Got hit with this thing late in January in the right foot. Got to the point when all I was limping after every run. Had to stop. Pain is mainly on the inner side of the heel pad, sometimes radiating up the arch. The pain tends to get worse as the day progresses.
Saw a couple of doctors - one ankle/sport medicine doc that worked on my friend’s some knee ACL/MCL tear, and a podiatrist my wife used. Also saw a sports massage person who was not really sure what to do, despite being highly recommended by my local Tri Club.
Both agreed that this is PF. One recommended a cast boot for 3 weeks, and the other one offered custom orthotics (he saw an excessive pronation in the right foot). Having experienced cast boot before on the left foot (ankle sprain), I would rather avoid it if possible - muscle loss, hip issues due to imbalance all tend to linger. I think that with orthotics I stand a better chance of getting over this longer term. Any thoughts? Should I bite the bullet with the cast boot to at least get the inflammation down?
Been there myself 2 years ago, and I have sympathy. I have to say that using the boot every evening did the most for me. Sorry. I did get one that was very adjustable, so was not terribly hard to get used to, as opposed to the strassberg sock which drove me nuts! I got mine on E-bay and saved a ton! I tried EVERYTHING but one, and if mine returned I would do acupuncture, as nothing else (massage, graston, ice, rolling the foot and calf, heat, stretching) worked. Patience is tough to have with it, but don’t try and run through it…
I am sorry to hear bout your PF. I had a PF issue without the pronation.
I got the orthodics from my podiatrist as well as a shot in one foot. The pain went away for three weeks, then slowly came back (I stopped running by this point). The orthotics really did not seem to help.
I then went to a PT in Portland called Stride Strong (no affiliation). They really seemed to be focused on running specific injuries. I went to PT twice a week for 4-6 weeks and have been in great shape (except when I ramped my miles too fast a few times). You will start with stretching and inflamation reduction then move to strength and fixing what caused the problem.
I would encourage you to find a running specific PT. If you have pronation you need to address that issue.
My symptoms were a bit different- as long as I was moving I was OK, when I sat for a period then got up I had to shuffle for 10-15 minutes to get warmed up then I could walk mostly normal (but not down stairs- rather scary). I am a fan of good PT after seeing the results they have provided.
The sock actually was terrible I thought. I got a boot on e-bay and it was completely adjustable via velcro. It was cheap compared to what they charge elsewhere, and was the difference.
Try freezing a water bottle (the throw away kind) and roll it back and forth under the arch of the foot for at least 5 minutes. It will get really cold and almost painful but it will decrease the swelling and at the same time trick your body into flushing the area with blood to warm it back up. This helps promotes healing by flushing the edema out. I would also look at trying to strengthen the foot muscles. Get a bag of marbles and place 50 on the floor in front of you. Pick the marbles up by curling your toes and place them in a pile. Do both feet and if you have tile or hardwood floors put them on a towel so they don’t roll all over. Another thing you might look at is Kenesio tape. I have used it on several patients including my wife for PF and it really helped. You can go to the KT tape website to see how to do it. PS I am a therapist
Will it make sense in my case when the pain area is not in arch but rather in the heel pad? The plantar arch area seems to be pretty pain free even during a sports massage.
Another question - in your experience, did cycling aggravate PF at all? It seems to be making the heel a bit more tender in my case, but not sore the way running does.
Also driving seems to really aggravate too. I am guessing that it is the foot stretch that causes it.
I had PF last year, starting in Dec/Jan (I think the onset was from swimming: kicking and pushing off the wall too hard).
It persisted through the summer. Initially, I cut waaaay back on run miles, going every other day or every three days, and always experiencing the worst symptoms right after running. Over the summer, as I built towards a 70.3, my miles increased; soreness decreased gradually. I tried to focus a lot on re-hab and the right exercises & stretches. By fall, the PF was pretty much gone. So 9 months.
I never wore a boot. I bought orthotics, but found them way too stiff. They were $40 mold-in-oven ones. As a supinator (under-pronator) who likes a neutral “ride” they just weren’t what I needed, so I didn’t use them much.
I did try to emphasize: stretching, warming up slowly for runs, toe-spacers (to stretch), Strassburg-sock (night splint), and foot-self-massage. As a result, I ran less, but biked and swam more.
My yearly mileage was a lot lower: ~1200 in 2013, down from 1900+ in 2012. Like I said: a tough year for running. But I am now fully recovered and running a lot. PF will test your patience, but you can reach recovery!
If you go against the “Boot Doctor’s” orders, make sure you let them know and still look for other techniques & solutions to replace that advice.
On my way back from PF now…it sucks. It hit me almost a year ago and I am just now getting back to running (although. Y case was complicated by a stress fx in my heel, as well).
Agreed on the night splint, although the biggest benefit is the initial AM pain. If possible, use it at your desk at work and then slide into your shoes when you need to.
Instead if frozen water bottles, try frozen cans of beans. Will last longer and it is colder (steel vs. plastic). Another option is to get the big yellow rain boots at Hime Depot. Fill them with ice and water…you can ice your foot, Achilles and calf all at the same time. Not exactly pleasant, but effective.
KT tape was worthless for me…and I tried just about every single taping option available. I had better success with the Low Dye technique.
I would rarely ever use a CAM boot to treat plantar fasciitis since that doesn’t really address the issue. I do find many patients well to the “low dye” taping technique as was discussed rather than any stretchy “kinesio” type application.
Orthotics only helpful for certain people (i.e. excessive rate/amount of “pronation”, compensated forefoot varus, etc.) and are generally over utilized.
The good news is that statistics are on your side in that >95% of cases of plantar fasciitis resolved within 12 months no matter what you do. The trick is to either shorten that of course or somehow train through if possible.
Hmm I would try the ice,strengthening and the other stuff anyway just to see. The Plantar fascia is a thick tendonous band that attaches on the heel (calcaneus) and also at the base of the Metatarsals. It could be that it is inflamed at the origin which is the end where it attaches to the heel. Has anyone x-rayed your foot to look for possible bone spur?? Cycling really shouldn’t aggravate PF so much if you are using cycling specific shoes and not running shoes. The soles are so stiff they shouldn’t allow much stretch of the tendon.
The first doc (that recommended the boot) did take the x-rays and did not see a bone spur. But i can ask him again - what are the symptoms of bone spur?
Did you change anything in January/before the new year? Training load, surface, volume, intensity, shoes, running style etc? I had a bout with this from mid October-mid December, first experience. New school program that upped the stress big time and started running more uneven, softer terrain compared to my usual prescription of flat surfaces. I tried the sock, it did help some but did not solve the problem even wearing it nightly for a couple of weeks. What killed it for me was graston (gross feeling on the bottom of the foot…) and doing exercises for tib post and eccentric loading of the foot and Achilles and ultrasound. My progression went from running one day and needing three days off to running two on, maybe two off, three on one off, four days in a row maybe needing one off etc…Eventually it kind of just…went away. Low dye taping made it feel better when it was on, but I didn’t really get anything permanent from it. Just my experience and some more ideas. Good luck!
I’m going on 8 months now with PF and I’m running more than ever before. The degree of pain varies and I do some of the things suggested to help it throughout the week. Luckily it doesn’t bother me so much while I’m running, but I’m hoping one day soon all the symptoms just go away!
I think that it all started in October when I pushed really hard to run a sub 1:30 half on a concrete bike path. Then I trained through slight discomfort in preparation for IMAZ, and then… only took 2 weeks off to continue training for the LA Marathon. That’s probably what broke me.
I also tried to switch to more neutral running shoes and perhaps I was not ready for that.
Many different reasons… I think that it comes down to overtraining at the end of the day. The plan is to hold off on running until May and just swim/bike in the interim. Then ease into running slowly.
I was just diagnosed last week with partial tear of PF w/bone spur and also bone spur on heel. Needless to say I’m not running. Doc wants to do ESWT on both spurs and also a partial release of PF. Anyone have experience with either of those two procedures? 25yrs or running and this is the first issue I’ve had with PF and am wondering if this is to aggressive of an approach to PF, for me.
I was just diagnosed last week with partial tear of PF w/bone spur and also bone spur on heel. Needless to say I’m not running. Doc wants to do ESWT on both spurs and also a partial release of PF. Anyone have experience with either of those two procedures? 25yrs or running and this is the first issue I’ve had with PF and am** wondering if this is to aggressive of an approach to PF**, for me.