+1 on taping. I found that using leukotape (available from Amazon) using a low-dye taping technique worked great for my heel pain PF.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_SEfgm6uZU

I found that it wasn't necessary to tape loops from each of the metatarsals-- in my case, just the first one was important. Over time, as my PF started getting better, I just used less tape. Of course, I also used many of the excellent suggestions on this forum.

I combined the Trigger point massage and icing by using a lacrosse ball that I keep in the freezer. I'll run my foot over the ball whenever my foot acts up.. Its especially nice after my long Saturday morning run.

I've taped in the past with regular athletic tape. Currently I'm trying the KT tape voodoo for mild foot soreness.

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Brian
“Eat and Drink, spin the legs and you’re going to effin push (today).” A Howe

I rolled my foot on those small cans of tomato paste for 5 - 10 minutes a day and used some orthotic inserts (dr scholls) for my walking shoes.

Eventually I simply bought new running shoes and the pain just entirely went away.

X2, I'll also do acupuncture. Been working great for all my patients so far...

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"No matter how hard you train, Somebody will train harder. No matter how hard you run, Somebody will run harder. No matter how hard you want it, Somebody will want it more, I am Somebody"~ST Post

I am in Memphis, tn, if you live close my city, you can come to try my foot pad , next day morning, you will feel better, and after 3 days, your foot will back to normally. do not need any special support . then, you can back here to write post again.
the reason recovery so quickly is , if anyone get MIR for pain foot before, they know, nothing wrong can be seen through machine.

For me nothing worked but rest. And because I kept pushing through the pain for months getting close to the IM A race, the rest had to be 18 months... I did try to run after one year but the pain came back so I backed off another 6 months.

What I tried with limited success was rolling my foot over a 20oz bottle filled with frozen water. You get both the benefit of stretching/massaging the tendon and applying ice...

Strassberg sock, green Superfeet in all shoes, Triggerpoint ball self massage and PF stretching. One might have been the silver bullet, or maybe it was a combo of all that eventually worked. I ran through it.

Well...everybody is different but what eliminated it permanently (so far) was to fix the run gait issue that was causing it. I had significant run crossover gait and some kickstanding (very, very common). This resulted in an inefficient push off at the ankle, so the rate of force development had to increase. This greatly increased the stress on the PF and gastroc. Also, the kickstanding caused some additional stress on the foot arch due to excessive pronation. Switching to stiffer shoes simply transferred the stress to the Achilles, so I started to develop issues there.

Fixing the run cross over gait (a work still in progress) really took stress off of that area and also helped to clear up some insertional Achilles tendonitis. All the other stuff (night splints, heel lift, taping, massage, orthotics etc..) was just patching up the symptoms. Sometimes fixing the way you run is the solution. It is not easy though and requires some expertise. See strong-running below for more info on this (I am NOT selling anything there).

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Simplify, Train, Live

alright PF experts - if it doesn't hurt to run, is it okay to run? After a recent HIM, I was waking up with foot pain out of bed that subsided in less than 5 minutes (long before running). Took a spill on the bike and was off completely for 3 weeks, but that morning pain never went 100% away. It's not my heel that hurts, but the area between heel and forefoot.

I read the horror stories and would rather take a month now to aggressively rehab the thing then lose a year trying to train through it. Recently started stretching ankle before getting out of bed, which pretty much eliminates the out-of-bed pain, but I know its there waiting to torpedo a season.

Everyone is different. But I know a number of friends who kept trying to run on the issue, did all the "fixes", and are now not running at all.

.

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Dave Campbell | Facebook | @DaveECampbell | h2ofun@h2ofun.net

Boom Nutrition code 19F4Y3 $5 off 24 pack box | Bionic Runner | PowerCranks | Velotron | Spruzzamist

Lions don't lose sleep worrying about the sheep

Had it really bad in each foot and tried all the regular tricks and treatments. To be honest the only thing that got be back to 100% was running through the mild discomfort after having rested it and building up very slowly (actually running more days per week but less mileage per day helped a ton). With my last go around I was so frustrated after a year of pain that I had made up my mind that having it completely tear would have been ok. I think sometimes we rest too much and things actually tend to get too tight. Only other advice check you glute medius strength and focus on core work. Back to 100% and running 40 plus mile weeks without so much as any pain now.

Suffered from it pretty bad and tried to run through the pain but to no avail.

Had 8 weeks off running during which time i rolled the base of my feet(arch and forefoot) with a golf ball as often as i could during the day and while at home.

Also lots of lower leg stretches, calves and achilles.

Sleeping in the strasburg sock for me is what made the most difference, gradually each night or every few days pull the Velcro strap a little bit tighter until its mildly uncomfortable.

I never ever used ice as even though it would ease the pain it actually shrinks/contracts the fascia which causes more tearing and damage.

I soaked my feet in hot water pre and post run and rolled it on the golf ball to encourage blood flow and stretch it out a bit before and after.

Started running with pretty cushioned shoes before easing back into the kinvaras.

Has never completely gone away but causes me minimal issue as long as i keep the rolling and stretching up and the occasional night in the strasburg sock.

Each person is different but this worked for me and i am running pretty well without issue.

I had this for about a year, nothing I tried seemed to work, I finally went out of pocket for treatments (cold laser and ultrasound) that Kaiser wouldn't cover and the problem was fixed within 6 weeks.

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Live long and surf!

Wow, lots of variety here in things that do - and do not - work. I've had PF 3x; 1st was the worst/longest because I went thought lots of ineffective (for me) approaches before hitting on one that works. I did the 'roll your sole' with tennis balls, lacrosse balls, a crazy nubbin ball designed fro PF, probably other things I can't recall. None helped in the long term, although some felt good while performing the rolling. I tried a couple of compression socks (but not the Strassburg sock). Nope. Many sessions of ART. Maybe a little helpful, but PF persisted. FINALLY, went to my sports med MD. He had two recommendations - off the shelf insoles (I use green Super Feet, but he had a couple of other similar suggestions) or a steroid shot (which he was willing to do). I went for the conservative approach - green Supper Feet. PF went away over the course of a month. I have three pairs and keep them in some shoes, so probably wear them 10-20% of the time and run in them 50% of the time.

So why did I get PF 2x more times? Both occurred following business trips to fun cities in which lots of walking in dress shoes was required (or elected - yes, I'm forgetful/stupid). Both times it was mild/just starting. Both times I went to near 100% green SF insoles. Both times resolved in a couple of weeks or less. Just my 2 cents.

Same for me: I got rid of it last year, however, I am very cautious when wearing my - work-required - formal shoes. I usually wear them with custom insoles about 75% of all times, while I am down to maybe 10% - 20% time for my custom sport insoles.

I guess the most efficient remedy is rest, but I attacked on all fronts:

- ESWT
- one shot of a local anesthetic
- custom insoles
- self massage with a twin ball
- rest, rest, rest

In addition, I found this ebook quite helpful: https://www.painscience.com/...lantar-fasciitis.php (no association with the guy, I think it is just a very well written summary of what we know).

if you're looking for the fastest rehab, i dealt with several bouts of it so a doc gave me a shot in my foot of steroids i believe. then he set me up with a PT who scraped my heel a couple days per week for about 6 weeks. no running for a couple weeks and then gradually phased in jog/walk sessions until i could run 30' without any pain. then was good to go and haven't had any issues since. the doc said the shot was to help speed up the process so the PT could be more aggressive. hope this helps.

Actually, that's one of the few advices backed by science available in this thread, even if you didn't know it. 99% of the rest is n=1 and broscience. Excessive weight is listed as a risk factor for PF in every such article I've read.

FWIW (not much, I bet), here it goes including some quotes addressing some of the many misconceptions I spotted:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/...C385265/#!po=31.0000

http://www.indianjpain.org/...page=29;aulast=Menon

Conclusion:
The thickness of the plantar fascia in patients with recalcitrant plantar fasciitis did not correlate with its clinical impact, and thus, we believe it should not be used in treatment planning.
http://journals.sagepub.com/...177/1071100718772041

Conclusion:
The risk of having PF in this study was 45.6% at a mean 10 years after the onset of symptoms. The asymptomatic patients had PF for a mean 725 days. The prognosis was significantly worse for women and patients with bilateral pain. Fascia thickness decreased over time regardless of symptoms and had no impact on prognosis, and neither did the presence of a heel spur. Only 24% of asymptomatic patients had a normal fascia on US at long-term follow-up. A US-guided corticosteroid injection did not cause atrophy of the heel fat pad. Our observational study did not allow us to determine the efficacy of different treatment strategies.
http://journals.sagepub.com/...177/2325967118757983

Heel pain as in achilles or you mean arch pain?

You need to find a qualified sports physiotherapist to diagnose it properly because the dysfunction can come from hypomobility, hypomobility, muscular weakness, muscular tightness, neautral tension, gleut tightness, even back tightness

As soon as you have a proper diagnosis then you can start treating the cause instead of symptoms.

Sometimes the tennis ball massage helps progressing up to golf balls

The calf roller plastic stretch is great for calf muscle tightness

Cortisone can make it pain-free but doesn't change the cause so can be temporary

Physio can teach yiu neural stretches if needed, arch stretches,

Grid roller for lower back or gleut tightness

Different shoes... Often too much midfoit support can cause it, so avoid heavy anti pronation shoes

A soft mattress can cause it if you wake up with yiur spine crooked like a banana. A rigid matress can help to keep your spine straight. Or a full length body pillow to avoid spine rotation

There's so many options, that's why diagnosis is key... And I would recommend a good physiotherapist over gp or podiatrist or chiro or specialist for the differential diagnosis because all modalities are. Considered

What's a "calf roller plastic stretch"?

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Google "calf roller" it's a plastic moon shaped thing. It pulls your toes back like against the wall, but you can control the stretch much better... Great for deep calf and arch flexibility

unfortunatelly i'm into a severe plantar fascitis with a 4mm lesion in the fascia. (this is what an echography said yesterday).

the good thing is that i was doing an Ecography for a little problem in the achilles (a light insertional tendonitis that at the moment is almost healed) and ask the guy for a rapid check in the fascia... and unfortunatelly it has defined 'severe' my problem

i have some doubts about it:

1) it's been a long time since that i start feeling a little pain under my heel (about 8 months). i ve done about 2 long stops from the run (not for the fascitis but for personal problems) and it hasn't helped it. i have always ride and swim However
2) my pain is really light. i can feel a puncture in the fist steps in the morning when i'm barefoot. i feel it during the first kms of a run but it is always light, sometimes it disappear during the run and it came back later in the run, like when u have a pebble in the shoes....and it disapper for the rest of the day.
3) when i ve done the ecography i have done a tempo run about 12 hour before the exam and a 70' minutes ride about 1hour before the exam... can this influence the results?

this is the first eco i ve done for the fascia so i'm not sure about how it was 2 or 4 month ago...but it seems strage for me that a 'sever' fascia could be so light to feel.

My A race is an IM at the end of september bt at the moment i ride about 250/300 km per week....but i ve started run 1 months ago and i only run 30 km per week...so maybe it is a good idea to not race in september...

opinions?

Current evidence for plantar fasciitis is that it is an overuse with, under-strength injury. No difference in symptoms with rest but increase in weakness so keep running - Continue to run or jog-walk as much as tolerated. At the end of each run, fold a towel and put it on the floor then put your toes on the towel and the rest of your toot on the floor (effectively raising your toes), from this position do single leg calf raises until you can't manage any more - goal is to build up to about x40 with 10-15kg weighted in the opposite hand and you are allowed to rest your other hand on a wall / bench for balance. Do both legs.
Additionally, ensure your foot bones are mobile between each other (forefoot and mid foot mobility is important) and your shoes are a good fit. You will feel more sore before better as you get stronger.
You should also ensure you are strong through the whole kinetic chain so glute strength, hamstrings, and core. Have fun with that :)

When I upped my mileage by over 200% for two + months during the 100 runs in 100 days challenge, I had a small bout of heel pain for about a week.

This is what worked for me:

Cheap wooden heal roller
Thin ice packs
Heel compression socks

For about an hour on and off throughout the day I would use all three and continued to run low intensity in the evenings. It worked for me and I ended up not having to stop running.

If it had continued more than a few days I would have continued all three treatments but stopped running.

Obviously what worked for me will not work for everyone but I am just sharing my personal experience.


Good luck!

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"If it costs you 30 minutes at Maryland so what" -dwreal

Is this the right kinesiology taping technique for plantar fasciitis? - here's the video I found online