Plantar fasciitis

A lot of people also say to roll your arch with a tennis ball or something.

Just make sure to, once it is healed, wear shoes that are flexible, low drop, and have a wide toe box. Do barefoot stride to or event run barefoot if you can. Strengthen those feet!

I trained through it and was able to manage a marathon cycle with it, but the end result of all of that was ultimately surgery.

My doc told me 90%+ of the PF cases he sees clear up if you do the following: calf stretches 10-20 times a day, wear inserts in you trainers to support the arch (I'm flat footed too - actually makes the inserts even more important), never walk around barefoot - always wear shoes for added supoort, even in the house. I also used a lacrosse ball to massage the fascia (put the ball on the floor and stand on it with the injured foot and roll it back and forth).

Dr. Pepper's good advice in this thread is the best/most comprehensive discussion of PF that I've found...

http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=7045707

For me personally the silver bullet fix was switching back to a more supportive shoe (vomero). A night splint also helped a lot. The other stuff was okay and worth trying but it was just temporarily relieving my symptoms and not fixing the problem. I ran through it for the most part. When I took time off it just came right back. It tools 6 months to figure out it was the dang shoes. Good luck.

I like to also roll a frozen water bottle under my foot when dealing w PF (as well as lacrosse ball) you get the massage and ice at same time.

all the rest and revover things of course.

But take a look at your shoes. There's a good chance that's a lot of the problem. You may need a different style, or brand

Thank you, I'll definitely have to get ahold of inserts

Thanks for all the replies, how long do you think this injury will take to heal? I'm going to stretch my calves often and probably purchase new running shoes to support my arch better. I'll have to roll my arch with a water bottle, that sounds like a good idea with it being iced up too.

okeydokie wrote:

all the rest and revover things of course.

But take a look at your shoes. There's a good chance that's a lot of the problem. You may need a different style, or brand

What should one be looking at? How do I find out which running show might fit better?

I had PF during college and trained through it to the point where i ruptured both my plantar fascia and abductor hallicus. Grade 3 tear, out for 9 months. So i know too much about this.

You can put a superfeet or currex insoles in your shoes until the pain/inflammation goes away. Picture your arch as a tie bridge and your plantar fascia as the tie-arch that holds it up. Your plantar is what holds up the arch when your foot is flexed so by adding some extra support you will be taking stress off of it and giving an extra opportunity to heal.

Get a Strasbourg sock for night time, they are expensive but they allow accelerated healing while you sleep and are worth it. Wear athletic/recovery sandals around the house at all time especially if you have hardwood floors. Look up towel toe curls and do like 3x15 while your watching tv at night. Stretching it like your coach said is also important. Roll out your foot with a tennis/golf/lacrosse ball. If you can avoid sprinting please do because landing on your toes puts more stress on the plantar fascia. When you are running, take your time warming up. Don't just hop out of bed and go for a 10mile tempo run. Make sure your're walking around or even just doing 15 heel raises while your GPS watch is liking will help.

I would hold off on strengthening your feet while you are still dealing with plantar fasciitis. it may be wise to wait for the inflammation to go down before you start slowly strengthening it.

I needed a shoe with more cushion/support. The vomero has that in spades. This is most noticeable when I put them on after doing a workout in Lunaracers. It feels like I'm running on pillows. The downside of course is that it's a heavier and slower shoe, but since I just run easy in them I don't really care about pace. The trainer that gave me PF (the Pegasus) has almost no cushion and feels rock hard in comparison.

I tried some off the rack inserts. They made mine worse.

I could never get through the night in the Strasburg sock. Too uncomfortable. This style of boot worked best for me:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Premium-Plantar-Fasciitis-Posterior-Night-Splint-By-MARS-WELLNESS-Medium/440442320?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=1309&adid=22222222228073586299&wmlspartner=wmtlabs&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=m&wl3=186735233661&wl4=pla-291091323090&wl5=9012544&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=113139569&wl11=online&wl12=440442320&wl13=&veh=sem

These splints are good too:

https://www.target.com/p/futuro-night-plantar-fasciitis-sleep-support-foot-brace-navy-adjustable/-/A-13429143?ref=tgt_adv_XS000000&AFID=google_pla_df&CPNG=PLA_Health+Beauty+Shopping&adgroup=SC_Health+Beauty&LID=700000001170770pgs&network=g&device=m&location=9012544&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIvq_OnZnr1QIVxiWBCh180QiGEAQYAiABEgLxFfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

They are less bulky than the boot but you can't quite as good of a stretch. Still better than the sock in my opinion.

Smoove wrote:

I trained through it and was able to manage a marathon cycle with it, but the end result of all of that was ultimately surgery.

My doc told me 90%+ of the PF cases he sees clear up if you do the following: calf stretches 10-20 times a day, wear inserts in you trainers to support the arch (I'm flat footed too - actually makes the inserts even more important), never walk around barefoot - always wear shoes for added supoort, even in the house. I also used a lacrosse ball to massage the fascia (put the ball on the floor and stand on it with the injured foot and roll it back and forth).

You registered, ha. And you've got a domain. You've also got a typo under coaching philosophy on your site: "How much time are do you want to commit ..."

Good luck.

If it is PF you are done for months. Lots of stretching and rolling are required and absolutely no running.

You can not run through any injuries caused by over use. Case loser.

Do not listen to these idiots

Run Doctor wrote:

If it is PF you are done for months. Lots of stretching and rolling are required and absolutely no running.

You can not run through any injuries caused by over use. Case loser.

Do not listen to these idiots

Gotta agree with this guy, also the night splint or boot seemed to speed along the healing process for me. Good luck.

Thank you for this, I'll have to look into both. I'll also see what the doctor says. I have read people said a boot speeds recovery and isn't that bad. Thanks again

I'll probably take a week off and gradually incorporate cross training. Would that be ok to do? Months off is scary to think about, my friend said he only had it for 3 weeks or so. With this being my last year, I want to do well especially for track - I'm a mid distance guy and have a decent winter program I want to follow.

I get some mild to moderate recurring PF in the arch of one foot. I bought a smallish plastic cooler -- when the PF starts to flare up, as soon as possible after a workout I alternate soaking the affected foot in ice water and massaging / rubbing / sliding the foot across the edge of the cooler (which I find more effective than a golf ball). Usually 15 minutes of such 'treatment' relieves symptoms for me. Helps reduce inflammation and tightness. Again, mild to moderate case. Before I learned to manage it this way a few years ago it got severe -- I couldn't walk without pain, had to take off 2-3 weeks. Hasn't gotten that severe since with ice and massage. It would recur less if I took more time off...but I don't. Good luck.

Smoove wrote:

I trained through it and was able to manage a marathon cycle with it, but the end result of all of that was ultimately surgery.

My doc told me 90%+ of the PF cases he sees clear up if you do the following: calf stretches 10-20 times a day, wear inserts in you trainers to support the arch (I'm flat footed too - actually makes the inserts even more important), never walk around barefoot - always wear shoes for added supoort, even in the house. I also used a lacrosse ball to massage the fascia (put the ball on the floor and stand on it with the injured foot and roll it back and forth).

Agree with these points - barefoot while injured is a no no especially running

Try heel drop on stairs - they worked for me

Make sure you stretch foot in morning before getting out of bed

Would not advise trying to run through it

How's your progress now with this approach? I've had PF for 14 months now. I was a 2:40 marathoner but be lucky to run 3:30 now. Just got the night socks.