Forums >Health and Nutrition>Plantar fasciitis
My next adventure will be finding out if it's going to come back.
this is the maddening part about PF. You think you're doing everything right and it comes back and you can't pinpoint what caused it to return.
Get off my porch
I've been battling this for about 2 months now and you are so right. One day it feels great, I run and feel great, wake up the next day no pain...go for a 3 mile recovery and the next day it hurts like HELL...........I went for 13 on Sunday and barely felt it....4 Mon, no problem 6 on Tuesday felt fine.......went to bed and when I woke up on Wed morning I could barely walk........its a very weird thing to be dealing with.
Champions are made when no one is watching
Best Present Ever
It also helped me to think of PF as a sprain, since that's basically what it is. After months of wringing my hands and pulling my hair out (attractive!) and reading 5000 different "cures" for PF, I realized the only sure cure is letting it heal. I hate not running as much as the next dork, but there you have it. My next adventure will be finding out if it's going to come back.
It also helped me to think of PF as a sprain, since that's basically what it is.
After months of wringing my hands and pulling my hair out (attractive!) and reading 5000 different "cures" for PF, I realized the only sure cure is letting it heal. I hate not running as much as the next dork, but there you have it.
I hear you, but from what other people - real ones and imaginary ones like y'all -- have said, for many, resting it doesn't make a difference. And for some it's key. I'm waiting impatiently for part two of the saga, by the way. I guess you gave us the kliff notes,but still.
I hear you, but from what other people - real ones and imaginary ones like y'all -- have said, for many, resting it doesn't make a difference.
My guess is that they're either not resting it long enough or it's returning quickly. Except (maybe) for hamstring injuries, I don't know of too many that won't diminish or disappear with time off.
But, yeah, PF is a major crapshoot of cures. Ice made mine worse, but heat helped. Crazy.
I'm battling PF right now as well. Ice has helped somewhat but rest days make for a very painful next day. Running everyday even just for a short distance helps. The longer I rest the more it seems to hurt so I try to stay on my feet, even walking helps.
an amazing likeness
Encountering PF at week 14 of your 18 week marathon training cycle will suck the life outta ya.
PF is the devil incarnate.
Acceptable at a dance, invaluable in a shipwreck.
add another one to the list of current PF sufferings. past 2 mths, echoing everything that phidippides has said. today hurt in am big time, no problem during morning run but pain all through day at work. one of the worst days yet. will be icing heating stretching all night tonight. have pain/soreness back of heel on left foot, bottom of heel & arch on right foot. right foot is the one with the biggest issues. when running I can feel it (& every other bones/muscles on this old body) first 15 or so minutes & then no issues for however long I run.
I feel everyone's pain on this thread. My PF started nine months ago in both feet. I attempted to run through it for 6 months and had to throw in the towel. During my runs my feet weren't too bad. They'd loosen up after a mile or so and I wouldn't have any problems. Two hours after my run though I could barely walk. I stretched, iced, ball rolled, strengthened, heated, and wore the Strassburg sock to no avail. Life just became too miserable so I quit running.
I've been rehabbing now for 3 months and finally, finally I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. For about 2 months I didn't see any improvement. But this past month, slowly but surely, the the pain in my heels began to disappear. Today I took my feet for a test drive and, almost to my disbelief, I felt absolutely no pain or stiffness. Even better, several hours afterward I had no pain.
So I guess I'm here to say that, for now, I conquered PF (hope I don't jinx myself) and you can too. Unfortunately, other than rest, I'm not sure which, if any, of the many rehabbing techniques I put myself through did the trick. It's a mysterious injury, that's for sure, and I hope to God never to encounter it again. I've promised myself that if I ever feel so much as a twinge in my heel again, I'm going to stop in my tracks and stay the hell off it till it feels right.
this stupid pf stuff has gotten me very depressed this week. dealing with it for 2 mths now & have tried all sorts of things that have been mentioned on this thread & has gotten worse & not better. been training for awhile for HM 9/11 & Seattle marathon 11/27. Did the HM but ran very easy-not race & few days ago transferred over to the HM at Seattle. Have passed up several races this year that I would have loved to do so that I could focus on the training for those 2 races & now feeling that all the miles, time, work that have been put in have been in vain, that this whole year has been a bust. only 2 things left now are to try night brace (s/b here any day) & I hate to do this, but take extended time off (although probably wont). very, very frustrated right now over this!! have had other running related injuries in the past but pretty much knew what to do to heal/recover but this mysterious PF cannot figure out. Everyone has had their own personal experiences, their own "cures" setbacks. barefoot vs extra support, time off vs no time off, heat vs ice, etc... should I take extended time off? week off? 2 weeks off? continue to run most days but only 2-3 miles?? driving me crazy & now just want to eat, eat, eat. going to drag myself to the gym & try to see if I can run on treadmill or elliptical & at least get some weight training in. need to man up.
there must be something that I am missing here that will work for me, but what is it??
Good Bad & The Monkey
Dog, what have you tried?
I'm running somewhere tomorrow. It's going to be beautiful. I can't wait.
Poor baby
Trent:
let's see
replacing shoes, rotating shoes (as normal)
changed back to my older but still good trail running shoes (newer ones arch too high)
ice, heat, stretching-lower back, glutes, hams, calfs, feet, etc....
more days off, cutting down on mileage-will continue to run trails when able to but easier trails eliminating the tougher & steeper routes.
rolling foot with frozen water bottles
stretching with towel
taping (very bad experience, made everything worse!)
wearing cushion socks around house during day & night instead of barefoot-probably no effect at all but read that barefoot is the last thing you want to do. I know people have had different experiences & opinions on this. waiting for night brace to be delivered.
stretching BEFORE getting out of bed
aleve-yes I know what you are going to say about this, but just being honest.
replaced insoles with more cushioned insoles in work shoes
rotating shoes at work to see which worked better.
easy, light stretching & then walking before starting run
taking day off or going on easier run when I know there is a longer or more stressful day ahead at work, especially if it is an early morning day as I generally run in am
that's what I can recall right now, may have missed something
I see a lot of cushioning in there. I would personally recommend using as little cushioning as possible for as much of your time afoot as possible.
Regarding the minimalist versus support question: support treats the symptoms, minimalism treats the cause / support worsens the cause, minimalism worsens the symptoms.
Me, I'd spend most of my time at home barefoot. I'd eliminate cushioning. I'd rotate running shoes with support against minimalist shoes. Aleve to treat a medical condition is okay. Strasbourg sock at night is okay. Stopping the running won't help.
Also, treating this is long term. Day to day symptoms or responses to a single change may not inform the actual ongoing process of the disease. That is, just because being barefoot today makes your heel hurt worse does not mean you are getting worse.
Trent, I hear what you are saying about support vs minimilist. very confusing because of the different results/experiences shared on this thread & also from what I have read elsewhere.
+ when you add the fact of the off/on character of PF itself. ie-even when I was not really focusing on treating this & not making any changes to what I was doing, each day was different & then trying to analyze it all drives a person crazy
+the fact that usually running (after 10-15 mn warmup) is the only time when it feels fine (but not lately)
also hearing what you are saying about not expecting drastic change in condition from one day to another. Maybe that is one reason the treatment/recovery takes so long because we are constantly making changes in treatment when no immediate signs of improvement occur?? instead of sticking to one treatment or combo of treatment??
so here's my updated plan of attack: will run easy, shorter runs for awhile, cutting back on steep hills. easy stretch, walk before to wu
rotate my racing flats at work with work shoes. 1/2 shift each
rotate flats/regular shoes every other day for wo's
continue ice/heat/stretching treatment
wear night brace
aleve only before work ??? & only if REALLY need it
back to barefoot at home
cut back on coffee (caffeine)???
How does this plan sound to you?
fwiw-tried treadmill today conclusion: more painful, especially when on incline, abit better when quickening pace (better form?),
caught myself overcompensating for pain in right foot especially at slower pace.
on another subject: what do think about glucosamine for us more mature people?
Sounds reasonable. Just make sure to replace the caffeine you are not drinking with more beer.
And: I generally recommend avoiding heat.
thanks Trent!
greatly value your professional opinion & your time in looking at my situation!