Planter fasciitis

[mattstanton]

Got it in my left foot. Anyone have any remedies or preventative measures? I played softball Thursday and the running aggrivated the hell out of it. Gotta get this under control.

 

[ssliger]

Stretching and quality insoles.

 

[SDHNTR]

Extensive stretching of the lower calf and strengthening your arch. Use insoles while you heal, then wean yourself off them slowly and GRADUALLY strengthen your feet.

 

[LostArra]

Proper taping can help relieve pain.

 

[CA Karen]

They have special sleep socks .. for lack of a better phrase for that and they stretch out your muscles and tendons... they are adjustable to you can keep the tension up to what works for you. You can find them online .... I think Foot Smart has some. Something to look into...

 

[Jason Snyder]

Freeze water bottles and roll them under your foot to massage your arch. Stretch the heck out of your hammies AND calves. Tight calves usually are accompanied by tight hammies, both can exacerbate the issue.

Rest your foot. Use good insoles while it heals. When you first wake up in the AM, do some foot exercises before you jump out of bed and reinjure the micro tears.

 

[mattstanton]

thanks for the advice guys. Its getting better but I'll start using some of these steps to help expedite the healing process.

 

[Schleppy]

Orthotic insoles. Go to a podiatrist and get fitted for custom ones.

 

[dangerousD]

This isn't what you want to hear but I've been battling the same issue since October 2013. I followed all this same advice. In the beginning I'd start to feel good within a few weeks and then stupidly I would run again and be limping for a couple days thereafter.

I finally quit running completely at the end of December to try and heal it. Icing, stretching, anti inflammatory meds. and not going barefoot. Good insoles with plenty of support. Wearing my stiff shank boots a lot. Unfortunately I can't say I've seen any improvement thus far. Some say it could take 6 months, 8 months or a year.

I'm getting impatient now. There's so much info out there and a lot of it is contradictory to what the "establishment" says. I've been reading about some of the talk which is totally opposite; how we (modern man) has become weak and made ourselves more prone to these injuries due to shoes with too much support. That's what the minimalist crowd would say.

So I've been doing more biking than usual but I went ahead and started running again. My pain is in the heal. I went minimalist with a mid foot strike. Ran twice. Once only a mile. Then 1.5 miles. Felt good really. No limping the next day. No different than before running. Then a 4 mile hike in new boots with nearly 40 lbs in my pack made me hurt a bit but not terrible.

Let us know how your recovery turns out. I'm still icing and rolling a golf ball and all the things mentioned but getting more aggressive with it multiple times a day. I think that's helping also. I can't stand taking it easy I guess.

Interesting to hear other guys' stories and if they were able to heal it and still run or hike and work out. Bunch of runners out there that still seem to run with it so idk???

 

[Jason Snyder]

I ended up taking about a four month hiatus from running to fully get it healed. I think you are on the right track with aggressive rolling. You are trying to break up scar tissue and stretch out ligaments/tendons. It's not going to feel good. Also, do the same type of massage to your calves and hammies with a foam roller. Again, it won't feel good, it almost brought me to tears at times.

The most important thing is finding the root cause of it. It could be lack of support in your everday shoes, it could be shoes/boots that are too stiff, it could be too much sitting and tight hammies/calves, it could be not strengthening feet prior to a certain type of workout, or any combination.

The year I had it I ran a 50k trail race with it. After running on trails it would feel great, a couple of days later it would hurt as the scar tissue began to adhere again. I hunted that fall without any major issues, hit the pool all winter and was running again next spring. Haven't had an issue with it since.

 

[mattstanton]

I ended up taking about a four month hiatus from running to fully get it healed. I think you are on the right track with aggressive rolling. You are trying to break up scar tissue and stretch out ligaments/tendons. It's not going to feel good. Also, do the same type of massage to your calves and hammies with a foam roller. Again, it won't feel good, it almost brought me to tears at times.

The most important thing is finding the root cause of it. It could be lack of support in your everday shoes, it could be shoes/boots that are too stiff, it could be too much sitting and tight hammies/calves, it could be not strengthening feet prior to a certain type of workout, or any combination.

The year I had it I ran a 50k trail race with it. After running on trails it would feel great, a couple of days later it would hurt as the scar tissue began to adhere again. I hunted that fall without any major issues, hit the pool all winter and was running again next spring. Haven't had an issue with it since.

I was laid off of work from November- April with an 8 month old baby girl so I was very inactive. I think the increase of activity getting back to work and starting softball caused it. I'm going to baby it but still hike and walk and lift to get ready for September.

 

[Backpack Hunter]

Doc told me to roll a cold can of coke under my foot. Seemed to work well. Good luck.

 

[dangerousD]

I was laid off of work from November- April with an 8 month old baby girl so I was very inactive. I think the increase of activity getting back to work and starting softball caused it. I'm going to baby it but still hike and walk and lift to get ready for September.

It was the same sort of deal with me. I trained hard all year for my elk hunt last August without any problems. Ran a half marathon 4 weeks before my hunt, then tapered off a bit with just usual workouts, biking, weight training, hiking, etc. After my hunt I took 6 weeks off and some friends asked me to run a relay race with them the following week (12 miles total for my legs). So I busted my ass in that week to try and be ready and I pushed too hard I guess. I think I hurt mine specifically when I was sprinting hills. Sprint up, jog down. Did it in minimalist shoes. Not sure that did it or just the pushing hard after the time off or just not enough support with the shoes and stretched it too much. Never had an injury that put me out of commission to where I couldn't heal it by just some short rest and rehab so kind of frustrating. Never had trouble with lower body injury, calves, hammies, ankles, etc.

As long as I can chase elk this September, I'm happy. Pain or not, it's happening. On a side note, my second hunt of the year will be in Oregon with my brother. He lives in your neck of the woods. Lives in Redmond now. Used to live in Bend.

 

[mattstanton]

I live in Redmond now. What's ur brothers name? I might know him.

 

[dangerousD]

I live in Redmond now. What's ur brothers name? I might know him.

Dan Davis. He has a construction business. Mostly painting and tile, but other general contracting as well.

 

[peter]

If you dont fix the underlining cause it keeps coming back. Causes could be many things but what i do know is that insoles help with pretty much all the causes. I actually use these and they work great for me there 3/4 length ones but I wear them mostly when I go running or going off on a really long trek... I dont bother with them when I'm not putting my feet under tons of pressures as I want my feet not to be totally reliant on the support ya see, I once had pf ages ago.. not had many problems since, but then again its finding the right insoles for you

 

[JPD350]

I am no expert and I only know about my pains but lately I have been learning a lot about nerves, I always thought I had plantar fascitis and and at random times pain in the ball of my foot and at my knee, I have come to find out that my problems have been nerve issues all along, a PT is the one who figured it out.
Like others have said stretch out those feet, calves and hamstrings but don't stop with those, do the gluts, quads, hip flexors, groin and lower back. your problem may be nerves being aggravated by extremely tight muscles, I have experienced some huge relief by loosening up ALL of the muscles.

 

[bobhunts]

I got the Strasburg sock I believe that is what it is called. Not sure if it fixed it but it helped. Since then I quit wearing tennis shoes to work. Only boots with a solid sole. I believe the problem was me being a UPS driver and running back to the truck and the middle of my foot strickeing the truck floor in the middle of my foot. Since I have worn a solid shoe never a problem since. Everyone will have there own fix. After talking with people that have the same problem a little weight loss helps too. Bob

 

[StrutNut]

I got it last fall and it really made a mess of hunting. I could get around in the woods alright but really injured it when I tripped on a branch and tried to catch myself. I was on crutches for a week. It slowly got better. I did a lot of stretches in the shower. It always seemed like the warm water made it feel better. Those midnight bathroom runs where a pain! The best boot on my foot was a Roper cowboy boot. It was better then tennis shoes. I tried an insole called Heel Cleat but it really didnt help much. I just stayed off it and 6 months later I am back to normal. Again, daily stretches in the shower helps a bunch. I still do the stretches as it doesnt take long and I dont want it coming back.

 

[jpolson]

I combined 3 things that took care of mine.
1. Stretch daily in the morning.
2. Any exercise that works the calf...mostly toe raises.
3. Changed boots to a quality boot with a nice stiff sole.
Good luck.