Custom orthotics + month off.

Of course, 2 years later I'm out with a hamstring injury, so maybe don't listen to me.

Rolling my foot on a golf ball twice a day for 5 minutes at a time. Feel the crunch...

ART worked really well along with super feet inserts in all shoes. I ran small distances every other day and it slowly went away over 3 months. I am now 90 percent heeled (get it!).

I had it since last August until I started ART in March.

Same approach for me. Rolling my feet on a tennis ball usually keeps the PF away. I do it as part of my stretching before and after activity.

 
I use scaphoid pads, also known as arch cookies. There are foam rubber ones available that are very light, although they compress more than the hard rubber ones. Frankford Leather Company sells them pretty cheaply, plus you need to buy the glue. Then you just glue them to the bottom of your existing insole. I think 12 pair of the size XL plus glue plus shipping was around $50. I also bought hard rubber ones from them and put them into all of my street shoes. I just use double-faced foam tape to secure them to the top of the midsole.

Brian

---

Brian

Gonna buy a fast car, put on my lead boots, take a long, long drive
I may end up spending all my money, but I'll still be alive

Had it in college.

rest? no
Ice w/ soda (beer) can? no
walking boot? no
more rest? no
Cortisone shot? yes

After about 3 months of frustration, I was pain free 48 hours after and have had only one flare-up in the last 10 years. That one was more mild and rolling with a soda can got the job done.

Not what you wanted to hear. Sorry.

---

/kj

http://kjmcawesome.tumblr.com/

I tried almost everything. Many trips to the podiatrist, $600 custom orthotics, orthotics in my cycling shoes, 9 months of no running, Strassborg sock, night split, rolling on golf ball/tennis ball/foot wheel, step stretching, 4 EPAT sessions (these are expensive and hurt like hell, like taking a jackhammer to it), 6 weeks of PT including both ART and graston, icing with whole foot in a bucket of ice, 6 different running shoes and TP massage kit (footballer on the block). What worked for me was some off the self orthotics that cost $70 from New Balance that had a met pad. The met pad did the trick. It took a few days to get used to it, but it really relieved the pressure on the arch. An ultra runner who worked at the New Balance Store looked at my feet and some worn shoes and recommended the met pad insoles. Huge difference. I'm not back to running marathons, but I'm up to 8 miles pain free which makes me so happy. Not being able to run for 9 months was tough and having pain just walking was horrible. All the trips and money spent on the doc and the $600 custom insoles was completely worthless. Keep trying different stuff until you find relief. I gave up for a few months and I wish I would have kept looking for a solution.

I got a relatively serious case last year. Took a month off which didn't work, took another month off and iced a lot which didn't work. Read here about rolling with a golf ball. I tried that, but felt I could get better and more precise pressure by just kneeding my arches and heal with my thumb, index finger, and middle finger. This worked like a charm! Literally all it took was 45 seconds per foot before each run with SERIOUS pressure applied, especially focused on where the arch meets the heel. I still get occasional tinges of pain, but more a 2 on a the scale of 10. This is now just part of my warmup route right before putting on athletic socks.

Skechers GoRuns were perfect for me - pointed out to me by the ladies at the tri store. There are a few models, but especially the original GoRuns have very good arch support, no heel strike, and are quite light and flexible. I always suggest that people with PF try them on to see if they might work for them. They also turned me from a heel striker to mid to fore foot runner. Meb runs in them.

I did trail hiking instead of running for two or three months.

I also adjusted my cleats back a little, and that stopped the last couple of flareups.

I also did the usual rolling, stretching and icing, but it made a lot less difference than shoes, substituting hiking for running, and moving he cleats back.

Strassberg Sock, ice and trigger point Foot-Baller made it go away.. changing how i ran kept it from coming back

Custom orthodics from a podiatrist who specialists in sport injuries. Freeze a water bottle, put it on the ground, roll it back and forth hard along the bottom of the foot.

I had a bad case last year. What worked for me was stretching, rolling with a trigger point footballer and massaging my foot before I go to bed and first thing in the morning before I get out of bed in the morning.I also got a pair of Foot Balance insoles that helped a lot.

Let it heal as much as possible. Work the fascia and strengthen your feet and your core, mobilize your ankles and your pelvis and over time it should go away. I battled it for nearly 30 months. Rest and recovery is the best plan of action.

I've been dealing with some wicked PF for the last five months and it is only just (I mean, in the last 1-2 days) feeling better. I went from running about 75 mpw to 40 mpw to 20 mpw and have just taken off the last six days. Earlier this week I had about five injections of....bee venom extract. Yeah. Plus something else I haven't quite figured out. I didn't know it at the time (I'm abroad and don't speak the language) so doubt I would have bothered going through with it if I had. Afterwards my foot was numb and hurting like crazy but yesterday was a little better and today the huge lump I had on my arch has almost completely gone away and I'm not getting sharp pains when I get up out of a chair. Craziness.

Have to go back for a few more visits and am not planning on running again until next week, but hopefully something is working.

I've always done workouts in flats with 4-6mm drop and easier runs in Nike Frees or 3.0s. I wear flipflops all day long winter and summer (at work) so I'm not sure my feet are really "weak" per se. I had a cortisone shot about a month and a half ago which, if anything, just made it worse. I've iced after runs and worn the Strassburg sock and massaged calfs and hamstrings with baseballs and softballs and my foot with a rolling pin and softball and even the end of a spoon handle and nothing worked.

The last week though I've gotten in a few gym sessions focusing on 1 legged stuff and butt and back (lunges and deadlifts and some of the Nike Oregon Project gym routine stuff), I've stopped running completely, I've continued to wear the S sock, I've continued stretching and massage with the baseballs and whatnot, and now I've had the crazy bee venom injection thing. Something among those things (or all of them in conjunction) seems to be working.

Been a horribly frustrating and depressing process. Was hoping to be running 85-90 miles a week for base this summer and haven't done much of anything since the beginning of June, but hopefully I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

tl;dr version: try anything and everything until it goes away.

Just roll your foot on a tennis or LAX ball before and after each run. After it gradually heals, no more PF EVER! As long as you keep rolling your foot even when it gets better.

---

________________________________________________________________________
"That doesn't make any sense at all, you can be second, third, fourth... hell you can even be fifth." - Reese Bobby, Taladega nights

night splint - a must
calf stretching - a must
runner message - http://promassagers.com/...is_Landing_Page.html
cryosurgery - (Dr Nordock, Ventura CA - now retired) one of the pioneers and teachers in this proceedure.
custom orthotics - use in beginning, but not much any more

all above in combination killed my PF.

---

Retul Certified Fitter. gebioMized Pressure Mapping http://www.PedPowerPerformLab.com.
Retailer of Wahoo Fitness, Sable Water Optics, Enve Composit, Giro and more.
Zone3 USA Ambassador - use code DEAN25 for 25% off
http://www.OasisOne-Twelve.com - The ultimate hands free hydration system.
https://www.athlinks.com/athletes/19354499 - results.

This is the exact combination that worked for me to rid a nasty case of PF. Also make sure you untuck your bed sheets at the foot of your bed so your feet have no downwards pressure on them. It took a few months to completely go away, but this combination worked and I could mostly run through it. I found that time off did nothing to help.

Lots and Lots of stretching and it went away on its own. Also, rolling a tennis ball or a small can under your foot can help with the pain. But lots and lots of stretching my calves, it didn't go away overnight, it took a few months to completely disappear.

---

running is dumb

Thoughts on treadmill vs outdoor running
On concrete/asphalt? It seems to be worse after outdoor runs. Is that just mental or is there something to it.

Definitely rest the foot and apply ice etc., but another recommendation is to make sure the shoes your wearing outside of training are supportive enough to at least aide recovery. When I dealt with pf it actually improved the most when I made the changes outside of my training. I spent a lot of time trying to solve the issue by figuring out if it was my running/cycling was causing it. However for me it came from a combination of increased stress on my legs from added volume in addition to my worn out dress shoes and casual shoes that I was wearing post workout. Hope this helps.

---

Mike
________________________________________________________

with mine I've had to resort to 90% soft surface running on groomed dirt or treadmill-if I run on the asphalt I stay as flat as possible meaning if the road is canted I have to run down the center. Dealing with my 2nd bout of it. First time it took a cortisone shot 15 yrs ago, this time I didn't warm up before a 1/2 marathon and used a new pr of shoes and it irritated the bone spur I have on my heel which lead to 2 mos no running, icing, self massage, saw doc again and he said no shot and now 6 mos later I have been able to run all week but 3-6 miles no more. The elliptical and treadmill at the gym became my friends

X2

I also used the trigger point calf roller as my calves were really tight. Instead of the sock which I did not like, I found a nice little night brace which really helped a lot.

---

________________
Blogging

When it was acute:
- at night sleeping with that super sexy Strassberg sock
- ice under my arch/heel after every run
- Superfeet for a while then transitioned out of them to a 'minimal' shoe (Mirage/Fastwitch)
- 1 (one) Advil at night before bed to help reduce the inflammation

Now to keep it from coming back:
- Now that I haven't heard a peep from it for a while (watch) I have a massage stick that after every run I roll out my calves to above my heels..not really hard but just enough..30seconds at a time a few times a day
- compression socks for recovery

cheers
S.

---

// qui audet adipiscitur

This and icing the bottom of your foot regularly. I keep a golf ball in the freezer and I'll roll my feet out then ice them after most runs. Completely prevents any sort of nagging issues come back.