Heel pain in the morning, comes and goes, blah, blah…
Been on the phone with P.T.'s all morning. One is coming over to evaluate me this afternoon. The likelyhood is I have plantar fasciitis.
Now what?
My Ironman training is starting to ramp up and I am actually feeling good.
Bottom line: Am I out of the race?
Guys: Help!!!
I’d recommend a night splint. It’s annoying to sleep in, but it fixed my plantar fasciitis. Also be sure to “stretch” your feet. For me, the stretch that works best is squatting and leaning forward so all my weight is on my toes. I can shift my weight around to accentuate the stretch for different parts of the foot. Friction massage also helps.
Maybe not the smartest thing but I did IMoo 2 years ago with it and then a month later ran the marine corp marathon. It resolved over the winter. My suggestions if it is PF:
I used everything above and it has never come back.
I’ll will defer all of my advice to the expert opinion of rroof
You’re fine… I hope.
DO two things RIGHT NOW!
#1. Get a strassburg sock and wear it to bed every night. www.thesock.com
#2. Contact TP massage ball and get their massage product and use it as many times a day as you can. 5 or more. www.tpmassageball.com
I’m sure rroof will chime in here. do what he says too.
I’ve healed a quite a few people with this method, but you really have to do the work. I like to tell people that healing an injury is JUST LIKE training. THe more work you do the better the results. People tend to slack like crazy or think that a few minutes a day of stretching or massage will do the trick. Do the work needed to heal and you’ll be fine… I hope.
edit: Almost forgot. You need to ogo over your training and equipment and anything that may have happened to figure out WHY you got it in the first place. Injuries are one of the BEST ways to point out flaws in your training or lifestyle or equipment selection. Go over it like a MADMAN to see what went wrong.
Whats more important, one race, or many races in the future. Everything I have read says do not mess
around with it!!!
One nice thing about not being able to run in training. Getting this stuff I hope is hard to get without
running a lot?
Dave
Tom,
I’m no expert, but several questions come to mind.
First, how long have you let these symptoms go before you are seeking treatment? Has the condition become chronic?
Second, what is the root cause? Is this something that can be addressed with a cut back in training and some specific exercises?
Third, I have found that ART is an excellent treatment option for inflammation issues. Dr. Karl Tarkanyi (KET Chiropractic, and the guy who was set up at the Ann Arbor Tri) and Dr. Karen Slota in Livonia are both local chiropractors that have been practicing ART for several years and are proficient.
I think that if you start treatment soon your IM training can be salvaged.
Best of luck,
Bernie
Sounds like you are “catching” this early, so that is good (rather than my typical male pt who comes in with a 6 month history of pain).
I thought you had asked a while ago about a posterior night splint? Why? Have you already tried this? At first, listen to your PT, but you really need to rule out the odd heel pain issues first (they are rare, but things like a calcaneal stress fx, tumor, etc. should be ruled out). Once you PF diagnosis is established, the other posters were right on. I’d add to never go barefoot until it is better. Treat it like any other tendonitis type injury (i.e. splint, protect, don’t use the tendon) until better.
Still hurting after 4-6 weeks of that … PM me.
I have heard the input that once these type of issues come up, one should never go barefoot again?
Dave
Sounds like you are doing the right thing in seeking out professional help asap (I assume it is asap and you haven’t been ignoring it). With that in mind I am sure you will get your race, unlike mine with a broken collarbone. Any advise for me for returning to riding/training given your former life/experiences?
My experience with PF went like this Tom:
Pretty severe pain all of last May and June. Massage, stretching and a night splint didn’t do much. I went to see a Podiatrist (who is also a runner) and he made me a little temporary arch support. Also gave me a cortisone shot. Still had some pain for about three weeks…and then it just…disappeared.
I hate even typing that as I don’t want to jinx myself. I think the keys for me have been: routine stretching of my calves after EVERY run and intermittently throughought the day religiously switching to new shoes after 400 miles using decent quality foot beds (Superfeet) in all my non-running shoes
From last August I have been able to do my largest run volume ever - more than double what I’ve done in years past - and I only have a little heel/foot soreness from time to time now. I think the cortisone shot really helped to sort of “hit the reset button” on the inflammation, and since then I’ve tried to just be more careful about taking care of my feet.
Tom,
Read through this thread…
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=1357839;search_string=;#1357839
I’d pass on the sock as I’ve heard people have had some pain in the toes… Personally, I wore a dorsal splint and it cured me completely after having had symptoms come and go for almost 5 years. Don’t skip a day, wear it to bed everynight and while your sitting at home lounging (like there’s time for that!!!) Here is what it looks like…
It doesn’t have the clumsiness of the full boot, much easier to sleep with, yet is just as effective for keeping the facia strectched for recovery… Good luck getting pain free!
The motherload was dropped on this issue earlier in the week including how to tape your foot. Best.
http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=1355867;search_string=cooterbob;#1355867
F that!
Its all the more reason to go barefoot. you need the strengthen and balance your foot. Just not right away. Like rroof said, WHILE its hurt, maybe want to invest on a pair of Brooks Addictions for everyday shoes. maybe some superfeet in there as well. Once it heals though, start with a strengthining program and slowly work your way to being able to run barefoot once or twice a week without problems. just take your damn time.
Here’s my example:
A number of years ago Reebok came to my shop to launch their new running line. They had those neat foor pressure measuring mats you stand on and gives you a readout as to what kind of shoe you need. Mine was HORRIBLE. hot spots all over the place, pronating like a MFer. Motion control shoes for me! Shortly after Dave Welsh talked me into running in an old pair of Adidas Cubatos racing flats instead. I eventually got to running barefoot or in shoes that are jsut a thin slice of rubber for padding. Now I only run in totally flat shoes and LOVE being barefoot.
Fast forward 4 years to Reebok comming to my new shop in California. THey had the foot pressure thing again so I jumped on. My foot pressure reading was PERFECT. Perfect balance, perfect pressure, even toe distribution, ball to heel distribution, perfectly formed arch. PERFECT. If you look at my feet, they are FAR from perfect. I “overpronate” a ton on my right foot, have almost no arch and look like I need MC shoes.
I’m not a doctor or even a certified smartass, but I would throw away those new Newtons.
Good input. I have also read that going barefoot is the only way to run.
Dave
I’m not a doctor or even a certified smartass, but I would throw away those new Newtons.
Best advice I’ve seen on ST!!
And there it is…
You got a pair of Newtons didn’t you? Lets have the list of shoes you’ve trained in most this year.
Now wait a minute, upon information and belief, numerous foot doctors have included the Newton in their 2007 budget projects based on increased income from treating metatarsal stress fractures…:o)
Heel pain in the morning, comes and goes, blah, blah…
Ha! Half of that is probably just old age. Real men cry PF when they get to the point of having to limp around most of the day. Also, in my personal experience, serious PF gets worse throughout the day. Stiff in the morning, yes, but excruciating by 5 p.m.
IT does sound like if it is PF that you did catch it real early. Follow the previous suggestions, the boot or dorsal splint seems to have the best experience by ST reports over the last two years. I also got heel cups from a sports doctor years ago that I wear alot in my regular shoes that seems to help as well. They’re just soft silicone rubber, and besides they make me a little taller.
Training-wise, you might want to shift a little more time into swimming and biking, and possibly aqua jogging until you work through what is causing the PF and allowing some cure time.
If you get this resolved in the next few weeks, you still have July and August to build an excellent base for IMoo. Think calm cool thoughts and try and relax.
Tom,
Same boat here it just started about two weeks ago.
I have been icing. Use frozen concentrate OJ juice container and roll my foot out for about ten minutes, or until it starts melting. I do this about 4 times a day. Also stretch alot. It has been helping. Today for the first time in a while I woke up without foot pain.
good luck with it.
LP coming soon and I am a bit worried.