Plantar Fasciitis and stomping on balls

scraver2003

I am going to the Dr next week. I have heel pain. I run. I took a lot of weeks off hoping it would go away and it did not. I am back to running and I am starting slowly and I will slowly increase the milage. I am crosstraining and stretching and all that. Foam roller = check. I have also been rolling my feet on a tennis ball (I keep it under my desk at work) and omg - it hurts so good. I already notice a difference.

Getting to the point... how much is too much for rolling my feet on my balls? Is it ok to do it a couple times a day??

Sam_I_Am77

Rolling or Self-Myofacial Release is a good thing. I don't know that there's a limit but at some point I would say there are diminishing returns. If I had PF I would probably do something like...

- wake-up: use a lacrosse ball (personal preference) for 1-min & static stretch 1-min hold
- midday: lax ball
- get home from work: lax ball -> static stretch

DeanHobson70

Yoga helps immensely. Specifically downward dog. One of my mentees had to wear orthotics even in her home. She now only wears those to work and is barefoot again in her house. You can google plantar fasciitis And downward dog and will find articles about it.

alpha2omega

I had this problem a while ago. I would stretch my calf first thing in the morning prior to placing my feet on the ground. I would do this with a towel wrapped around the ball of my foot and pulling the towel while locking out my knee. I would also roll my foot on a frozen water bottle to minimize the swelling and inflammation of the tendon. It took awhile to heal since we are always on are feet but it did heal. I suggest you go low impact for a few weeks while you do these things. Ibuprofen also helps with the inflammation.

Dennis4766

Are you wearing the right shoes based upon arch and pronation? 3 things that have helped me: 1 - Rolling foot on frozen ice bottle, 2 - The Stair Step lowering heels stretch, and 3 - I have seen a PT who aggressively massages the arch and heel. She also taped me differently than I have been taped before which also helped.

Khovde07

I have Plantar Fasciitis as well. I'm not sure about how often you can roll a ball on your foot, but my podiatrist recommended taking a towel (or something similar) and putting it around the ball of my foot while laying on my back, and then pulling back to stretch my foot back. I thought she was crazy if she thought that would end the pain in my foot that was so bad I literally had to crawl sometimes! But, shockingly, it works fantastically! But you need that extra help of something around the ball of your foot. Simply stretching my foot back doesn't do enough for me.

RunRachelleRun

I had a bad case on both feet a couple years ago (I could hardly walk) and greatly reduced it by stretching my calves 3 times a day (standing static stretch). It was almost gone after doing this for 2 weeks.

I also wear sandals or footwear most of the time now, even in the house. I have heard of massage for it, which is supposed to be very painful, where they are breaking up the fascia. I don't think a ball could do any more damage than that, so I say go for it. I had a spiky massage ball I tried, but I couldn't stand it long enough to keep it up.

I still stretch each of my calves at least once a day when I'm brushing my teeth or standing at a counter and if I skip it for a day or two I feel it coming back the very next day. As mentioned above, downward dogs are also great.

ripemango

scraver2003 wrote: »

I have also been rolling my feet on a tennis ball (I keep it under my desk at work) and omg - it hurts so good.

I would think could roll your feet on something for as long and as much as desired. They make a brace for Plantar Fasciitis that you wear at night that offered me some relief. The best thing I came across was freezing two waterbottles and rolling your feet on that bc the ice numbs and reduces inflammation.

On a positive note, I went through a really bad spell w Plantar Fasciitis but not anymore. Why? I dunno. I do weigh less, maybe that's it. I tend to think it is, if nothing it encourages me to maintain a lower body weight.

scraver2003

Awesome! Thank you all for the replies and suggestions! I had never had a problem with my running shoes before this, so I had never thought to go get fitted! I am going to go get fitted to be sure what I have is appropriate. I suspect I need something with a wee bit more arch support.

scraver2003

And... Right now, I am at a much higher weight than I normally hang out at. I am down a bit, but I know if I can lose some more weight, it will help a lot.

111YoYo111

This is disconcerting. I have been told that I have this. (by a friend who is a nurse not a doctor, no x-ray yet). She mentioned the sock but also said there are injections that get rid of it, anybody have experience with that?

CodyNate

I have been battling it for a couple years now. The injections are cortizone shots where the fasica attaches to the heel. For some it helps but in my experience the pain returned a couple months later. The injections are very very painful at least in my experience. I went thru a couple rounds of injections and finally had the surgery in Oct. I would do everything you can to avoid having the surgery. I am still having pain, but it is more nerve related now versus plantar fascia pain.

Sam_I_Am77

111YoYo111 wrote: »

This is disconcerting. I have been told that I have this. (by a friend who is a nurse not a doctor, no x-ray yet). She mentioned the sock but also said there are injections that get rid of it, anybody have experience with that?

I believe she's referring to cortizone shots. That's an option but you might simply try stretching really good and try something like a tennis ball or lax ball. Sometimes the simplest intervention is the best and can be very effective.

ItIsTJ

Easiest way to help, get something that helps support both the Transverse and Metatarsal Arch of the foot - Helping to take pressure off will help with the discomfort and allow the Fascia to relax.

If it's coming from the heel, then it just means that you're applying far too much pressure in that area and your Tranvserse arch isn't able to distribute the problem to the rest of the foot.

I used to suffer with HUGE heel pain when I was younger. I've also suffered a long term back pain problem and ITB pain.

Specialized inserts, it's been a year since I've felt any pain at all.

cheshirecatastrophe

I cannot recommend these inserts highly enough:
http://www.amazon.com/PROFOOT-Plantar-Fasciitis-Orthotics-Womens/dp/B007S8XYAA

Also rolling a lacrosse ball, foam rolling/Stick-in your calf muscle, the stairstep stretch. Rest.

But those inserts are magic.

vgnfarmer

I was just diagnosed on Tuesday with PF. I had been foam rolling my legs with a foam roller and feet with tennis ball, frozen water bottle since last Friday. On Tuesday the doc perscribed a night splint and anti inflamatories and rest. I asked about foam rolling and he said to do it but be gentle. I'm doing about 5 min 2x per day and some light stretching. I am also wearing sneakers with orthotics all day. He said sneakers "from the minute your feet hit the ground in the morning until you get back in bed at night". Fingers crossed!

Are you guys still exercising? Any exercises that don't aggravate it? After a week of rest if I am pain-free i'm thinking of trying the bike or rowing machine......

shandy82165

I had this a few years ago. I had the best results by using a brace to sleep in that kept my foot in a flexed position. Using this healed me completely and I no longer have even a hint of discomfort.

I used this:

amazon.com/Large-PLANTAR-FASCITIS-SPLINT-Colors/dp/B001MA2ZEQ/ref=sr_1_8?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1421377010&sr=1-8&keywords=foot+brace+for+plantar+fasciitis

It's bulky to sleep in, but it worked wonders for me.

NJGamerChick

When I had a case of it, I was told to just slowly roll my feet before standing up in the morning, making sure to stretch and flex/flatten my feet well in order to stretch the fascia. I was also told to wear otc orthotics with a good arch support since I have very high arches. In my case, mine were in part caused by very heavy shoes I had to wear for work. I would look at your running shoes and make sure they are properly supporting the arches of your feet.

abbyoncloud9

My first year out of nursing school I had PF so bad in my right foot, one day I got out of bed and fell on the floor! I don't know if it was coincidence, but once I bought a good pair of Dansco's work shoes, the PF cleared up and I haven't had any trouble since.

SwankyTomato

Ah, my area of expertise since I wake up and roll that golf ball on my feet. Use a golf ball for starters it is the best thing to help.

That golf ball is painful. The reason is because of scar tissue. My Physical Therapist (PT) called them "Rice Krispies". You roll the ball to break up the scar tissue. You can roll that ball as much as you want as many times as you want and as painful as much as you can stand it.

That being said, the root cause is that your muscles are tight and weak which thus causes the PF. In addition there are other factors such as core strength mainly your hip flexors, weak muscles in your ankle & calves, and an achilles tendon that is tight. Also balance and where you are putting pressure on your feet.

I recommend getting proper footwear from a licensed pedorthist and possibly custom orthotics from a podiatrist as well.

My pedorthist finds me the correct fitting shoes to go with my custom orthotics. Example, I have to get the size D width in the toe area. I also need a deep toe bed in my shoe.

I also have "Morton's Neuroma" in my right foot. It is a ball of nerves that you do not want to tick off because THAT is torture.

This is why I exercise. If I don't my mobility is limited. I never want to go back to that place.

I will say I had to go to 3 different podiatrists before I found the one that helped me. My PT was the one who actually figured out I had a neuroma and not my podiatist.

Now my situation is a little more that the average person however the solutions to fix it are pretty universal. Fix this now before it becomes heel spurs, which are torture.

I feel your pain, literally.