plantar fasciitis

brittfj
brittfj Posts: 50 Member
edited November 17 in Fitness and Exercise
Anyone ever had this injury before?
If so, what did you do to make it a little more tolerable running?

Replies

  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    Never skip your calf stretches. http://www.runnersworld.com/tag/plantar-fasciitis

    Very good shoes.

    I wore a shoe insert for an entire year. Heavier socks.
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    This book is so worth it:
    http://www.chrismcdougall.com/born-to-run/
  • brittfj
    brittfj Posts: 50 Member
    Did you try the tennis ball or frozen water bottle approach? The idea just sounds awful.
    Thank you!!
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    I never used the tennis ball or the frozen water bottle. I did stretch out my feet, really, every time I felt a twinge. I would stretch them when I got in to bed and again before I stepped on them again. I still have to be careful and I avoid heel striking as I run.

    Stretches are gold.
  • brittfj
    brittfj Posts: 50 Member
    Ill check the book out, thank you so much!
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    It's not a manual. It's an adventure story. A great read, written by a runner. He was broken down by his injuries and he wrote about this running tribe in his quest to get his running back.
  • alltacht
    alltacht Posts: 139 Member
    Pitching in as a physical therapist here! Gary Wards 'what the foot' book and practice model are fairly mind blowing in getting to the root cause.. and solution for muscular imbalance in postural and gait cycles that cause soft tissue pain. If your pain is something that happens frequently, has been bothering you for more than a couple of months and other methods aren't providing effective, look for an Anatomy in Motion graduate near your area. It's a fairly new(ish) system and bigger here in Ireland and the U.K than the U.S so it depends where you are! Obviously I'm biased as I've done the course and it changed my entire practice. Addressing foot biomechanics has become my primary focus now. Supports and shoes and insoles are fantastic when needed and can address symptoms, but ultimately, since your feet are your primary contact with the world around you and receive boundless information for your body to process, getting out of shoes and finding more function in the feet is what I find most effective for long term solution to pain and muscular imbalance. Best of luck whatever you do! Often it just goes away ;D
  • Loridori4
    Loridori4 Posts: 7 Member
    Rolling your foot around on a tennis ball feels like HEAVEN!
  • brittfj
    brittfj Posts: 50 Member
    Alltacht - i will definitely look into it if the pain persists, weve increased our mileage a ridiculous amount this week so im hoping it is just from that. Thank you for the advice though! I hope ill be the often case and it will go away from resting this weekend.

    loridori4 - i will try it tomorrow im glad to hear it feels good and not painful!
  • eseeton
    eseeton Posts: 80 Member
    I was not able to run when I had it. Could hardly walk for long distances. Mine was caused by extra weight on my body, it went away for the most part when I lost the weight (still flares up if I wear the wrong shoes). The injection I got from the doctor did help a little bit, but my foot was in a cast for 3 weeks - not fun! Stretching it very well helps soooo much. I never used the tennis balls/water bottle approaches. I also found a sandal that has helped tremendously, I literally wear them all the time with no problems whatsoever: http://www.vionicshoes.com/women/tide-ii-toe-post-sandal.html
  • CodyVongprachanh
    CodyVongprachanh Posts: 3 Member
    Had plantar fasciitis around a year and a half ago. At first I took a break from running and that didn't really do much. So I just kept on running with the pain during my cross country season (bad idea). It wasn't until about 3 months later after low mileage (3-5mi) runs that my foot got better. Rolling with a tennis ball had a good pain to it. Also just pulling on your toes toward your shins stretches it real good! My remedy was time.
  • JLoRuthie
    JLoRuthie Posts: 375 Member
    edited April 2015
    Oh yes! It was horrible and took a long time to go away. I did the cold water bottle and wore a special brace at night. It was so bad I could not get up in middle of night and walk ( had a newborn at the time and my husband would have to bring him to me and back to his crib!) after some weight loss, consistent wear of the brace at night and the cold water bottle it went away!
  • ljk0615
    ljk0615 Posts: 160 Member
    Ugh I got this while pregnant and it is so painful! Inserts in my shoes helped. Wearing wedges also took pressure off of the area. I would freeze bottles of
    Water and roll my foot on one first thing in the morning. Also just massaging with my fingers helped a lot. What helped most was having that baby! It just went away....
  • kap4201
    kap4201 Posts: 1 Member
    I had this - yes to all the stretching, ball rolling posts! I went to my local running store and they had me try Hoka One shoes. They may look ridiculous, but they feel amazing and no more pf pain!
  • slider728
    slider728 Posts: 1,494 Member
    I fought this for well over a year before I went to a doctor. I remember feeling the pain in my foot everytime I stepped out of bed in the morning. I thought it would go away, but it never did. By the time I went to the doc, my case was rather bad.

    I ended up with a few cortisone shots in the foot and custom orthotics (which I still wear), but the two things that helped most were:

    1. The frozen water bottle. The icing and massage from rolling the bottle under my foot helped a ton! I did this after any lengthy time on my feet and just before I went to bed

    2. Morning stretch with a metal cylinder: Before I got out of bed, I was instructed to find a metal cylinder like a soup can (I used my wife's hairspray can) and roll my foot on it to stretch the tendons and muscle without actually damaging it like jumping right out of bed did. This helped me a ton!
  • brittfj
    brittfj Posts: 50 Member
    Thank you so much everyone!
  • cosmiqrecovery
    cosmiqrecovery Posts: 171 Member
    i've had chronic issues with plantar fasciitis from flat feet and years of running with the wrong shoes. there was a point in college where the pain was so bad i couldn't even walk from class to class or up a flight of stairs without assistance. shoes really do make all the difference and can mess you up for life apparently, lol. i'd go to an athletic shoe store and get sized up by a pro to see what you're gonna need for maximum comfort during your actual run. do the frozen water thing (absolute heaven after a long walk or run), get some quality insoles, and for me at least if i know i'll be on my feet a lot during the day i try to wear shoes that already have at least a small heel to them instead of flats so my arches get more elevation.
  • beemerphile1
    beemerphile1 Posts: 1,710 Member
    edited April 2015
    alltacht wrote: »
    Pitching in as a physical therapist here! Gary Wards 'what the foot' book and practice model are fairly mind blowing in getting to the root cause.. and solution for muscular imbalance in postural and gait cycles that cause soft tissue pain. If your pain is something that happens frequently, has been bothering you for more than a couple of months and other methods aren't providing effective, look for an Anatomy in Motion graduate near your area. It's a fairly new(ish) system and bigger here in Ireland and the U.K than the U.S so it depends where you are! Obviously I'm biased as I've done the course and it changed my entire practice. Addressing foot biomechanics has become my primary focus now. Supports and shoes and insoles are fantastic when needed and can address symptoms, but ultimately, since your feet are your primary contact with the world around you and receive boundless information for your body to process, getting out of shoes and finding more function in the feet is what I find most effective for long term solution to pain and muscular imbalance. Best of luck whatever you do! Often it just goes away ;D

    After physical therapy and orthotics (inserts) failed to be beneficial, my problem went away when I started going barefoot at every opportunity.

    Going barefoot as a treatment/preventative for PF is opposite the common wisdom on the subject but returning flexibility to the feet solves many problems. Shoes protect our feet in many circumstances but cause a lack of flexibility.
  • scottb81
    scottb81 Posts: 2,538 Member
    edited April 2015
    brittfj wrote: »
    Did you try the tennis ball or frozen water bottle approach? The idea just sounds awful.
    Thank you!!
    Yes. Do not skip those things. What helped the most was wearing a night splint to keep the fascia stretched out while sleeping.

    http://m.cvs.com/mt/www.cvs.com/shop/home-health-care/braces-supports/foot-ankle-braces/futuro-foot-support-night-skuid-431339


  • escalada22
    escalada22 Posts: 191 Member
    I had it last year, it was soooo painful. I actually got new shoes, did not set the treadmill to a faster pace than was comfortable. then in the evenings, after a shower I would massage it with lotion. It hurt really bad even to massage it but after about 2 months it went away.
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