Just got this from my doc:
- It's ok to keep training. As far as the discomfort goes - Rub dirt in it and take a lap.
- You could possibly tear the thing (which will hurt like hell), but it will be better after 2 -3 weeks.
- stretching achiles and calves can help.
- This will last 2 -3 months (if you don't tear it first).

I'm in month 2 of my PF, and it seems to slowly be getting better. At this point, it's just an annoyance when I wake up and take my first few steps of the day.

There's a ton of advise on the forum, most of it good. Different things work for different people. I had it for two years, what worked for me was a good foam roller for the calves, streching em out before/after every run, and running consistently. Its still not perfect, but I manage.

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Nothing to see here

i bought one of those sexy moon boots you wear to bed. it has helped my achillies, calf etc. But the damn thing cuts into the ball of my foot and it creates the same hotspot i get when cycling. I usually wake up after a couple of hours with no feeling in my toes, so now I;m thinking of trying the sock version to stretch just the foot, not the lower leg. I did a 10km run yesterday with only a very mild level of discomfort (2/10 on the 'pain' scale), so I know i can comfortably train, it's just the rest of the day when it's a pain in the butt. Oh, 2 family members have sufferred with it as well. Mums had both feet operated on to relieve the muscle. But it was chronic by then. I hope to avoid an op. I don't fancy having my achillies cut off and re attached like mum had ........

I had it for two years also. Tried all sorts of things but what worked best was sleeping in PF boots that keep your foot stretched back. Hard to get used to but made mornings infinitely better!

I have been fighting PF for a while. It never seems to fully go away with occasional flare-ups, but it is manageable.

I wear the Strassburg Sock at night when it is flaring and I do a lot of stretching (Calves, hamstrings and back).


I also found it helpful to freeze a water bottle, and roll my foot back and forth over it. You can also take a dixie cup, fill it with water and freeze it, and then massage your arch after workouts.

I had PF in my left foot two years ago and suffered pretty bad for 6 months. For me, the single most important thing was stretching my foot every day BEFORE I got out of bed. Evidently, the foot tries to heal itself over night but when you take your first steps of the day you are reinjuring it. So every morning before I get up I rotate my foot 30 times one way, 30 times the other way, and then I pull the toes back 10 times. (Google PF exercises and you can find this).

Other stuff: foot strengthening exercises (towel pull) (http://www.stretchingusa.com/product2.cfm?proID=52), night splint, stretch feet, stretch calves, go to a podiatrist and make sure you have the right shoes and possibly get othotics, if appropriate.

The weirdest thing for me is that after getting worse for about 3 months I decided to stop running until I got better. When I completely rested the foot I always had some lingering pain. I kept resting the foot thinking I should wait until the pain went away before resuming running (never quit biking). Finally, I got tired of waiting and just started running again and the lingering pain immediately went away. That made absolutely no sense to me but it was a good thing so I just accepted it.

I still do the foot strengthening exercises every day and foot stretching before I get out of bed and so far, no reoccurrence.

Good luck.

I have found rolling my foot on a golf ball while seated at my desk to help. It is one of those “hurt so good” feelings. Ice afterwards.

When I had plantar fascitis, I did a lot of stretching and it seemed to help. The best thing I found was to replace the flat sock liner insoles in my shoes with Powerstep insoles. I've had no problems since.

Get a water bottle, freeze it, and roll your heal on it after every run or at night (or both). Worked for me.

To clarify, a small plastic water bottle that you buy at the convenient store to drink. Not a bike water bottle......the smaller size works better i think.

3 seasons with it, and it has finally subsided (for now).

I, in the past, ignored it and trained through it. I would not advise this. I just had hard custom orthotics made and helped a little.

This year, I finally broke down and saw a podiatrist. I had orthotics made for my running and cycling shoes that I wear all the time. I also have been stretching often, doing a pre-run routine to activate muscles in my hamstrings and butt to take pressure off of my feet, hips, quads, etc. pre-run (BW squats, lunges, etc), and I also have been running 5 days a week instead of just 3-4.

The pre-run routine has helped a lot. The doc stated that too many people just stretch and start running. He said that this is dangerous and ineffective. He stated that muscles used in running properly must be activated and warmed up prior to running so that your muscles can fire correctly so to take pressure off of weak parts of your body - in our case tha plantar fascia.

I also would advise taking some time off if it gets too bad, and starting a run routine where you do very low miles running 5 days a week to allow your body to adapt to running often. I started with 10 min runs, bumped up to 20 and 30. Then I through in a 40 minute "long" run until I bumped the "long run" to 60 minutes. Once I was at the point of running 4 30 min runs + 1 60 minute rub with little to no pain, I started doing mileage. So I made my 30 minute runs 4 milers, and my 60 minute run an 8 miler. I then gradually increased mileage to where I am now, 32 miles this week. Yes, this takes a while, but I can now run with no pain, I can do tempo runs and speedwork with little to no resdiual pain the day after.

Hope this helps.

I also struggled with it off-and-on for a couple of years. The advice that helped me the most was to wear flip-flops inside my house. I always walked barefoot on my hardwood floors, and apparently that is a big no-no. Started wearing flip-flops on the hardwood, it helped immensly.

For me, my PF was sorted using much less pain than any of the above posts. In fact it was the opposite of most the above advice.

PF is the result of a weaker foot structure, usually the result of being in shoes constantly. I was prescribed a custom orthotics and told to never go without it, from the time I wakeup to the time I go to bed. Looking at it I could not work out how this was going to help strengthen my foot, so I threw it in the cupboard, never to be worn again and did the opposite ... Barefoot as often as possible. Down to the shops, around the house, walking on weekends. The pain got worse for a few weeks then instantly it was gone. I have kept up the barefoot and encourage my kids to do the same, because the original cause of this injury will not go away from treating the foot even more softly. It'll haunt you forever unless you deal with it.

All tendon related injuries, such as Achilles and patella tendonopathy, need the tendon stressed to help remodel and strengthen it. PF is no different, and wearing no shoes is a lot easier than wearing splints, night socks, boots, orthotics and shoes all day everyday.

Ps standing on a rolling pin every day may have helped as well

I have done very similar things to Phil here and am having the same results..getting my run mileage back up to something that looks respectable..but still some tenderness in the heel area..it sucks..

cheers
S.

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I dealt with PF this year (for 6+ months) and if you want to get it healed quickly here is my suggestion and reasoning behind it, which will differ from many on here.

I did a lot of what everyone has already stated, aftermarket orthodics, custom orthodics, night splint, stretch, rollers, massage, injection, etc. and none of it worked.

Here is what did work and I will it explain why. Find someone where you live who performs "The Graston Technique" www.grastontechnique.com

Here is the theory and you tell me if you agree or it makes sense to you. In your body muscle fibers are laid on top of one another and need to move back and forth as they are stretched or contracted. When you have PF there is inflamation & scar tissue in your foot and it acts like "cement" in between those muscle fibers which does not let the muscle act that way it wants and causes you pain.

So the deal is there is scar tissue in there you need to get out, most of what everyone has mentioned does not get ride of it. The best way to get rid of the scar tissue is to break it up. This is why you will also see the suggestion to roll your foot on a golf ball or some of the Trigger Point stuff, which works.

The better thing to do is a see a professional who practices "The Graston Technique" and will use the Graston tools to massage/scrape the bottom of your foot and your calves to break up the scar tissue that has formed. This does not feel great, but it works when they run those metal rods over your calves and feet, you can feel the knots in there. This is not overnight relief, but I will bet you will feel better the day after someone works on you.

When I had this done, I found it was best to have this performed every 4-5 days in order to give the foot some time to heal they have essentially gone in there and beaten up the foot and it needs some time to recover before they do it again.

I started out on the route most people are mentioning and it did not work and I spent over $2,000.00. It might work for others, but not me. I imagine most who have to walk around in "Crocs" or still have issues have never gotten rid of the scar tissue in their foot and so it gets inflammed after they run and to some degree still dealing with it. It seems to me that scar tissue does not just get up and leave the body.

My bet is you will probably be better with Graston Work in 6 sessions. You might not be completely healed, but you will find huge improvement. Look at their website and do some research on it, in 2008 or 2009 Triathlete Magazine gave Graston an A+ for therapy for dealing with injuries, where it gave cortisone shots a D or D-.

I have no dog in this fight, I am not associated with "The Graston Technique" or a Doc of any kind. I am just your average Triathlete like a lot of people who had to deal with PF and I am pretty sure I found something that a lot of people on here are not very familiar with that could really help them out and I am just trying to get the word out.

Best of luck with whatever you decide to do.

I've been working on recovery for 5 months now. I'm somewhat convinced it will never completely go away. But it;s finally manageable. Mine is at the base of my heal. SO yours might be different. I got and X-ray that rules out any kind of heel spur causing the inflamation. Here's my plan.

1) taking prescription anti inflammatory
2) NEVER walk barefooted! Even on carpet. I bought some supportive house slippers.
3) Bought a new pair or running shoes. Changed brads. Ran in Asics for 17 years, but found a pair of Brooks that fit a little better and had better heel cushioning.
4) Reduced my running and took it easy. Mixed walking and running early on in recovery. Focused on biking and swimming instead.
5) Used ice after runs early on, don't bother now.
6) Stretch, stretch, stretch.... after working out.
7) Use a foot splint at night to keep my toe pointed up close to a 90 degree. I think this had the most benefit. This allowed it to recover properly overnight.
8) Run, walk and work in padded socks.


I can now run 6-7 miles without discomfort (I don't run a whole lot more training for Olympic distance & sprints). I know its' there, but it's not painful. I could probably run farther but haven;t wanted to push it until it warms up outside. I've been told colder weather makes it worse. Some runners only get this in the fall and winter.




Hope that helps. It seems ot be working for me so far. First "major" injury I've ever had. A broken collarbone was easier to get over than this.

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When I had it mine only bothered first thing in the morning for first few steps and then by the time I got down to the bottom of the stairs and did some calf raises it was gone for the day. It lasted a couple months but just went away on its own, and I still ran when I had it.

for me it was a combination of using SOLE softec response insoles in all my running shoes and.....drumroll.....CROCS CROCS CROCS all the time in the house, at work, out to dinner, etc......I think it is the combination of cushion and support that is so wonderful to both let the tissues heal but also keep them stretched/supported. I don't wear my crocs in the shower, but some peeps even do that.
I would avoid barefoot/minimalist/graston stuff.....that did not work for me.

Keep a food can next to your bed... Roll out the foot first thing before you put any weight onto it. You can also buy the footlog for the same purpose. The golf ball suggestion isn't bad but it really helps to have something a little wider and that distributes the weight a little better.

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You should also check out ASTYM. Same idea as Graston, different tool manufacturer.

Got it in my left foot last year. It didn't keep me from running, but running wasn't comfortable. After a few months of suffering, I started rolling it on a rolling pin every night and stretching the calf, as well as stretching it a little before getting out of bed in the AM. Oddly, I took a 5-day complete break from training in December of that year and it went completely away.
Now, I have a new foot problem that's been going on since August with no sign of relief, but that's another thread...Good luck!

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I understand everyone has different experiences, but for me barefoot was the key to fast recovery. Back running full distance after 3 months, and I am totally convinced it will never come back. My foot has never been stronger. None of the 8 points in your plan treat the foot the way it was intended during our 100 million years of evolution.

I stumbled across a remedy, which was the opposite of what my osteopath prescribed, when I read an article on all the foot problems we have in the west, that result from being constantly shod. I looked up some barefoot forums and these guys are laughing at PF. For them it's about as bothersome as a paper cut, gone before they've even noticed it. I tried it, again, against all professional advice I'd received, and within 2 months ...gone! No socks, boots, splints, anti-inflam, new shoes, ice, reduction in running or stretching. But as I say, this was just my experience

The only problem I see, is that running barefoot and walking in sandals in June and July last year, along with unsupportive work shoes making the problem worse I feel is what caused my injury. Perhaps I'm oversimplifying the root cause.

The other contributing factor was doing a sprint triathlon undertrained and overweight. A bad combination.

I'll look into the barefoot strategy some more. Although what I'm doing now seems to be working. I only have a couple days of prescription AI's left. We'll see how it goes after that. I'm definitely past the worst of it.

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TrainingBible Coaching
http://www.trainingbible.com

I was out for most of a summer due to PF. I also tried most of what has been mentioned above and nothing really worked. Then I started training in Vibrams and the pain dissipated. I would even get PF pain at work from a lot of standing and walking. However I would get home, throw the VFF on for a run, and the pain would be gone before I got a mile into the run. I have now replaced every casual and exercise shoe I have with the flattest options possible. Pumas and Vibrams.

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KyleKranz.com
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