plantar fasciitis: when does it go away?

Is there any make or model of shoes that have a history of producing LESS PF than others?

Follow-up: Ran 2 miles with no pain today. The PF seems to be at bay, or at least manageable, as long as I stretch with the frequency of an olympic gymnast.

when does plantar fasciitis go away?

when you do this, in this order:

1)get cortisone shots

2)get custom-made orthotics from a sports podiatrist with a record of success treating this dibilitating problem

I had it so bad in both feet that I could not even walk in the mornings until I had soaked my feet in a bowl of hot water and epsom salts. I had it so bad that despite having the 3rd fastest 1500m in the nation (college), at the time, I shut down my season after conference and never made it to nationals. The pain was just too much.

The good new is; that I came out the other side after basically losing 2 years in college to p.f.; resumed my career (mostly on the roads, post college); ran lots of 100-120 mile weeks; did interval training, etc, etc. and never had anymore problems. I wore my custom-made orthotics only while running. All running, flats, spikes, racing flats.

Here is my update:

Been resting due to an unrelated second injury.

PF foot feels good most days but sometimes i feel pain in the heel despite not running. So i am now convinced empirically that rest has very little positive impact on PF.

Been wearing the orthotics and things seem to have improved alot especially when just walking around.

Did an 11 miler today (wearig the orthos) and felt pressure/discomfort in the arch area during the run but i ignored it and finished the run. I iced afterwards. Hence it appears that my symptoms are *manageable* but they have definitely not disappeared.

NO. rest has no-or very little affect- on clearing up the inflamation in the plantar ligament. It has very poor circulation down there in the foot; that's why a cortisone shot is so effective. The very first time I got PF in one foot was after a summer track meet in early June, after my frosh year in college, where I ran 2 or 3 events. The next day my rear arch was really sore. (I had no idea what happened at that time). I thought maybe it was a stone bruise or something that I didn't remember. Anyway, I rested it for 2 months (during that summer) and by August when it was time to start getting serious about X-C again, it was still just as painful as it was the 2 months previous. I then got a cortisone shot, rested a week and was good to go for the fall and X-C season. The p.f. didn't rear its ugly head again until that spring when I was having what turned out to be my best year ever on the track, but by late April it was really bad again.

Ran a local 5k, very slow and controlled. My foot felt fine.

Progress. One small step at a time.

Use spell check.

I started doing Bakrim yoga (hot-room yoga) about a mkonth ago. Going 3x/week. After only being able to run 3months out of the last year I'm running 6x/week again and thinking of training for the marathon again.

The stretching I can do in a 105F room is worlds away from what I did previously.

Try it out. YMMV

I came from a monkey wrote:

I started doing Bakrim yoga (hot-room yoga) about a mkonth ago. Going 3x/week. After only being able to run 3months out of the last year I'm running 6x/week again and thinking of training for the marathon again.

The stretching I can do in a 105F room is worlds away from what I did previously.

Try it out. YMMV

yes, I think I will try 'hot room yoga' for my plantar faciitis. thanks for the tip.

both feet were somewhat sore this morning, upon arising. after some toast and orange juice, I rolled a tennis ball on each arch for about 10 minutes. I then applied ice to each arch for 10 minutes; watched Fox and Friends for awhile, then went back to bed. Will try to jog a little this afternoon and will report back with how it went. Wish me luck!

I was wondering for those of you that have had plantar surgery, or are in the know, I too have had the surgery and had 4years of pain free running. I am curious however as to whether PF can return to the foot you have had surgery in?

I know you loose a fair amount of facia to surgery, so have always wondered whether or not the dreaded PF, could return, and to what extent again?

This summer I have walked around in sandals alot and feel some tightness through my foot whilst running lately, however it is a different feeling to the PF I had felt prior to my surgery. I just do know how bad it could get seeing I\'ve had the surgery on the foot before.

I was just wondering if there is any relationship between tight hamstringd and/or hip flexors and the development of PF? I have been getting some PF lately and it seems that it really helps to stretch my hamstrings and hip flexors.

I guess it would make sense that if these muscles are tight it can greatly effect stride mechanics, rate of pronation, may be ground reaction forces, things of that nature.

I was told by a few docs that I needed orthotics due to some late pronation, (late in the stance phase closer to toe off, not the most common form of pronation) then a very knowledgable biomechanist and running shoe designer said it was likely due to tight hamstrings.

Why is it that PF just develops in some people? People that have been running for years. Is there a precipitating event? I would assume if it was an acute trauma that some rest would take care of it. I guess I am wondering if there is some underlying cause that we are missing. Things like q-angle, stride length and various other things proximal to the foot can have a huge imapct on the mechanics of the foot.

Any thoughts.

Hi guys! I just did a search on PF and found this thread....I didn't read all the pages of it, but hopefully some of you can help me out...I am so frustrated!!! :(

I have not run in 2 months and its not getting better!!! The pain has lessened but is lingering and for weeks has not made improvement. I bought the Strassbourg sock but I don't think its helping. I roll with a golf ball all the time and stretch and foam roll my calves constantly. I have shoes right at the base of my bed to put on immediately when I get up in the morning. I don't have health insurance so I can't go to a doctor or PT, but I don't know what else I can be doing on my own. I'm starting to think i"ll never be running again.

This is my first year out of college and it sucks not having the resources of a training room at my disposal :(

ANY tips?? What worked for you?

Hey Fed up,

Not sure if you are still reading. I have been out of commission since mid October with PF. One day a week, then off, icing, stretching etc. Nothing was working through Thanksgiving. Cortisone and rolling the ball on the feet was not either. Not only my hamstring, but my back and hamstring were getting tighter from it as well. Then, I did shockwave therapy, and for the first time I was walking without a ton of pain. I was doing PT also and that was helping some. The podiatrist told me to lay off for 6 more weeks (Feb 1st) before I attempt to run again.

PF requires almost like a treatment "cocktail." Try everything, try it together and separately. I already have orthotics, so that was not a step, but wearing work shoes with a heel of some kind (like a dress shoe...I am a guy)helped a ton. The bigger the heel, the better. Stretching and icing all the time were okay, but until the shock wave, I was getting little relief.

Now, after my last shockwave (I did the 3X at low intensity) rolling the ball, stretching/icing, and wearing the night splint seem to do well. I know you do not have insurance, but I would find a way to get shockwave. It would be worth saving up for and paying out of pocket.

Good luck.

I've read through this thread and thought I'd chime in with what seems to be working for me.

1. Straasburg sock every night. But, use with caution. I ran on my foot for 5 months before stopping to let it calm down, and during that time, after sleeping in the sock night after night, it started bothering the tendon running under the big toe to where it attaches on the medial/inside aspect of the ankle.

2. When you first wake up in the morning (or when you get up from your desk, etc), promote blood flow and loosen up the area with a few quick point-and-flexes and a few ankle rotations before you put your weight through the foot and step on the ground.

3. Tuli heel cup (clear, pliable plastic). My local running store only had "Large/175lbs and up" but it's working fine for my 125lb frame and fits in my shoe easily. I figured the larger size might be better anyway because it would provide more cushion since it was constructed for more weight...

4. Ice cup massage.

5. STAND UP on a golf ball so that you're putting as much of your weight as possible on it while you roll out your arch and heel.

6. Do the lower leg/calf/ankle/foot stretch sequence in Phil Wharton's "The Stretch Book."

7. Do your own Graston to scrape out adhesions/scar tissue and promote healing blood flow. I use the tip of a metal spoon to scrape on my arch and heel. Go arch through heel, not heel down into arch.

8. Do cross training that promotes active stretching. IE: pool running where you're flicking your ankle as you move through the water; or, get on ellliptical but keep weight through midfoot only, rather than back on heels ever...

once again i say: if you've suffered for more than 6 mos., try cortisone injections, then ESWT if they don't work. the scalpel is the last thing I'd do.

ESWT is FDA-approved for pf, so insurance will pay.

you need to get to a recommended podiatrist with success in treating pf. he will make custom fitted orthotics for you. all of the other stuff listed is a 'hobby in itself', doing all that crap daily. forget it.

BUMP

any progress in the past 2 years? this sucks

RUN ON SOFT SURFACES