plantar fasciitis (Read 116 times)

YES YES YES!  Great advice and info. PF is a connective tissue connecting one bone to another bone so it is ligament like. If you go to the doctor with a sprained ankle (ligament) does he prescribe stretching your ligament more? No so I am not a fan of stretching damaged tissue ever especially ligamentous tissue. I know data does support it for PF but common sense has to prevail. The many athletes and patients I have worked have responded to my advice of no ice, no stretching, mobility, more heat and strength. More one leg strength and balancing. Start strengthening and increasing mobility from the hips on down. You have to alter load to foot, keep it loose and warm and let body do what it does so magically, heal on its own.  The focus of treatment in medical world and everyday world is to treat symptom and feel better. Feeling better that day or next day or a week later does not heal your damaged tissue. True healing is way more than just feeling better.

I'd heat before a workout, and ice afterwards with a bit of relief. This is very old-school, and newer studies find that icing is actually detrimental to the healing process. It does relieve pain cause by inflammation, though. On the flipside, there's inflammation because that's part of the body's healing process; sending fluids to the location of the injury. Too much fluid and it becomes it's own problem, though.

 

The old thought of RICE; rest, ice, compression, and elevation, is a trial and error resultant treatment that has proved helpful for many people for decades. If it works, it works. Even if it's witchcraft that defies modern science.

 

As for stretching, keep in mind that the plantar and achilles are ligaments and tendons, and are not very flexible. If they WERE as flexible as muscle, you'd have a very hard time walking or running. Their rigidity transfers power and stabilizes bone and muscle. The Plantar ligament can be stretched and lengthened somewhat over time, but it's rigidity is not the source of plantar fasciitis; overtraining and resulting microtears are. If the training loads cause microtears to form faster than they are repaired, then you get the inflammation and pain of your body saying "take it easy, I'll give you a jolt with every step so you don't forget to take it easy".

 

 

"Tendons connect muscle to bone. These tough yet flexible bands of fibrous tissue attach the skeletal muscles to the bones they move. Essentially, tendons enable you to move; think of them as intermediaries between muscles and bones. You've most likely heard of the Achilles tendon (named after the Greek demigod hero with the fatal weakness in his eponymous tendon), which connects the muscles of the calf to the heel bone. This tendon is vulnerable to tearing and tendonitis, so do take care and stretch the calf muscle to keep the tendon flexible too.

Though similar to tendons, ligaments connect bone to bone and help to stabilize joints they surround. They are composed mostly of long, stringy collagen fibers that create bands of tough, fibrous connective tissue. Ligaments are slightly elastic, so they can be stretched and gradually lengthen, increasing flexibility. But if stretched beyond a certain point, ligaments can become overstretched and compromise the integrity of the joint they are supposed to be stabilizing — so stretch with caution. The term double-jointed actually refers to people who have highly elastic ligaments, which allow them to move their joints into more extreme positions than most people. While no ligament plays a major role in Greek myths, the ligaments found in the knee, especially the ACL (anterior cruciate ligament), are often talked about on the sports page, since they are prone to tearing, sidelining quarterbacks, soccer stars, and skiers alike."

Update. Anti-inflammatories didn't help much. I saw another doctor at the physio centre who looked at my scan and is sending me for another one as she thinks there may be a hairline fracture on a bone in my foot. I've had two physio sessions and both have helped. I have plantar and a spur. Ha, when it's going to go wrong...

sometimes the universe tells us that we should be cycling or swimming instead...

I haven't run for weeks now and the physio doesn't want me to swim until I've had the  next scan to see if I have a hairline fracture. Cycling caused a lot of pain so I stopped that. I can walk a bit but if I go to far, it causes pain. At least I feel like it's getting sorted out now. I left if too long to see the doctor.

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No fracture or chipped bone form the scan, but there is a spur. He has another 5 sessions of physio then the physio doctor is going to review everything. I thnk she mentioned something like shock wave and possible surgery if that doesn't work.

I hope the "shock wave" thing works. I have seen one instance where it worked when nothing else would. Good luck.