Plantar fasciitis

[a3dhunter]

Sorry it took me so lone to reply, I did buy the night splint....it sucks!
If you do end up getting one, get the one that goes under your foot and not on top. Big difference.
Massaging my arches in the morning before I got out of bed really helped ease the pain of the first ten steps, someone mentioned something like that above.

Took me about 6 months to improve, still had issues out to a year....mostly good since then, but I have to be very careful.

 

[SDHNTR]

KT is snake oil. But taping with athletic tape and pre wrap works well. When I was in the throes of PF and had a hot tag in my pocket, taping the arches for more support worked wonders. I simply googled it, but you basically pull tape tight across your arches in a cross formation.

For those of you fighting this, get better and then SLOWLY strengthen your feet with excercises. And keep them lower calves limber. With tight calves your plantar tendon works overtime. Loose calves and strong feet = no more PF and no more expensive insoles. Just don't expect overnight change.

 

[2ski]

Man this thread makes my arch hurt just thinking about it.

A buddy of mine's dad suffered for a few years before he was told to stretch his calves by keeping his heel on the ground. It made a huge difference. That's how I stretch my calves after a hike now. That way your not putting pressure on your arches. I don't have full flexibility in my right ankle so don't get as good of stretch on that side. The lack of flexibility is due to a broken ankle back in 98 which is the side I had PF. What Ray said about his ankle makes a ton of sense as to why it developed.

 

[ethan]

My chiropractor actually recommended ultra-sound. I did about 8 fifteen minute sessions and it helped ALOT!!! The way he explained it the ultra sound broke up the fluid surrounding the tissue tear and that allowed my foot to heal itself. Did all the stretches and icing he recommended and I'd say it at least 98% better. It's a relatively cheap and easy fix that addresses the cause and not the symptom.

 

[rhendrix]

Been wearing the superfeet insoles and stretching like a mad man and if say my feet are 95% right now. I'm nervous about jumping back into running. Think I'm gonna keep rowing and biking for awhile and test out walking on a treadmill after the new year. This has literally been the most frustrating couple of weeks in my life, I ceased all physical activity and have tried to stay off my feet as much as possible, I'm bored to tears.

 

[Drelk]

I've started rolling out my calves on a large foam roller. It's helped my plantar fasciitis a ton. Rolling my calves the first time was excruciating. But getting less painful each time. I also freeze a small Gatorade bottle and roll my arch across the ridges on the bottle. Almost instant relief.

 

[Jason Snyder]

Been wearing the superfeet insoles and stretching like a mad man and if say my feet are 95% right now. I'm nervous about jumping back into running. Think I'm gonna keep rowing and biking for awhile and test out walking on a treadmill after the new year. This has literally been the most frustrating couple of weeks in my life, I ceased all physical activity and have tried to stay off my feet as much as possible, I'm bored to tears.

I wouldn't run for a couple of months if I were you. Better to heal it right the first time than to have a reoccurrence and more scar tissue.

 

[bobhunts]

Arrowslinger nailed for me. When I had PF it was due to me wearing sneakers to work jumping in and out of the UPS truck it just tore up my feet. Since I started wearing real boots no more problem. The Strasburg sock helped in getting the pain away during the morning and stretching combined with boots I have never had a bout with it since. Knock on wood! Bob.

 

[worthog]

I also had PF, had shots used insoles and wore boots. All those helped but it kept coming back. I got the simple surgery in both feet at the same time and am done. I feel a little ache here and there but nothing at all really. Do it and be done.

 

[Sleepy Creek]

I had PF extremely bad in both feet years ago. It is excruciating. Feels like you stepped on a nail in your heal? It can be cured though. I played a lot of basketball (how I originally injured my feet) at the time and I began taping my feet and it worked to a point. The spray on sticky stuff helped to keep the tape secure during exercise. It would still hurt and the tape was a pain. I finally went and had some custom orthotics made. It was spendy, but instant relief. I ended up cracking that first pair and a couple others while playing BB, but it was worth the cost to get rid of the pain. I now use over the counter hard plastic arch supports and haven't had ANY problem at all which is amazing to me considering the severity to which I had PF. I am no doctor, but I think you should be able to show some improvement with simple hard plastic orthotics.

 

[Brandon Pattison]

Orthotics and Cortison fixed mine. I think losing weight would help too.

 

[rhendrix]

I think I've narrowed down the cause to my PF...wait for it...RUNNING ON THE TREADMILL! I've been trying to get back into running slowly. And have noticed that for whatever reason, my feet hurt way more when running on the treadmill than when I run on trails or sidewalks. I think I'm over striding and overpronating bad. My feet are aching this morning after two miles on the treadmill yesterday. Anyone else ever have this problem?

 

[Matt W.]

I struggled with this a few years back. Went to the doc and there is what I had to do to get relief. I still get an "ache" every now and then, but at least it is not as debilitating as it was. A lot of what I list below seems to be similar to other posts, but hopefully it will help.

1) Stretch (this also helped me with runner's knee)
2) Total Leg workout (needed a PT / Trainer to help with this) You leg muscles are all connected and to work together, my quads were stronger than my calves and my calf muscles were REALLY tight.
3) Custom inserts for the first year (they were painful to wear the first few months)
4) Superfeet in just about every shoe I buy
5) Quality shoes
6) When on treadmill add walking backwards to your routine (just be careful). When you get good move to a jog, then a run. My trainer put me on this (I'm up to a slow jog) It uses different muscles and lengthens ones that long term treadmill use can shorten. She said to go about 5 minutes per 1/2 hour on the treadmill, more if you enjoy it. It also different on the feet, try it you will see what I mean.

It has helped me....