OK ST Community…I’ve read all the PF stories on here and there’s no good news! So, as I deal with PF I’m looking to hear from those of you who figured out a way to manage the pain and knock it out quickly. I literally can’t imagine the thought of taking a year off from running…I’ll run in pain everyday instead of doing that!
I had it pretty bad, and it definitely took some time. There’s no quick way out. I am a regular year-round runner, but got plantar when I was swimming. I swear it was from pushing off the walls too hard and having my feet tight while kicking that first aggravated it and made it flare up. Obviously it really started affecting me while running.
I had to dial back my running miles by a lot. Instead of running 4-8 times per week, I was going either every other day, or twice every three days, and all these runs were less than 4 miles. I did bike and swim more to compensate.
I also stocked up on and used various Triggerpoint roller gadgets, Strassburg sock (a night splint), and toe separators to help stretch my foot. I strongly believe these helped. I also gave myself foot massages.
I also started lifting more – not really heavy – but with a focus towards strengthening my hips, core, and leg muscles. I mostly kept the same running shoes, but did put heel cups in my casual shoes, which I think helped a lot. Unlike some people, I found that restrictive insoles and orthotics seemed to make things worse for me. I had about 6 months of not-great results and skipped out on a lot of the races I like to do. I ran through the pain a lot. But I am basically back on track now and it feels great – I still get a little tightness in the arch, so I continue to do maintenance exercises to keep it in check.
Take aways: 1) I did not stop running. 2) I attended to it as others recommended. 3) I was PATIENT with it, but didn’t give up. 4) Running less allowed me to ride, swim, & lift more – not a bad thing.
I tore 40% of my plantar fascia roughly an hour after the state two mile race my senior year… took 9 months to run pain free. Nothing conventional worked. PT did very little, taping helped but who has time to tape before every run? Plus I didn’t know how to do it. My saving grace was a PRP (platelet-rich plasma) procedure. Essentially, your blood is taken and spun out to isolate platelets. These platelets have healing factors. They inject the platelets into the injury site sending the injury back into the acute phase. Hurts like hell, but 3 weeks after I was running 100% pain free. Some studies even show that it can make an area stronger than before injury.
Interesting stuff. At the time it was experimental so my parents insurance wouldn’t cover it. Cost me/them $600. That was 3 years ago though… might have changed.
Good luck, PF can be a bitch.
Yep, never ever stop running.
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Good to hear you had good results with the PRP treatment. How long after the treatment where you able to start running? I thought I remember seeing people who had that done being in a boot
Last week I took off all seven days it was the first time I had more than one day off consecutively in over two years. I was going nuts! I ran yesterday morning and it felt the same as it did a week prior.I plan to continue to run since it’s going to hurt either way.
Thank you for the reply appreciate your feedback. I’ve been nursing it pretty well so far. I have the night boot, I ice a lot heat it in the morning, stretch my calves like crazy, All that stuff.I plan to keep it up while still running.
keep running…until you start to develop split tears in the fascia, which subsequently result in a stabbing pain with every step you take whether running or walking.
i am heading into week 18 and can now run 1.5 miles every other day (with some residual pain, especially where the tears developed). i am pool running and swimming. anything more than an ez spin on the trainer aggregates the tears as well. i was in a boot for 5+ weeks.
i am working hard to develop intrinsic foot strength, strengthen glutes/core, loosen up hip flexors/quads/calves, and to develop some thoracic spine mobility. when it first flared up, i cut back on mileage, iced/rolled/stretched/strengthened and the pain continued to progress until i would just stop walking in the hallway at work b/c it hurt too much to take another step. my co-workers gave me lots of strange looks.
my best advice is to get in with a professional (PT, orthpod who specializes in sports medicine, chiro/ART,podiatrist etc) as everyones PF is different. best of luck to the OP (and anyone else suffering from PF)!
I had PF in both feet. Left much worse than the right. I tried everything. Taping, boot, IR, massage, stretching, etc. But, I kept running and playing tennis even though it hurt like hell. Every morning I’d get up and that first step was a nightmare. But, then one morning I got up, went to the bathroom, got into the shower and it suddenly struck me: NO PF! If simply resolved with time. Now, this is my story, and everyone has their own story. I have a friend who got lichens and she was miserable for about a year, and one day she woke up and it was gone. So, our bodies have their own timetable, and we have built in healing mechanisms. Finding how to tap into that would make someone very rich.
-Robert
A.R.T therapy helped break mine up. Also, wearing sandals in the home at all times has made a huge difference. Also, moving to a higher drop running shoe may help in the short term (10-14mm).
Had it:
Took off 3 weeks running
Went to PT and got some ASTYM treatments
Did alot of stretches at home
Once returned to running bought some Hokas and ran on soft surfaces only…
Eventually went away in few weeks…hasn’t returned (knock wood)
I had a moderate case, then got a knee injury and didn’t run much for two months. By the team my knee healed, my PF was gone. You might want to try this approach.
It is an injury and you have to let it heal. To help it heal you have to be off your feet which means no running. First I got a cortisone shot and used an insert on my work shoes. Shut down running for the winter and used a night splint to help it heal overnight. Then I did a lot of stretching concentrating on calves and Achilles. Good luck.
Haha. Thanks for the laugh. I’ll try to avoid this approach.
OK ST Community…I’ve read all the PF stories on here and there’s no good news! So, as I deal with PF I’m looking to hear from those of you who figured out a way to manage the pain and knock it out quickly. I literally can’t imagine the thought of taking a year off from running…I’ll run in pain everyday instead of doing that!
I have been dealing with my first real bout of PF this summer. It has been pretty miserable but I have refused to stop running. It was getting worse…until I switched to running only in Hokas. In the last six weeks I have run exclusively in Hokas with slow improvement in my PF symptoms while hitting my biggest weekly mileage for the year. I had two pairs already and bought two additional pairs. The Stinsons are my new favorite as far as comfort while running with PF but the Bondis have worked well too.
So you’re the second one to mention hokas. Here’s my question, do you wear orthotics with them?
Got it after the initial IMWisco in 2002. Half the run was on concrete and my shoes were pretty worn. Tried the anti inflammatory, ice rest to no avail. Orthotics, both custom and Superfeet to no avail. 8 months into this including rolling the ice bottle, scrunching the towel, writing the alphabet in the air with my feet Andy having had the shots (which hurt like hell but made no difference), I got a pair of Birkenstock clogs. Bam, like magic it went away. I’ve used them ever since anytime I’m not at work, running or biking.
Developed it while running hills for a half marathon. Right foot was not as bad as the left. Used the god-awful sock, but the trick for me was to rest, roll out my foot on a golf ball (which HURTS) and do foot exercises/ice, massage the soleus to break up adhesions/tightness. There is also a great stretch for the soleus muscle where you fold a handtowel lengthwise and put it under the inside part of the arch to cantilever the foot up and stretch pushing back off the wall for about 3 minutes per side.
I did tape it to run the half in Richmond, and got a PR, but I had to take about 3 weeks off after that and do the above.
Once I got rid of it, being diligent about rolling out my calves and really working on keeping them looser has prevented any lasting effects. You want to get on this before you end up developing bone spurs. Those suck.
So you’re the second one to mention hokas. Here’s my question, do you wear orthotics with them?
No.
I have always had very neutral feet. Never needed any motion control or orthotics. My go-to shoe the last four years has been the Kinvara. Unfortunately the flexibility of the Kinvara seems to aggravate the PF. The Hoka has a similar drop and “feel” to me but seems to flex much less which is what I think is helping the PF in spite of my continued run volume.
From the original ST articles by Dan, he wears orthotics with his Hokas and seems to consider them an ideal platform to do so.
I had PF. Couldn’t run for a year! Went to my PT, she started me on a strength training program. I started doing dynamic warm-ups and post run calf stretches. Also a chiropractor friend recommended sleeping with a ski boot on, which eliminated the burning first steps out of bed! Finally, I waited too long before seeing a professional. I would “feel better”, run and of course prolong my injury. Good luck. RRUFF advice helped out!