Does plantar fascitis ever go away?

collegekid wrote:

Does the Sock work well because its something I've never tried and looks like a good idea...???????

I'll vouch for the sock. I used to get it on and off in middle school and high school. It started the first summer I decided to start running. It lasted pretty much the whole summer, then went away. Then, I missed almost the whole track season of my 6th grade year (my first one, too), and took off most of the summer, then it stopped. I was fine in 7th grade, but in 8th grade was doing really exaggerated A-skips (skipping really high in the air) before a meet, and something in my foot just snapped. It hurt like hell, but I ran the race and took off a little time, but it seemed to go away in a few weeks despite the fact that I had run another race on it. My 8th grade track season, I discovered the sock, and sometimes I would feel it start to hurt a bit in the last part of a race, but it went away when I used the sock. Despite my history, I have never had any experience with plantar fasciitis ever again since I finished middle school. I'm 20 now.

Custom made orthotics did it for me. I think it's important who makes it and how much experience this person has with runners. I had one made through the expo--big mistake and i've had hard ones in the past and gave up on them after a few days, but after getting a referral by my ortho doc, he said 'trust me' when i send people to this orthotics guy, the patients never come back to see me...

I didn't believe him at first and I was EXTREMELY fed up by this time but I was desperate and this was going to be my last straw before I started to take other measures ie; shock wave..

After being patient with the soft orthotics and finding the right shoe, I finally feel back to normal with my running. This past month has been the highest mileage for me in a LONG time.

Everyone is different, but along with getting deep tissue massage to the lower legs/feet, stretching the calf muscles and using a night splint versus the sock during this transition to the orthotics has made the world of difference for me.

Best of luck to the OP.

The OP is probably confused as hell right now -"flats hurt my pf" "flats made my pf go away" "barefoot running caused my pf" " barefoot running made it go away". And guess what? They are all telling you the truth. It's a strange injury where the cause for one person could be the cure for others.

Here is the progression of what you should do. Keep in mind that pf is an injury of a tendon that gets VERY little blood flow - thus it heals very, very slowly.

1. Start stretching the living shit out of your calves and get your ankles as flexible as possible before you run. It will probably make you pf worse for a while to do this, but if you can lesson the stress on the arch of your foot by stretching you calves and keeping your ankles flexible (the ankles were key for me). Try this for a month and see if you get any relief. During that time you can also wear a night split, roll a golf ball or frozen water bottle. You can also put some more support in your shoes. I actually had better luck going to flats (helped with my ankle flexibility and calves.

2. If that doesn't work after a month, the next step is to see a foot specialist. They will probably have you consider a cortisone shot. Helps some people, but not others. Some will put you in orthotics, which could be helpful.

3. None of that worked for me, so after 6 months I had ESWT. It's basically the same equipment used to break up kidney stones. It essentially creates an injury of your pf that's severe enough where your body has to create new bloodflow to heal it (basically, you can't injure it bad enough on your own so that your body will heal it, so it's the equivalent of whacking your heal with a hammer a thousand times). You will not do any running for almost 3 months after. It took my 13 weeks to recover (and I actually took that much time off once to let it heal on it's own, but it didn't). I've been pain free for 7 years now. Not one twinge of pain.

Hope that helps.

Nope, it hasn't for me. I've had it since 1992, after my final marathon.

It bites. I've done everything (PT, shots, etc) and just accept that my foot will always have a nagging toothache-like sensation for the rest of my days.

good advice, Bum. I've had worsening PF for a couple of months now without any running. The frozen water bottle ice massage made it feel better more than anything so far.

Mine has. I now run (marathons) barefoot. I realize that seems extreme to many people here.

Also try rolling your calves on the black/hard foam roller.

I got mine from light but squishy shoes. I taped it 24-7 for several weeks then taped for runs only to make them bearable. It took 6 months to go away and for me to wean myself off taping but it has been completely gone for over a year. Ice made it worse. Stretching didn't make a difference. I always wear light shoes that are fairly stiff and haven't had a recurrence in over a year.

To the many posters who say they've tried "everything," if you haven't tried going primarily barefoot - at least at home, and while running - and wearing minimal shoes when absolutely necessary (like at work), then you haven't tried "everything."

Your body can surprise you if you let it do what it was meant to do.

Another vote for light shoes that are fairly stiff. I mostly wear racing flats with a thin graphite orthotic to stiffen it up a little.

Mechanically, the plantar fascia gets injured if it is over stretched in the course of running. A big culprit is shoes that flex in the middle of the foot. A lot of shoes have the middle of the sole removed causing this mechanical defect. More than likely this is probably why a lot of barefoot runners swore off shoes. Also with the barefoot running technique your arch is not undergoing as much stretching (wear and tear) versus "heel to toe".

The bottom line it can stay away if you find something that reduces the cyclic overstretching of the plantar fascia (change in running technique, proper shoes, proper orthotics, calf stretching). And it can come back with bad shoes, bad orthotics, bad technique even if you've had fancy treatments like ESWT or Topaz or surgery.

Had PF for about six painful months last year during XC. As a 40 plus year old female coach (who was slightly overweight), I did the "too fast too soon" thing and was sidelined for about 2 mfull months. Went to see a PT and found out that along with the additional weight, i was wearing cute, but harmful fottwear. Sleeping on my stomach also predestined me due to the way the foot is while in that position.

First thing I did was NOT ice before bed (in fact, other than rolling on a frozen water bottle during the day, i stopped icing altogether). My PT explained that there is very little blood flow to the fascia and that by icing before going to bed, I was actually causing that region to tighten more.

So, after showering, while the area was warm< I stretched the calf muscles, did foot scrunchies while gathering a towle and did calf raises. Starting out with 3 sets of 10 initially and working to sets of 30 to increase the amount of healing blood getting into that region.

Slept with my foot flat by merely bracing it against something (while sleeping on my side) and placed my birkenstocks near the bed, so that the first steps I took where not so excruciating.

Utilized some taping to take pressure off, but that was more irritating than anything and re-incorporated some barefoot strides 3 xs per week.

I now watch what type of footwear I do, have lost 20 pounds, run a bit barefoot (strides and such, nothing major) and semi-religiously do my towel gathers and calf raises.

Symptom free x 10 months and running great!!!!

Good luck!

There are all kinds of opinions on this subject. Be sure to do a search. Essentially, you should keep trying everything and hope that something clicks. There is no one universal mechanical cure for PF. Time will eventually cure it but you may be able to find a quick fix if you are persistent.

Look, barefoot proponents, this injury can arise from weakness or lack of support. The fact that strengthening your foot helped you does not mean that everyone needs that. Some would benefit from special support.

YES, it does!

Had it 13 years ago, BAD. Both feet, from sprint training in old shoes in the winter on a concrete surface in a parking garage!

Ended up NOT RUNNING AT ALL FOR 6 MONTHS. It went away completely and hasn't even come close to returning.

I had custom orthotics made and mine went away almost immediately. The only problem is that my insurance(BCBS) won't cover it anymore, so instead of me paying $35 for a pair, it's now $350. But, it's still worth it I think.

Owwwwwwwww wrote:

Does plantar fascitis ever go away?

I've battled it for two years now, and the primary symptom is the mother-of-all bone spurs on my left heel. Once in awhile there is pain under the heel, but not too often and it quickly dissipates with rest and/or rolling on a frozen bottle or golf ball. The bone spur kept me from running much for nearly a year, but a switch from Asics Cumulus to Nimbus seems to be the event which has made the heel manageable. It still hurts until it stretches out, but far less than it did. Reading the responses to your original question, it seems nearly everyone has a somewhat different story!

Owwwwwwwww wrote:

Does plantar fascitis ever go away?

Step 1: Buy this

Step 2: Use it 2x/day, EVERY DAY! THAT'S RIGHT, EVERY DAY!

Step 3: Thank me.

This was the best thing that I ever did for mine after a year of dealing with it. I had relief within two weeks. Good luck.

Sorry, but I'm looking down the barrel of 60, still jog, ski and it's still an issue if I'm not careful. I can really relate to the a.m. crab walk of pain to the bathroom for Advil. Lots of good advice on this thread. My original diagnosis back in college was high, rigid arch, best to give up running. But I continued and back then only wore those flimsy Tiger marathons. (mistake #1) Some days I could barely walk. So I tried everything, from golf balls and ice and even had to have compartment syndrome surgery, which may have been indirectly related. What works for me: custom soft orthotics, Birkenstocks around the house (hate to be seen in public in them), no running on hard surfaces, especially concrete sidewalks, and Yoga, yes it works in loosening up the lower legs and hips. For the truly desparate, there's some sort of sonic device approved for use in Canada (which means our FDA hasn't Ok'd) that supposedly breaks up the scar tissue and fixes it.

Been there, haven't had it since switching to flats.

If you don't want to switch to flats here is what always worked when I had it:

1. Strassburg sock

2. ice

3. roll your foot on a golf ball all day. try and work out the most painful spots to increase blood flow.

4. ice more

5. walk around barefoot as much as possible