So I’ve never had this before. Honestly? I’ve never had a major sports injury before. By the end of 17 miles yesterday I was hobbling on my right foot. I’m now pretty sure I have a case of Plantar Fasciitis. Other than ice, Advil and perhaps taking a week off from running at this point, are here any other suggestions out there for treatments? Anyone experienced this with a success story w so little time that I can aspire to?
Freeze a water bottle and roll your foot back and forth on it for 15 minutes, several times per day. When you go to sleep, use an ace bandage to tape your foot so that you don’t sleep with it pointed (wrap it so that it is bent 90 degrees). Finally, during the day take some good athletic tape and tape up your arch. Use like three 5 inch long strips and tape across the arch with the ends of the tape on the top of your foot, but not touching (don’t want to cut off circulation so don’t make a complete loop).
That’s what docs I have worked for tell patients. Hopefully someone here can corroborate that this stuff works.
Good luck!
I had it after IMCdA, but had no intentions of running due to injury so it just went away on its own
Jodi
edit Hopefully rroof will reply because he is the expert!
Sleep with a nite splint and keep your runs short until it goes away (in addition to what Jodi said about the frozen bottle).
with acute onset like this and A game soon, just ice and rest - the frozen water bottle is nice, but only if it doesn’t hurt. Sleeping with a night splint is great right now with no ill effects. Since most cases of PF goes away on its own, you are looking for a quick resolution more than anything and rest is the way to go (of course, many cases take months to years, and those are the ones I usually see). Also, right now, avoid oral NSAIDs (ibuprofen, alleve, etc.). Do not go barefoot at all. The plantar fascia taping is often very helpful (google low dye strapping).
Good luck!
If you don’t already wear orthodics, then I would go buy some superfeet or other brand of hard plastic shoe insert to put in your running shoes for more support. Rolling with ice, the night splint, rest and taping were also part of my routine when I had PF. I would also roll a golf ball under my foot many times a day, and I would sit in a chair and put a towel under my feet and try to scrunch my toes to pull the towel several times a day.
Unfortunately, most of the things above did not help me after about 6 weeks, so I went and got custom orthodics. The PF went away quickly after that. If you want to finish NYC, then you might need to adjust your goals at this point and go easy. Good luck!
Listen to rroof. He is an expert in this area. His suggestion to tape the foot is a good one. It has allowed me to run when I did not think I could. Honestly, I did not expect it to work so well. You will want to experiment with the taping a bit before race day though. It takes a bit of practice to get it right. If it is too tight, you will not be able to run without discomfort. If it is too loose, it will do nothing. WHen you get it just right, it provides quite a bit of support. It really helped me to get back to running much sooner than I thought I could. Good luck…
Mike
Hard plastic inserts or orthotics in running shoes may cause more problems by bruising the ligament, I used superfeet insoles in my everyday shoes when I had a bout of PF.
Try going to see a chiropractor or massage therapist. I got a bunch of relief from mine by having my calf muscles stretched really good and having some really deep tissue work done. ART or the other deep tissse work that chiropractors do…can’t remember the name. I will say it hurt terribly while it was being done. But within 48-72 hours the deep tissue work I had done by my massage therapist the pain had subsided. I hurt just walking around though.
Try Resting!!! The night splints helped some. If you feel like running water jog or get on the elliptical machine.
Is this low dye strapping something you do when you are working out? If you can do it for working out is there an abbreviated method I could try that wouldn’t take forever to apply for my IMFL marathon? I don’t want 30 min in transition. I was hoping there was something I could do to give my foot some added support for the IM mary. My longest run has been 14 miles and I felt a tinge of pain near the end while I ran but nothing terrible. I am concerned what the rest of the miles will do. It would be great if just some added support from some sports tape would help at this point.
Seems like this is the most common reply from those responding. I really appreciate everyone reading and responding with suggestions. The funny thing is wouldn’t call my training overly zealous. Consistent. Riding, running and swimming every week about six or seven days per. My running for the past five weeks has never surpassed 30 miles in a week by very much. I have always been a big believer in cross-training, obviously as I’ve been racing tri’s for years. It sucks getting older!
Is this low dye strapping something you do when you are working out? If you can do it for working out is there an abbreviated method I could try that wouldn’t take forever to apply for my IMFL marathon? I don’t want 30 min in transition. I was hoping there was something I could do to give my foot some added support for the IM mary. My longest run has been 14 miles and I felt a tinge of pain near the end while I ran but nothing terrible. I am concerned what the rest of the miles will do. It would be great if just some added support from some sports tape would help at this point.
I can tape my foot in less than 2 minutes. If you practice it a few times, you will be able to do it pretty fast. I have not really tried to do it faster but I suspect that I could get it down to 30 seconds if I had to. I use one strip around the foot and a couple of figure 8 strips, then one more around the foot to anchor it. Works REALLY well for me. You need to practice before the race though. I have it down pretty well right now. 9 mile run yesterday with the foot taped and zero pain. However, I have had to stop and remove the tape because I had it too tight. Now that I have it down pretty well, not an issue.
Mike
As Mike pointed out, most can do it pretty quickly in a few mins - judging by most IM T2 times, this would be NOTHING compared to time lost running 
.
Great! thanks! Any type of tape you recommend? I also saw something about using some spray. Does that help? I am going to start trying it this week and see if I can use it and do it fast! Blistering concerns me a bit. Have you ever had blistering from the taping? Do you obdy glide up the rest of the foot and shoe to help with that? I hate to try something new this close to the race but I think I will to help support the foot for a longer time. As for the extra time you are right. I usually take at least 10 min in T2 so what is 15 min if I can run longer.
Take rroof’s advice- especially the low-dye taping. I did this w/ a bad case in 2005 and it was a BIG help. Tape it all the time, not just when running. I was surprised at how much my foot flexed in cycling shoes (only notices when it was taped and didn’t flex). Taping and keeping the fascia from re-stretching/tearing will provide a lot of pain relief. Good luck!
I got the trigger point massage kit, it works, clears up minor pf issues within a week…for me anyhow.
Yes, the “pre-tape” sticky spray helps a lot. Use the cloth, brown NON stretching sports tape with lots of little holes in it so it breathes better when you sweat. Do NOT use lotion on your feet if you are going to tape it. Hit it with talk or powder after the tape job so that the powder sticks on the skin where the sticky spray residue is.
Depending on your goals for the next year or so - consider not running the marathon. If you really beat up your PF - it can sideline you for a long time. Catch it early and get in under control and be conservative - maybe a minor setback for 2-4 weeks…
I agree that NSAID use is controversial. Some consider it a good anti-inflammatory and think that it speeds healing. Some say in interfers with soft tissue healing…and bone healing…good for pain though.
Stiffer shoes, more pronation control (Brooks addictions), and superfeet in all my shoes helped me. Also minimize barefoot walking…
Dave