Been fighting plantar fasciitis (or some sort of heel pain) for over 2 months now. It doesn’t have all the classic symptoms of PF, particularly in that it’s not all that much worse in the mornings, but it has most of them. When I poke around on my heel, the sorest spot is towards the front more towards the inside basically where the plantar fascia connects to the calcaneous, and while I can get to a point where I can walk pain free by resting it, any attempt at running is immediately painful and then causes it to flare up where it hurts even walking around for a day or so before settling back down some. Anyway, I’ve been doing all the classic treatments without any real success, and I know this injury can be really difficult to overcome. That said, I have a couple questions:
For those who have suffered from this, what is your recommendation on stretching? When I stretch my calves, particular the bent-legged (soleus) stretch, I can feel a pulling in my heel. Also, when I put my hand under the front of my foot and pull upward to do that stretch, I get pain there too, even more than with the bent-legged calf stretch. Most everything you read says stretch, stretch, stretch, but I’m wondering if I’m just re-tearing the PF by stretching and would be better off leaving it alone. I don’t feel like my calves are tight and flexibility seems pretty good in my ankle as well.
Stretching aside, any other recommendations for treatment? Really hoping I can get this thing knocked out sooner than later, but I realize I might be in for a long haul.
I had it for about two years.
Tried many things and in the end it was a multi pronged approach that fixed it.
Every morning before I got out of bed:
Make a circle with my toes, rotating from the ankle. Circle gets bigger and bigger and in doing so you are stretching the PF.
Also, have 3-4 pairs of running shoes. Never run two consecutive days in the same shoes.
And on a daily basis:
Stage 1: Tennis ball in work.
Have a tennis ball in work - gently roll/massage the foot pretty much whenever I think about it.
Stage 2: Tennis Ball
Massage deeper, roll harder. Aim fir dull pain - if you get sharp pain then you’ve overdone it.
Stage 3: Golf ball.
Interchange golf ball with tennis ball. Gentle with the golf ball. Hard with the tennis ball.
Stage 4: Golf ball only
When PF is gone. Keep the gold ball as part of your routine. Once twice a day. Not too hard, not to gentle. Aiming for dull pain.
This cleared it completely for me in a few months.
Was it the runners?
Was it the massage?
Was it the morning foot warm up?
Thanks! I’ve done some rolling, but admit that I haven’t been all that diligent with it. Quick question: did you roll both the arch and the heel? When I roll my arch it feels 100% fine, kind of good even. However, when I roll over the attachment point where the PF meet the heel and then over the heel itself, it’s pretty sore. Just wondering if I should be rolling that area since it must be inflamed and also since it’s mainly just bone and the fat pad of the heel.
Currently struggling with the same issue, for roughly the same period of time…flared up in mid-December (week before the 100 / 100 Challenge, unfortunately). Had been managing it OK…could still run, but “treatments” in between runs seemed to be sufficient to allow me to run the following day. Until about 3 weeks ago…flared up DURING a run. The rest of the weekend, I could barely walk and I haven’t run since. But it is feeling better this week and my plan is to rest it the remainder of this month and start again on March 1.
What I have done to manage it…
Use a Moji foot massager. Have one under my desk and another at home. Take one with me when I travel in my carry-on bag, as well. If I am sitting, I am working my foot on it.
2) Doing this exercise on stairs…basically a modified Calf raise / heel drop.
Using big yellow mud boots from Lowe’s for an ice bath. Fill partially with cold water, insert foot and add ice. You can even do hot water in one boot and ice water in the other and switch back and forth.
Pool running and elliptical work. I have access to a shallow pool (less than 4 ft depth, max) and have been running in it the last couple of weeks. Helps reduce the impact on the foot but still gives a decent force workout using running muscles. Also use hotel ellipticals when travelling and, last week, took delivery of a Nordic Track fs7i Free Strider elliptical at the house. The Nordic track comes pretty close to mimicking a full running stride (up to 38" stride). Only downside is that it is hard to get a fast cadence on it…i usually net out around 45 spm, max. I also don’t use the handles on any elliptical…I want to use my stabilizing muscles (calves, glutes, hips, even feet) as much as possible.
Sleep with a night split…also have one at my desk and travel with one. If I am not working my foot on the Moji, I put it in the night splint. Many people will use a walking boot for PF…unfortunately, this is not an option for me due to a clotting disorder.
Using the “cranks that shall not be named” (i.e. PowerCranks…ooops, I named them!) to replace some run workouts.
Good luck…I am signed up for IMWI this year…I am prepared to be fighting this all the way through. But if I can get back to the point where I can manage the symptoms and be ready fro my next run, I can live with that.
barefoot eccentric calf raises/drops off of a step…get to where you can do 2x20 2 times per week and it will bullet proof your lower extremitites…STOP stretching…the eccentric calf drops will lengthen you muscles through a longer range of motion…NO SHOES…If you can’t do this then there is your problem…Literally start of with 2 sets of 5…up on your two big toes then down slowly (like a 10 count on the way down). and go past parallel…
I like to change the angle …I go up on my outer 3 toes for 5 reps, middle two toes 5 reps, and then first two big toes for 5 reps…
More isn’t better…so once you can do 2 sets of 15 to 20 reps 2 x week…you are good…You aren’t trying to blow your calves apart…they are already getting stronger from running…You are seeking to lengthen you muscle to a normal range of motion and create muscular balance…
If you want to progress from here, do some barefoot dynamic stretches and strides in some really nice grass 1 time/week or even every other week…
REally this will bullet proof your lower extimities and you won’t be so picky with shoes either because your feet will be strong…
Using big yellow mud boots from Lowe’s for an ice bath. Fill partially with cold water, insert foot and add ice. You can even do hot water in one boot and ice water in the other and switch back and forth.
my jaw just dropped… genius… how have i never thought of this…
FYI if you have not had any tendon scraping done look into it. My dad fought PF for about 10 years until the docs finally suggested surgery to release it. On a whim I got him to go to a Graston practitioner and over the course of maybe 10 treatments/few weeks he was totally cured. Dad is in his mid 70’s and plays tennis 5 days a week/swims 2-3 so he’s super active and puts it to the test. That was about 3 years ago and he doesn’t even use the boot at night he’s totally cured. Does tennis ball rolling every night to stay on top of it. YMMV
Using big yellow mud boots from Lowe’s for an ice bath. Fill partially with cold water, insert foot and add ice. You can even do hot water in one boot and ice water in the other and switch back and forth.
my jaw just dropped… genius… how have i never thought of this…
Right? I can’t take credit for it, though…someone else posted it once (can’t remember who)…but yeah, one of those “V8” moments.
I had it for about two years.
Tried many things and in the end it was a multi pronged approach that fixed it.
Every morning before I got out of bed:
Make a circle with my toes, rotating from the ankle. Circle gets bigger and bigger and in doing so you are stretching the PF.
Also, have 3-4 pairs of running shoes. Never run two consecutive days in the same shoes.
And on a daily basis:
Stage 1: Tennis ball in work.
Have a tennis ball in work - gently roll/massage the foot pretty much whenever I think about it.
Stage 2: Tennis Ball
Massage deeper, roll harder. Aim fir dull pain - if you get sharp pain then you’ve overdone it.
Stage 3: Golf ball.
Interchange golf ball with tennis ball. Gentle with the golf ball. Hard with the tennis ball.
Stage 4: Golf ball only
When PF is gone. Keep the gold ball as part of your routine. Once twice a day. Not too hard, not to gentle. Aiming for dull pain.
This cleared it completely for me in a few months.
Was it the runners?
Was it the massage?
Was it the morning foot warm up?
This is pretty much what I did, plus a bunch of balancing exercises, e.g. stand on one foot, close your eyes, etc. Lunges with a BOSU ball, etc. Not sure what actually fixed it for me. I did everything I could multiple times a day for a couple months and then I was able to run at an easy pace without aggravating it
Here is some non-standard advice that seems to work for me whenever I have nagging injuries that aren’t healing with classical treatments:
take whey protein immediately before going to bed. I’ll spare you my full personal hypothesis on why this works but research and evidence out on the 'nets is plentiful. It has to do with the right hormonal environment for healing though.
There’s a ton of info out there, and a ton on this thread. But PF is an overuse injury that leads to inflammation so you can stretch, roll, etc, but icing and taking meds to get the inflammation down is the key. With that said, PF can be caused by other factors that a PT can diagnose. So what I would do is to try a bunch of these methods mentioned here and add in icing and meds. If that doesn’t help, I’d get to a doc to get a pro’s help.
I’m just about getting over this. Had some issues since November. I got some ART and graston treatments about every 2weeks and cortisone right away. I bought a tool from ebay similar to the graston tool and used it one my calves a few times a week (always left bruises). I rolled my calves 5 minutes per day, rolled my feet for 2 minutes a day, towel scrunches, toe stretches, single leg stances, short foot and stretched. I was using the strassburg sock, but it really wasn’t helping. I had an old air boot and slept with it for a couple/few weeks. I noticed a big difference there. Now my issue is I think I have Posterior Tibial issue!!! So angry!!! I can walk in the morning much better , but sometimes the inside ankle (PTT) will flair with a run.
what has worked for me was stretching a lot, and switching to a minimialist style shoe. it kept my foot flat- albeit with arch support- and forced the tendon that was causing my PF to stretch out. haven’t had issues in years.
Lots of good advice listed. The only thing that helped me was the night splint. Save a trip to the foot doc and order one online. Looks like a boot but it’s super light. Wear it to bed for 10 days and roll your foot each night before bed with a frozen water bottle.
