plantar fasciitis: when does it go away?

Superfeet green? Are they really so generic that anyone can just use them and they are good to go?

I am ready to opt for another change because these heel cups i have been wearing have started to cause extraneous discomfort in the balls of my feet as well as the tendon near the ankle.

I can't believe i am having all these problems. It is quite devastating.

I strained my achilles slightly two weeks ago. The day after I was able to jog on it (achilles tight and tender but not awful) but after 30mins I had to stop due to my heel beginning to feel very bruised. Over the next week I cross-trained a lot (elliptical) and jogged a bit, and though my achilles gradually improved the 'bruised heel' feeling didn't, if anything it got slightly worse. I've since taken 5 days off, my achilles feels fine, but the heel is still sore when I walk or stand on it for any length of time (15min+walk). I had a bit of morning soreness in the heel last week, and stiffness in the arch, but now that's gone. I'm missing some of the symptoms of pf (no soreness after inactivity, it doesn't get better when it 'warms up') but I think I might have pf caused by achilles tightness at the time.

Could it be something else? How should I treat this if the problem was caused by the achilles? I've been icing a lot, took anti-inflammatories for a week, and did massage on the achilles, but the heel doesn't seem to be improving hugely. Getting frantic! Thanks for any advice.

Setback yet again.

Lat week felt great. Ran a 15 miler friday, 7 miles on saturday, and then 11 miles sunday night.

Boooom! After the 11 miler, the PF is back in a big way.

Shit. I was too optimistic and wished all the warnings from the ppl on this thread about PF not really going away unless dealt with correctly.

I obviously am not dealing with the core problem which is either: i can't handle 70-75 mpw volume or my shoes are not good for me.

I hated the orthotics. I tried the silicone heel cups and thought they were good. I think i am going to try now the superfeet. What the hell.

Can someone talk me into the cortisone? how bad was your pain - until now i assumed that my pf didn't warrant it, sorry to rehash the cortisone discussion, but pls advise about pain/cortisone.

Cortisone shot today. I am advised to not walk on it for 2 days. I am still going to continue with this month's PT, will resume walkin on Thursday, and hold off on running until after 8/22, when I have another medical situation with which to deal.

The shot itself was no big deal. I've had novicaines whch were much worse, and had more pain donating blood.

We shall see.

I am walking carefully, but it feels OK so far. The podiatrist said my foot would probably feel "great" in 48 hours. My flexion, with the stretching and PT, has improved

to 15% unaided, 20% aided. I was 2% at the start; clearly the stretching and PT has at least loosened up the ankle and achilles in a big way.

We will await the verdict on the shot, the next step would be orthotics.

learn to cope: our symptoms sound similar. I don't feel pain in the morning, and usually it takes 45-50 minutes of running for any sort of pain to start. I have reduced my mileage and been doing a lot of the little things people have suggested--I also started wearing gel heel cups two days ago, and they seem to I have been without discomfort for the past few days...however I haven't tried running much over 50 minutes yet.

it's very discouraging to me that you ran 15, 7, 11, and then somehow the pain came back after the 11...I've also found that the correlation between the pain and how much you've run the day before doesn't seem to be perfect.

gonzo -- please please update us on the cortizone progress. What kind of doctor administered it? My friend who is a PT (but focuses on the upper body and not legs) told me that she understood that the cortizone does not CURE the problem but simply reduces the pain and swelling. Not sure if she is a reliable source though. Let us know.

shadow -- indeed, my experience set tells me that the correlation is not there. recently though, faster paced runs set off the PF. I did the 11 miler @ partially sub-threshold and did 5 striders afterwards. Maybe that set it off? But i also did striders after the 7 miler and i was totally fine. This sux.

I haven't even contemplated doing intervals yet as i appear to have trouble after tempo runs.

(Not sure if the heel cups really work. I bought a second pair of cups which were different than the first and they hurt me. I think they were too thick. So i reverted back to the first pair and they seem to be fine except for the recent relapse!)

sounds like the faster pace might've been the reason. I assume you were still in your usual trainers?

Will do.

From one of the country's best podiatrists (although I assume other's would use this technique as well)

http://blip.tv/file/1152642

Sorry, the shot was administered by a DPM who was referred to me by a fellow member of my running club. He performs foot surgery as well as operating a local practice. He and his partner get a lot of business, if that means anything.

2 steps:

1. A spray to ice/deaden the area, similar to that which they apply to MLB batters who wind getting either hit by balls that are thrown or are in play, or by fragments of bats which shatter.

2. The injection itself. The area was numbed; all I felt was something similar to a distant-feeling pinprick. I don't think the whole process took more than 90 seconds.

He called it 'a cocktail', forgot to ask what was in it.

3 substances if memory serves me right.

Hope that helps. I've been dealing with this PF off and on for YEARS, it was time to go with the heavy weapons, as it were.

wow, you were lucky. when I had a few cortisone shots in my rear arches, back in the 70s, I guess that they didn't numb it first. those were the most painful shots or pain i have ever felt in my life. I squeezed the sides of the table so hard i left indentations in the leather siding. But, it was worth it, after resting a week. 90% of the pain was gone and I was able to run again. (I eventually got orthotics to cure the problem).

I'm too lazy to look and see if this has been posted, but you might want to look into Active Release Therapy - worked wonders for my PF.

pin cushion: if memory serves, an old Chinese torture was to beat the victim ON THE SOLES OF THE FEET with a bambo

rod.

It makes one look at the Beijing Games with a different perspective.

Too, , any of James Clavell's 'Tai-Pan' novels can be absorbing.

Here are the Superfeet I have in mind

http://www.superfeet.com/activity/running-walking/Green.aspx

They're the best non-prescription insoles you can get, and can help keep the PF from flaring up again.

I'm skeptical of the ability of heel cups to help with most PF. They'll take support away from the arch, which is where much of the problem is.

24-hr followup:

The foot DOES feel improved. I'm still walking very carefully on it and using the elevator at work for the next day or 2.

Waking up I had NONE of the usual 'first few steps out of bed' pains.

(optimism)

Like everyone else on this thread, I had really bad pf for a couple of years. I tried the heel cups during cross country season and my experience with them was similar to yours: the pain went away at first and the weird sensation became localized to my heel. Then, the pain started to come back and was much worse than it was before I used the heel cups. After that I got custom orthodics. Those took a long time to get used to and caused pain in other areas of my feet, especially the arches and the balls of my feet. I stuck with the orthodics and, as my feet adjusted to running with proper support, all the pain went away. This took about 2-3 months. I've been pain free from pf since this (4 years).

36 hour followup from cortisone shot:

I'd say, overall, I have (at the barest minimum) a 40% improvement so far. I'm noticing my heel and achilles tendon area twinges far more than my arch.

That itself is a step forward. I am eagerly looking forward to tomorrow and Thursday. If the PT goes along with it I'll try a jog either Thursday or Friday.

How're you all doing?

gonzo, glad to see some positive signs that the cortisone is working. You say you have been battling PF for a long time before finally doing the shot. How bad was your PF? Did you have constant pain and if so, how bad was your pain? Could you run through the pain?

As for me, i am starting to finally realize that my PF is very fickle. Hard to predict when it will rear its ugly head. It seems to come when i put on mileage or do a hard session. But even when it does come, it is somewhat manageable and may only require a day off. If not in training for an event, that is tolerable, but during marathon training this is going to be ugly and depressing.