hey all,
good solid base miles between 50-60 a week with no issues, then all of a sudden, right lateral foot pain of thursday. I’ve been icing, with stretching and ibuprofen, not to mention no running since thursday. I believe I caught it early, but how long should I take off, half marathon in less than a month. Any words or wisdom or personal experience would be appreciated.-of course the usual smart ass answer would be welcome. I do think that I caught it early enough, but I’ve never, ever had any issues with feet/legs before this. I’ve been running on the treadmill if that helps, we’ve got more black ice here in montana than you could shake a stick at. thanks in advance.
These inserts did it for me - http://www.drfoot.co.uk/arch_pain.htm Took it away completely.
Also arch straps are good for running too - http://www.amazon.com/Tandem-Arch-Pro-Tec/dp/B0000C07X9/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=shoes&qid=1232916164&sr=8-2
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I’ll assume this is the accurate diagnosis:
- Ice massage after workout
- Good cushioning in shoes
- Cushioning in the form of a heel insert (soft/gellike)
- Straussberg sock or nightime plantar fascia splint
- NO walking on hard surfaces in bare feet
- Soft surfaces to run on (treadmill should hellp)
- Can go to Physical therapy for some modalilites (ultrasound, iontophoresis, shock therapy) if above doesn’t work
- Occassionally cortisone injection if above doesn’t work
search this forum for remedies - which vary as PF seems to be nebulous in its origins for some folks. is it worse in the morning and then gets better as you run? you may want to get a professional opinion.
if it’s PF, some of what has worked in our training group:
- regular calf massage from a good sports massage therapist
- TP massage kit (use it liberally)
- get a step stool and set it facing a door frame, put on some shoes and put toes on edge of step stool with heels hanging off (facing door frame, hold on with hands and roll shoulder blades back so your posture is upright and centered). Relax and breathe for 3 minutes. do this every night religiously.*
- make sure you are in a good running shoe and/or add orthotics
my PF is caused by calf tightness or a knot a good 8 inches away from my foot. not true for everyone, but I wouldn’t assume the problem is in arch just because that’s where you present symptoms.
IMO, forget the 1/2 mary. Take some down time and focus on the remedies given above. If you try to push this you’ll end up spending the rest of 2009 running in pain and dealing with this. If you did catch it early, be extremely thankful. You can also search this site for plenty of great info. I spent from April to Sept running in agony because I didn’t take the time off when I caught in early (March). It’s January…pack it in for a month to get this thing dealt with now.
Strassburg sock worked for me.
Can’t beat this…
Roll a frozen bottle of poland springs ( ergo shaped one) under your foot and your calf. Then dig in with your fingers and give the foot behind toes to the heel a good aggresive massage. Worked wonders for me when I started to run more and had same problem. I could not walk down a set of stairs after waking. Plus you can put the bottle back in the fridge and see who drinks. Ha Ha just kidding on the fridge thing.
that’s the oddest most simplistic measure I’ve seen, that seems like it would just work. I’ll have to wait till the wife and I argue to put it back in the fridge though.-kidding, kidding.
thanks mate.
Actually had a chiro tell me to do it. I also switched to a more supportive insole. I am a firefighter so getting up in the middle of the night and walking down the stairs was damn painful for 5 to 10 minutes till foot muscles stretched out. I only used the fire pole the first few years on the job. Now every now and then for fun. Mostly climb up it for the kid visits. The kids seem to like that better than coming down. What the chiro told me to do during the massage was dig in with finger tips and push the muscle forward to the toes. she explained it to me that the muscles were starting to overlap the other muscles in a angled sideways way and then tightning after I cooled down. Seemed kind of logical and the stuff she told me to do sort of worked. At the local running store the sell a plantar fascitis kit. Shaped just like the bottle for 40.00. Ha. I also did buy powerstep insoles and the orange ( name has long worn off) brand ones too. Amazing how much stiffer they are then the ones you get originally in the shoe.
After I confirmed that it was PF (through my doctor) I have been using the Strassburg Sock. So far (3+months) it seems to be working great, and I am steadily increasing my weekly mileage w/o pain.
I lost the better part of the end of this season due to PF (and a couple of other injuries that I feel greatly contributed to getting/causing my PF, changed form here anthere to “get by”) issues. Once I officially came to terms, I took just over a month off of training (no swimming, biking, running, walking, lifting, etc) to try and cure my PF issue. The early morning pain never went away, and the morning after my first run (2-miles easy) the pain was just as bad as it was before my break.
If it were me; I would forgo the half marathon and go see the doc. Do what other members have said in terms of stretching, and get the issue correctly diagnosed and taken care of now before it “sets in” and wipes out other races, or more important items all together (your health; if not PF).
I choose to use the Strassburg sock; if this does not work (in addition to the stretches and arch supports) then a “boot” will in order.
right lateral foot pain
Where is the pain?
Lateral means the outside of the foot, which does not sound like under the foot.
at this point, I haven’t seen a physician yet. the bonus of that is that I work in healthcare, so I have enough ortho friends to go to. the pain is on the lateral right heel area on the side and below my heel. When I get up in the morning, the pain is there and alleviated after a shower or through walking around a bit. Ice baths seem to do the work, and I’ve been stretching my calves more than when I’ve run in college. I did by new orthotics the other day, and I haven’t run for four days, so i don’t know if they work as of yet. my “A” race is coeur d’ alene IM this june, so everything else doesn’t matter.
the frozen water bottle is great…i’ve used that for a while now too.
i also use SuperFeet insoles. http://www.superfeet.com/activity/running-walking.aspx i use the green ones in my running shoes and have some of the black ones for my dress shoes.
just wanted to say thanks to all that replied to the post. knowing i had to go to the doctor, I took a week off and saw him yesterday. thankfully, no plantar fasciitis. needless to say, i’ve got what he called a stress fracture reaction, which means no running for a month. the timing could be worse, as coeur d alene IM is in five months. having never had a foot injury, sters were wonderful in adding to the questions for the doctor when i went to my appointment, so thanks again…