Damn plantar fasciitis

ninerbuff

Walkywalkerson wrote: »

I'm a walker not a runner - but I couldn't be without my Asics.
I have flat feet and over pronate pretty intensely.
Life before Asics was agonising - constant plantar faciitis after being on my feet most of the day.
Just awful!
I'm in the UK and Asics are pretty pricey here - but worth every penny!
The shop will measure your gait etc .. and find the best fit.

I have Asics for overpronation. Feel fine when I run. But later in the day, my heel will hurt. Depending on how long I run makes the difference.


A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

GiddyupTim

I am a former soccer player who also jogged then and still does.
I had plantar fasciitis for around six or seven years until I figured out what to do.
It never went away because I couldn't take a break from the things I love (running!) long enough to let it heal.
I have now been totally pain free for about 10 years.
Here's what I did.
I got hard, supportive insoles. I like the Superfeet brand. I put them in every pair of my shoes for the first six to eight months. Now I have some non-running shoes I wear that do not have them.
Podiatrists used to claim you need custom orthotics. Now studies have shown that off-the-shelf insoles work almost as well and are adequate for most people.
Here's the deal: You need that support because the plantar fascia is a very tough tissue. And, when you are walking on it, or running, it takes a whole lotta pressure. Hence it needs to be extremely strong. Hence, it takes a long time to heal. The fascia needs to be protected during that healing time. Otherwise, you go out for a long run or a game of basketball or a hike, and you reinjure it and set yourself back.
That is how mine was -- over and over again.
Until I got the insoles and learned the second, essential practice: the stretch.
Not just any stretch.
I had mine so long that, in my desperation, I decided I had to have surgery. I couldn't hobble around in pain for two/three days after every soccer game, etc.
But when I went to Google, the information I found was frightening. People said, essentially, 'It'll make your pain better, but your foot/feet will never be the same, and you'll never run well again.'
Fortunately, I also came across a modified stretch developed by a doctor in Rochester, NY. This doctor saw many patients who could not get PF better. He knew that stretching the bottom of the feet during the healing process was important, and sometimes worked, and wondered if somehow the stretch wasn't getting deep enough. He figured if you could stretch the toes up at the same time you were doing your plantar fascia stretching you could increase the stretch.
In a study he published, he had about 90 patients. These people (I think they were mostly runners or athletes?) had all had PF for at least 12 months and had tried everything prescribed to get it better, to no avail.
He had them perform his stretch three times a day for 12 weeks. At the end, something like about 70-80 percent were pain free and another about 15 percent were demonstrably better. (I am taking those figures off the top of my head. But they are roughly correct.)
Here's a link with a description and a photo of the stretch:
https://footeducation.com/plantar-fascia-specific-stretch/
At present, I do the stretch slightly differently. I use a yoga hero's pose, with my toes flat on the ground and the bottom of my foot parallel to the wall behind me. Then I push back a bit to get a really good stretch. I find that works better.
If you search: 'YouTube, Gwen Lawrence, and plantar fasciitis' you'll find a video of her demonstrating performing the stretch this way.
I am telling you. MANY years of pain and nothing worked. These two things did.
Good luck!

ninerbuff

GiddyupTim wrote: »

I am a former soccer player who also jogged then and still does.
I had plantar fasciitis for around six or seven years until I figured out what to do.
It never went away because I couldn't take a break from the things I love (running!) long enough to let it heal.
I have now been totally pain free for about 10 years.
Here's what I did.
I got hard, supportive insoles. I like the Superfeet brand. I put them in every pair of my shoes for the first six to eight months. Now I have some non-running shoes I wear that do not have them.
Podiatrists used to claim you need custom orthotics. Now studies have shown that off-the-shelf insoles work almost as well and are adequate for most people.
Here's the deal: You need that support because the plantar fascia is a very tough tissue. And, when you are walking on it, or running, it takes a whole lotta pressure. Hence it needs to be extremely strong. Hence, it takes a long time to heal. The fascia needs to be protected during that healing time. Otherwise, you go out for a long run or a game of basketball or a hike, and you reinjure it and set yourself back.
That is how mine was -- over and over again.
Until I got the insoles and learned the second, essential practice: the stretch.
Not just any stretch.
I had mine so long that, in my desperation, I decided I had to have surgery. I couldn't hobble around in pain for two/three days after every soccer game, etc.
But when I went to Google, the information I found was frightening. People said, essentially, 'It'll make your pain better, but your foot/feet will never be the same, and you'll never run well again.'
Fortunately, I also came across a modified stretch developed by a doctor in Rochester, NY. This doctor saw many patients who could not get PF better. He knew that stretching the bottom of the feet during the healing process was important, and sometimes worked, and wondered if somehow the stretch wasn't getting deep enough. He figured if you could stretch the toes up at the same time you were doing your plantar fascia stretching you could increase the stretch.
In a study he published, he had about 90 patients. These people (I think they were mostly runners or athletes?) had all had PF for at least 12 months and had tried everything prescribed to get it better, to no avail.
He had them perform his stretch three times a day for 12 weeks. At the end, something like about 70-80 percent were pain free and another about 15 percent were demonstrably better. (I am taking those figures off the top of my head. But they are roughly correct.)
Here's a link with a description and a photo of the stretch:
https://footeducation.com/plantar-fascia-specific-stretch/
At present, I do the stretch slightly differently. I use a yoga hero's pose, with my toes flat on the ground and the bottom of my foot parallel to the wall behind me. Then I push back a bit to get a really good stretch. I find that works better.
If you search: 'YouTube, Gwen Lawrence, and plantar fasciitis' you'll find a video of her demonstrating performing the stretch this way.
I am telling you. MANY years of pain and nothing worked. These two things did.
Good luck!

I do a version of this, but not quite like it. I'll try it and let you know how it goes. My pain is tolerable right now as long as I actively stretch throughout the day which I do.


A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

fittocycle

I've done the yoga hero's pose for the past several years. I agree. . . it's a great pose to keep those muscles stretched!

SLL1803

Neither shoes nor orthotics have made the slightest difference for me. Stretching is the important thing - the Achilles and the foot itself.

ninerbuff

ninerbuff wrote: »

GiddyupTim wrote: »

I am a former soccer player who also jogged then and still does.
I had plantar fasciitis for around six or seven years until I figured out what to do.
It never went away because I couldn't take a break from the things I love (running!) long enough to let it heal.
I have now been totally pain free for about 10 years.
Here's what I did.
I got hard, supportive insoles. I like the Superfeet brand. I put them in every pair of my shoes for the first six to eight months. Now I have some non-running shoes I wear that do not have them.
Podiatrists used to claim you need custom orthotics. Now studies have shown that off-the-shelf insoles work almost as well and are adequate for most people.
Here's the deal: You need that support because the plantar fascia is a very tough tissue. And, when you are walking on it, or running, it takes a whole lotta pressure. Hence it needs to be extremely strong. Hence, it takes a long time to heal. The fascia needs to be protected during that healing time. Otherwise, you go out for a long run or a game of basketball or a hike, and you reinjure it and set yourself back.
That is how mine was -- over and over again.
Until I got the insoles and learned the second, essential practice: the stretch.
Not just any stretch.
I had mine so long that, in my desperation, I decided I had to have surgery. I couldn't hobble around in pain for two/three days after every soccer game, etc.
But when I went to Google, the information I found was frightening. People said, essentially, 'It'll make your pain better, but your foot/feet will never be the same, and you'll never run well again.'
Fortunately, I also came across a modified stretch developed by a doctor in Rochester, NY. This doctor saw many patients who could not get PF better. He knew that stretching the bottom of the feet during the healing process was important, and sometimes worked, and wondered if somehow the stretch wasn't getting deep enough. He figured if you could stretch the toes up at the same time you were doing your plantar fascia stretching you could increase the stretch.
In a study he published, he had about 90 patients. These people (I think they were mostly runners or athletes?) had all had PF for at least 12 months and had tried everything prescribed to get it better, to no avail.
He had them perform his stretch three times a day for 12 weeks. At the end, something like about 70-80 percent were pain free and another about 15 percent were demonstrably better. (I am taking those figures off the top of my head. But they are roughly correct.)
Here's a link with a description and a photo of the stretch:
https://footeducation.com/plantar-fascia-specific-stretch/
At present, I do the stretch slightly differently. I use a yoga hero's pose, with my toes flat on the ground and the bottom of my foot parallel to the wall behind me. Then I push back a bit to get a really good stretch. I find that works better.
If you search: 'YouTube, Gwen Lawrence, and plantar fasciitis' you'll find a video of her demonstrating performing the stretch this way.
I am telling you. MANY years of pain and nothing worked. These two things did.
Good luck!

I do a version of this, but not quite like it. I'll try it and let you know how it goes. My pain is tolerable right now as long as I actively stretch throughout the day which I do.


A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

I've change my inserts to a slightly higher arched one and along with stretching and the foot stretch above, I've been able to run again with minor pain. I KNOW for a fact that a lot of my foot pain still revolves around NOT being able to rest it enough based on my work and instruction. But Saturdays and Sundays seem to give me ample time for recovery before I start all over again. Just gotta see how it goes day to day now.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

kshama2001

SLL1803 wrote: »

Neither shoes nor orthotics have made the slightest difference for me. Stretching is the important thing - the Achilles and the foot itself.

Speaking of the Achilles, I never had heel pain until I started physical therapy for Achilles tendon pain 7 weeks ago and WHAM, heel pain. Most of my stretches were for just the leg with the Achilles pain - my right leg. But the heel pain is in both heels, and actually worse in my left. There were only two both leg stretches - 1. calf stretches on a stair, and 2. heel dips and raises on a stair, like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OU5SS18DSNM

My PT told me to keep doing them, and I did for a few weeks, but have since stopped for at least a week. I've been extremely faithful about doing the other exercises but at this point am angry and want to chuck them all. The Achilles pain has been gone for about a month but I'm not happy about having trading that for PF.

BTW, I'm not a runner and the highest impact activity I do is walking 3 mph. I have very little pain when wearing my ASICS, which I wear the vast majority of the time. I can't remember the last time I wore high heels.

The PF pain is at the usual time - first thing in the AM, and also in the middle of the night, when I am of course not wearing ASICS. I do wear a night splint, but she only ordered it for my right foot, and I am waiting for the one for my left to come in.

I started PT with pain in my hamstring, below the knee, and Achilles, but their policy is to only work on one thing at a time, and since the Achilles was brand new, I picked that. I've since tried easing back into yoga, and now my knee hurts too, and I don't have another PT appt for 10 days >.<

kshama2001

jenring3 wrote: »

Just battled this over the winter and it cost me a couple of races. It's not about the shoes at all really. These guys are kind of goofy, but look up Bob and Brad on YouTube and find their PF videos. There is also a guy on YT (young guy, looks like he's about 12) who has a whole PF series but it's good. I had to stretch before I even got out of bed in the morning, put my feet immediately into shoes even to get to the bathroom in the middle of the night and I don't go barefoot in the house anymore on my hard tile floors. Roll your foot on a frozen water bottle just for some relief, etc. It's one of the more relentless of the overuse injuries. Also calf raises and calf rolling since most of the time that's where PF originates from...weak calves.

I saw this on a thread in General - I bet this is the very young looking guy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQhtavGoL6A

ninerbuff

UPDATE: I've been running intervals now for the past month and still teaching kboxing classes and........................NO FOOT PAIN anymore. I attribute it to my inserts and the consistent stretching of my calves and ball rolling on my soles. I used a spiked ball when I sit and watch TV at night and it's so relieving. Up to running 10 mph again with no issues although it's only on a treadmill at 2.0 incline. At my age, I don't think I need to try to up it anymore. I'll keep my ego in check.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

ninerbuff

UPDATE: No foot issues ever since I started running again. If I feel any sole tightness, I spend the rest of the day stretching it out. I've been running intervals 3 times a week along with my kickboxing classes and no issues anymore. Feels good to not have to worry about my feet right now.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

DaffyGirl88

ninerbuff wrote: »

UPDATE: No foot issues ever since I started running again. If I feel any sole tightness, I spend the rest of the day stretching it out. I've been running intervals 3 times a week along with my kickboxing classes and no issues anymore. Feels good to not have to worry about my feet right now.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Glad to hear that!