Plantar fasciitis

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cmunne
cmunne Posts: 1 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
help! Can you go ahead and workout with this condition? It is so sore and I have done ice, aleve, rest..... And insoles! Anyone else have this? And how did you solve it?
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Replies

  • ilianaflannery773
    ilianaflannery773 Posts: 1 Member
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    Exercises like stretching your heel every morning and night.
  • debubbie
    debubbie Posts: 767 Member
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    Sometimes you can take a golf ball and sit it in the floor and while sitting in a chair rub your foot over top of the golf ball will help to alleviate some of the pain. Some people will put the golf ball in the freezer for awhile to get it cold before they use it to help with the pain.

    Definitely need to do stretches that help to stretch out the area too. Mine bothers me sometimes and I have to scale back the type or intensity of the workout that I am doing to keep the pain from getting worse. Rowing, elliptical, and cycling usually do not aggravate the problem for me. It may be a trial and error process to find what activities make it worse, or don't cause you any problems.

    Good luck!
  • 34blast
    34blast Posts: 166 Member
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    This can be quite tricky to get rid of. You can exercise, but you can also make it worse and slow the recovery. I had it bad a few years back and had to get shots and orthodics from a podiatrist. You can Google the stretches they do help. The best one for me is standing on a board for a period of time at about 45 degrees. I suggest to be very cautious and not let it get too bad.
  • SweatLikeDog
    SweatLikeDog Posts: 272 Member
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    stand on a tennis ball or lacrosse ball
  • AmazonMayan
    AmazonMayan Posts: 1,168 Member
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    I had to use these brace/splint like things that are available at the drugstore without a prescription. They are with ace bandages and stuff like wrist braces.. I wore them at night to keep the foot stretched. My doctor also recommended freezing a water bottle and rolling my foot on it when the pain got really bad. She also suggested aleve, but it didn't work well for me and I went back to ibuprofen.

    Mine was so bad, I actually first went to the doctor for x-rays because I thought I had a broken foot. It rarely bothers me now. I kept the braces and don't need them often because I immediately start treating if I get any pain at all.
  • MoiAussi93
    MoiAussi93 Posts: 1,948 Member
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    I had this about ten years ago. A doctor told me stretching would correct it in most cases. I started diligently doing two or three stretches every morning and evening and it very quickly...within a week or so...started feeling better and in a few weeks was gone completely.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    edited February 2015
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    I ditched the orthotics and did stretches. Stand on a step facing upstairs. Move to the edge so that you are holding on with yout toes and as little of the ball of the foot as possible. SLOWLY drop your heels as far as you can and hold the stretch. Then SLOWLY rise up until you are on your tippy toes and hold the stretch. I did this 10 times, twice a day and my PF disappeared after about two weeks, never to return.

    Also, wear various heel heights on your shoes and go barefoot or in flats as much as you can. You don't want the calf muscles and heel/back of the ankle ligaments to shorten again.
  • runmama411
    runmama411 Posts: 162 Member
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    You'll need to stretch your calves - heel drops on a step and holding your stretch longer each time. My Sports Med Dr said to work up to a 5 min stretch as often as I could several times daily. I also used a tennis ball on them before getting out of bed. It took a very long time to heal and I can still feel it when I run yrs later. Good luck. ☺️
  • ashlimy
    ashlimy Posts: 10 Member
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    I've had it for 7 years now. Stretches, shots, orthotic inserts, 10 different types of shoes and nothing has worked. It comes and goes but I have never been able to get rid of it. Some friends (runners and nurses) have had success with only one of those mentioned above. Flares do seem to happen when I am barefoot or in flip flops. Good luck to UA, PF just sux.
  • mdabney1073
    mdabney1073 Posts: 6
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    I had this. I went to a podiatrist and he made me the cheapest looking things to wear on my feet. They worked though. It is basically like those strutz from as seen on TV stuff. Wear them whenever your feet touch the ground. It sounds crazy but it works.
  • 9Rounder
    9Rounder Posts: 40 Member
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    I bought a foot brace at Walgreens. Wore it every night for a month overnight and the pain went away completely. Give it a try.
  • wizzybeth
    wizzybeth Posts: 3,573 Member
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    Interesting...as my right foot began to hurt tonigjt for the first time in years. I conquered it before using night time foot braces...got it on amazon for $30. It did work. That and wearing the rubber crocs clogs. Those were the only shoes I could wear and not have pain.

    Good luck..I highly recommend the night brace. I also wore it before bed or in the mornings / afternoons when I would be off my feet a while (watching TV or reading)
  • wizzybeth
    wizzybeth Posts: 3,573 Member
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    Oh and I did not have any luck with the orthotic inserts. The only thing that worked for me was the braces. I had two, since both my feet were flaring up at the same time.
  • beemerphile1
    beemerphile1 Posts: 1,710 Member
    edited February 2015
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    Walk barefoot every possible opportunity. I had it, it is now gone. Physical therapy didn't work for me, walking barefoot did.

    My theory is that we spend so much time in shoes that we damage the flexibility of our feet. Our feet are meant to flex and conform to the surface underneath. By wearing shoes we are strapping a stiff board under our foot restricting movement.

    That continued restriction causes our feet to lose flexibility and then are injured on the occasion that we do stretch/overstretch the fascia.

    If you aren't free spirited enough to go barefoot there are shoes that are minimally restrictive. Do NOT wear any shoe/sandal that has a heel that is thicker/higher than the sole.

    Plantar fasciitis is a self inflicted condition.
  • mrsvinisky
    mrsvinisky Posts: 16 Member
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    I have this problem off and on. My podiatrist also recommended the tennis ball rolling, it helps somewhat when I have a flare up. I have never gotten shots, but I do have a prescription for Naproxen that works wonders. I only use it when it gets bad.
  • AmyG1982
    AmyG1982 Posts: 1,040 Member
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    I was having a lot of issues with this, some days I could barely walk. I tried icing it and stretches and using a golf ball to massage it and it helped a bit, but the thing that worked best for me was getting a massage. I went to a massage therapist and told her I had plantar fasciitis pain and she did an intense (deep tissue) massage of my hips, thighs, calves and feet and even did the cup things on my feet and it was instant relief. been over a month with no pain. I'm totally going to do it more regularly until my muscles aren't so tight lol (My muscles in my legs were so tight it was pulling everything out of whack)
  • K3atie
    K3atie Posts: 10 Member
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    See a sports physio, don't just treat the condition with ice etc. find and treat the cause, most likely top of foot and further up the leg / side of calf.
  • cheshirecatastrophe
    cheshirecatastrophe Posts: 1,395 Member
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    Interesting. Working out in minimalist shoes and barefoot is exactly how I developed the first twinges of PF. Returning to running shoes with a heel drop solved it instantly.

    The thing about PF is, the worse you let it get, the longer it takes to heal and the more you might need to throw at it.

    I roll a spiky ball under my foot, stretch my calves, and do strength work to prevent a reappearance.
  • 55gecko
    55gecko Posts: 7 Member
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    Check out www.runnersworld.com they have a great deal if information, treatments, and advise about how to train with it.
  • csk0018
    csk0018 Posts: 219 Member
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    I was diagnosed with PF two weeks ago and it has completely gone away with the daily recommended stretching exercises for PF, ibuprofen and wearing the night splint to bed. I've actually had this problem for years but just recently went to the doctor for it -- should've went sooner because PF caused a lot of discomfort through those years! :|

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