Plantar Fasciitis: Do I have it?

Triathlon Forum
1

So I’ve been running 60 miles/week for the last few weeks. Legs have felt good, no problems. This past Sunday I’m walking up some steps and I feel a little twinge in the bottom of my left foot. It’s a little tender for the rest of the day, but didn’t really bother me Monday. Tuesday morning I foolishly ran 10 and my foot has been bothering me since and i’m walking with a limp. The little research I’ve done talks about inflammation of the fibers that run from the heel to the toes, which is where I’m feeling the discomfort. I’m not having any heel pain or pain in the ball of my foot, but it’s the area between that hurts when I walk.

Can plantar fasciitis just pop up like this when I’ve never really had any issues of any kind before? Or is it more likely I just tweaked something and need to take a little break from running?

2

Yup - this is how plantar fasciitis “starts”. Stop running NOW, roll your arch on a frozen water bottle, google PF and do the stretches you read. Don’t go barefoot, even around the house, until it doesn’t hurt. Should go away rather quickly if you catch it now - can really last a long time if not. Also, hill work or worn out shoes can lead to this, so nix that/those.

Good luck!

3

It might sound extreme, but a night splint can be very helpful. I had a touch of plantar fasciitis and used a night splint. Just a couple nights with it provided significant relief. Also, don’t forget to stretch your feet. I find squatting down and flexing forward on my toes really helps.

4

Yeah… sounds like PF.

Get new shoes, if yours are worn out. Rolling your foot around atop a golf ball might help

5

Yes, it’s PF. The most important advice is already posted above, switch shoes now!

6

Yes, sounds like you have the dreaded PF. I have been training for the past three months for Philly. About six weeks ago I felt the same symptoms you are experiencing. I chose to push on, after all I’m and ironman and can train through a little pain…ha ha…what a fool I was. I am now being treated by my physio and regulated to pool running. The suggestions here work and the sooner you deal with the problem the less likely it will turn out to be chronic. Don’t do what I did. Also - the physio has been very good and treatment has been a combination of stim, ultrasound, and deep tissue massage. Hope this helps. Good luck.

7

Thanks everyone. This is what I was afraid of, but at least I seem to have caught it early. And I just bought a new Pearl Izumi running jacket…guess it might be awhile before I can use it. I’ve seen some stretches on some websites that I’ll start doing. I guess I should also stop walking around in flip flops. What is a night splint? I’ve never heard of one.

Dan

8

A night splint is something like this:
http://www.footsmart.com/P-Plantar-Fasciitis-FXT-30055.aspx
Besides never ever walking bare foot - including showering at home is to buy really good support day shoes - when I had PF really bad - for over 2 years - I only wore Birkenstop dress shoes and Birkie sandals - also in my running shoes put Super Feet Green insoles - and put the Grey Super Feet in my bike shoes. Good luck but do not get too aggressive for a few weeks - better slow down to speed up your recovery.

9

If the night split doesn’t work, try www.tpmassageball.com . They’ve saved my legs pre and post races . Click the little “virtual therapist” on the site near its feet and they have an article on PF treatment.

This is the Season of Eating, not training, so relax until January. Heal fast. -Turq

10

Any idea how long the green Super Feet insoles last? I have some in my running shoes now. I can put them in the sneakers to wear everyday, but it might just be time to get a new pair of them.

11

It does sound like you might be developing PF. That sucks, but it often responds well to aggressive self-treatment.

A few things…

Go to a good running specialty store and get fit for shoes. This is critical. They can probably also hook you up with the Superfeet insoles mentioned previously, they can really help if you have flexible feet that over-pronate.

Plantar generally affects two types of feet more drastically…the very flexible ones that stress the fascia by over-flexing and the very stiff ones that are stressed due to impact and concussion. Both situations produce micro-tears in the fascia at a rate faster than the body can repair.

An accomplished shoe fitter can help get you in the right shoe/insole combination.

Icing, use of anti-inflammatories, massage and some simple exercises can also help. Committing to a 2 week “course of treatment” can work wonders.

Ice several times a day for 10-20 minutes if possible. After doing gentle stretching and exercises is best.

Exercises to strengthen the intrinsic muscles of the foot, and take some of the burden off of the plantar fascia, are simple and often very effective. Putting a small hand towel under your toes and then “scrunching” it up under your foot and then pushing it back out is one. Use your toes to pick up marbles or pencils or whatever. Both are easy to do and won’t take much time.

Cross fiber massage from the heel to the forefoot is great if you can find someone to do it…chances are slim that you can do it forcefully enough to your own foot. It just hurts too much. A frozen water bottle can massage and ice at the same time.

A golf ball is often mentioned, but for $7, the Foot Rubz ball is a bargain. It has projections that increase it’s effectiveness.

Stretch out your feet before standing first thing in the morning. And wear shoes for that first, and all subsequent steps.

Plantar can be debilitatingly painful, but if you get on it and treat it consistently you can nip it in the bud.

Good luck!

G

12

Wow, thanks for all the great info. I’m definitely going to take all of the recommendations in this thread and apply them.

13

Night splint, rolling a ball under your foot, icing, and stretching will help cope with PF.

But PF really doesn’t “go away” unless you stop running for some time or cut back mileage (like my case)

14

As mentioned already, PF starts suddenly and w/o warning. I had it years ago but managed to clear it up in a short period of time. What I would recommend is:

-Night splint http://www.corflex.com/index.php

-Lots of stretching (the wall stretch for the calf)

-rolling your foot over a frozen water bottle

-Using orthotics until you are pain free may be a good idea also

-some time off (say two weeks) and then re-evaluate

Good luck. It will go away, but it will take some intensive rehab on your part.

15

Wow, this is a timely post. This morning I woke up with a sore arch. I think it is actually due to my cycling shoes and not my running shoes. I wear orthotics in my running shoes but not my cycling shoes. I’ve noticed that my feet are a little sore after cycling and I think it’s due to not having the arch support. Fortunately, it’s not too bad so I will do what everyone recommended and see what happens.

16

All of the posts contain sound advice but here are two items not mentioned: 1) PF, if it gets cranked up, can take from a couple to 18 months to heal. It will go away during that period of time even if you do nothing. Mine was around for about a year and I did almost everything mentioned in the posts. That’s the bad news – here comes the good news. 2) There is a way to tape your foot that really helps some people. I ran 2 marathons with my foot taped. Couldn’t get out of bed in the morning without limping but I ran all I wanted. You need a disposable underwrap and 1.5 inch Zonus tape. I really need to post a pic but the basic move is put the underwrap around the middle of your foot to protect the skin and then circle it twice with the Zonus. Then make a horseshoe strap with the tape starting from the tape on the middle of your foot (on the side) around the heel to the other side twice. Then anchor it down by going around the middle of the foot again. You need Zonus b/c it won’t let go when it gets wet. I also taped both feet because the taping is obviously reducing the pronation in your foot to some degree and I decided to stay balanced. That may or may not be smart but its what I did. And, b/c you are messing with your foot strike you need to listen to your body. Finally, tighter is not better. Just get it sort of snug. If that description made no sense I will try again.

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17

I was hoping to build a really strong running base this winter, but I have no problem taking some time off if it will rid me of this. I don’t want to risk really messing myself up. My question is, what about swimming. I’ve been swimming the past two mornings and it hasn’t been an issue. Is pushing off the wall going to make it worse?

18

it can pop up totally unexpected. im 14, run CC, and one day after practice, after running only a couple miles, i got out of my car and could barely walk my heel hurt so bad. its been identified as PF

19

Swim away! You will be fine, just push off easy and don’t walk around much in your flip-flop/shower shoes.

20

Barry, which night splint on that site do you recommend? And what was the cost? I don’t see any prices on that web site. The night splint on FootSmart.com seems like a lot more basic, but it’s only $40. Thanks.