How long to recover from Plantar Fasciitis? And what did you do? (Read 300 times)

Another for whom rest didn't help. I took a break of several months and saw no improvement. Did all the stretches. Started running again while still experiencing post run and early morning pain. Then I started riding my bike on rest days. Within a couple of weeks of this the pain was gone. Something about the bike stretched my foot in a way nothing else did. That was two years ago. I'm running pain free with 30+ mile weeks.

I'll chime in on this newly revived very old thread:

6 months before I couldn't feel much pain; at least not enough that I didn't notice it if I wasn't concentrating on it.

After resting a couple weeks did NOTHING, I went with very cushioned shoes and supportive insoles so I could at least jog while it healed up. Rolled my foot on a LaCrosse ball, didn't do much in a seated position, once I was putting nearly all me weight on it there was improvement after a few days. Used ice in a towel daily. Used supportive insoles in all my shoes and an elastic band with a pad called Strutz, which gave instant relief. Gradually got better over 6 months until it was gone-ish.

Have had a few minor flare ups since then, after doing speedier workouts. Only lasted a day or two, I'd ice it and that helped. And staying away from fast running for a while.

For persistent, illogical PF that doesn't resolve at all with rest and stretching, the best thing to do is probably throw all sorts of strengthening and balance/stability exercises at it.  Rest doesn't fix imbalances - whether they simply be muscular (weak glutes) or structural (rotated pelvis).  Single leg balance and quarter squats on a bosu ball (or pillow at home), clam shells to work your glute med, ankle alphabet and picking up a towel with your toes are all things that MIGHT help, but probably won't hurt.  Massage and passive mobility work (having a PT move your foot around) are also likely more beneficial than not.

Agree with the thread revival comment.

Agree with Kilkee, too.  What helped me were excercises like quoted above and active release therapy/Graston.  The ART/Graston on my feet hurt.  Like.  Hell.  But rest wasn't doing it.  After a few sessions I could walk again without any difficulty.  Six weeks later I was back to some easy running.  Throwing in the strength and balance work seemed to top everything off.

Don't want to get accused of spamming, but I highly recommend Sole Insoles: yoursole.com

 

Did the trick for me. I wear them in all my shoes, wear Sole slides around the house, and even have Sole flip-flops.

I only wore mine until the pain was tolerable and I didn't need extra arch support anymore. After I healed up more, the insoles hurt my feet more than the fading PF. I went back to flexible factory insoles. I find that allowing my arch to do what it was designed to do (flex and absorb shock like a leaf spring) results in a more comfortable foot, for me. I am under the impression that immobilizing or restricting motion, such as with rigid arch support insoles, can lead to other injury issues. BUT, they have their purpose, just like a bandaid or cast. I returned to running sooner because of the rigid Sole insoles I used. And I have them tucked away just in case I ever need them again!

Variety is the spice of life, and the panacea to running overuse injuries.

Went thru 2 cortisone shots, didn't do a thing for me. Luckily my wife's insurance paid for orthotics made by the Podiatrist. It was hard running on them. Stretching did nothing for me, after a year the Podiatrist suggested a procedure, called Tenex, finally had it the following March, I was running within 7 weeks of surgery. Just wish I had done it sooner, but there was no info on it online.

i've had two full-blown bouts of PF, and i did just about everything you can do for them except surgeries or shots or anything like that. I also did not tape. But i did everything like icing, frozen juice can rolling, hard ball rolling, night boot, night sock, stretches, strengthening, specifc PR exercises, PF inserts, etc. And i found i was able to run through it both times.

But the one thing that was most critical, without any doubt in my mind, was time. It just takes time to heal. Everything else can help a little and might help alleviate the thing that initially caused it, but it just takes time, whether or not you do the right things to treat it or not. And for me, that time was about 5 or 6 months until any trace of it went away. Again, i ran through it, so maybe mine took a little longer to heal, but the worst of it was generally the first four months.

At this point, i can absolutely tell what will cause some flare-ups, and what to do to minimize that, and how to avoid the injury altogether. I feel that going through it was just part of learning to be a runner. For me, one of the biggest triggers is running in shoes that lack enough support too often, and too hard too often. Daily trainers for me need good arch support and are best when they are of the heavier variety.