. I wouldn't say that taping is a magic cure for me but it is kind of quick cure. When you master a tape job for your foot you are both keeping the pain away and keeping your foot from getting more injured. A good place to start taping is this link. After two year with no heal pain two marathons and three triathlons I am still taping my feet whenever I feel stress or before a long workout. But again this is good for me... Good luck
I had plantar fasciitis for a long time - around three years - and in the beginning it seemed as if treatment doesn't help. I had 2 discoveries I wanted to share with you:
I wouldn't say that taping is a magic cure for me but it is kind of quick cure. When you master a tape job for your foot you are both keeping the pain away and keeping your foot from getting more injured. A good place to start taping is this link. After two year with no heal pain two marathons and three triathlons I am still taping my feet whenever I feel stress or before a long workout.
But again this is good for me...
Good luck
Half Fanatic #846
PF is such a frustrating injury. I've come to learn that there really isn't one treatment that works, but different things work for different people.
That's exactly right, and unfortunately there's no "quick cure". It's a matter of trying different things until you find something that works.
Four years ago, I had to almost completely stop running for a few months due to PF (took up cycling in the meantime), and as a last resort because I couldn't find anything else that worked - and was doubtful it would work - eased into walking and running barefooted and wearing minimalist type footwear at work. The transition took months, but I was able to run more and more - turns out for me, IMHO wearing normal shoes was the culprit. Although I run barefooted a lot, it may not be necessary. I think I could avoid PF simply by wearing minimalist shoes most of the time.
Here's hoping that everyone having trouble finds that one thing that will get them back on the road again!
"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!
I found this information to be helpful, particularly the second link with the video about working trigger points in your calves: http://sock-doc.com/2011/03/plantar-fasciitis/ http://sock-doc.com/2011/03/205/
These are great links. Thanks so much!
Consistently Slow
Run until the trail runs out.
SCHEDULE 2016--
The pain that hurts the worse is the imagined pain. One of the most difficult arts of racing is learning to ignore the imagined pain and just live with the present pain (which is always bearable.) - Jeff
http://bkclay.blogspot.com/
King of PhotoShop
Please have a look at this, as I've got a PF sleeve you can try for free from Feetures! Scroll down to the sock piece:
http://runningblog.dallasnews.com/2013/02/handicap-recap-the-dallas-running-club-best-of-times-5-miler-and-other-stuff.html/
Spareribs
I'm your huckleberry
Using the Strassburg Sock decreased my morning pain to practically "0" in just a few days.
I had very mild PF for a few months. I 1st found it one morning when I jumped out of my bed (was a habit) and felt sharp pain in the heels. As with other aches and pains I got from exercise, I was carefully observing how it affected my running and vice verse. Once I found it okay to keep running, I increased ~50% mileage in 6 weeks, then further doubled it in a month (was in a running contest and in base building phase). It was well kept at bay and actually got better with all the mileage increases and later the speedwork w/ reduced mileage, just sometimes I could feel it after sitting for a while. But it gradually went away (not immediately). However, I didn't do anything (no icing since there's no pain/swelling at rest to begin with; no S socks or anything special) BUT stretching the feet, usually when I was sitting, or doing some foot exercise, e.g. foot writing alphabets in the air.
I probably had a really mild case though.
Heel pain is common problem and most of people suffering from this problem. You can get information about your question at http://www.sydneyheelpain.com.au/plantar-fasciitis-treatment/common-unsuccessful-treatments