Do I have Plantar Fasciitis? If so what should I do?

Bring both old and new shoes to your PT visit. Are the shoes different models? Different heel lift? Stiffness?

Lots of observations and questions are good.

Stay off your toes, use your entire foot. Move from your hips instead of your ankles. Stretching and "strength" training are useless. Massage and heat are your friends. It will take time to heal.

I had PF really bad one year from steeplechase... For me, I had to do zero running for 3 months. It was torture. Doing active release technique or something similar on the bottom of your foot is extremely helpful though, as is doing the same type of stuff on your calves. Don't forget about the calves. Sometimes tight calves are what's causing PF. Roll your foot on a golf ball. Massage your feet and calves. Stretch. Use one of those rollers. See a PT and MLT if you can. Give it time. Avoid doing things that aggravate it.

Sorry... PF is one of the more troublesome injuries I think. I know some people have been able to run through it, but for me, zero running was the only way it got better. Best of luck to you.

You sure it's not the Achilles tendon? Different drop compared to your old shoes?

Morning stiffness/pain in the heel area and pain relief while exercising sounds like Achilles tendonitis to me

Ty, you may be correct because the pain is located directly under my heel and the back of the heel towards the Achilles. I switched shoes from hoka to asics which could explain it and promptly returned the asics. My question is whether or not Achilles tendinitis would effect under the heel.

backrunningagain wrote:

Ty, you may be correct because the pain is located directly under my heel and the back of the heel towards the Achilles. I switched shoes from hoka to asics which could explain it and promptly returned the asics. My question is whether or not Achilles tendinitis would effect under the heel.

PF pain would typically subside with light activity. Do you see that? The pain can resurge towards or after the end of the run and go back down to usual in a couple hours. PF pain is more likely to be at the point where the plantar fascia attach to the heel, not the posterior edge of the plantar surface, but can really exist anywhere there’s plantar fascia.

If it’s ambiguous, I’d check for and rule out a calcaneal stress fracture. Seems unlikely with just a week or two of resuming light running, but that turned out to be the problem for me when I was going crazy trying to disambiguate between PF and other potential heel pain causes.

Achilles tendinitis would more likely hurt at the back of the heel, not in the plantar region.

I think it is the Achilles’ tendon and I will be careful with what I do as to not make it worse. I am fairly confident that it isn’t a calcaneal stress fracture because it gets better with stretching, unlike my fractured navicular 6 months ago. Hopefully it will subside within a week but if not I already have a checkup appointment regarding my return to activity with my podiatrist in 2 weeks and I will ask him about it if it is still an issue. Thanks for the help

backrunningagain wrote:

I think it is the Achilles’ tendon and I will be careful with what I do as to not make it worse. I am fairly confident that it isn’t a calcaneal stress fracture because it gets better with stretching, unlike my fractured navicular 6 months ago. Hopefully it will subside within a week but if not I already have a checkup appointment regarding my return to activity with my podiatrist in 2 weeks and I will ask him about it if it is still an issue. Thanks for the help

Achilles tendonitis is the back of your heel or your Achilles tendon itself. By back of your heel I mean the nobby part of your heel on the back side. This is where your Achilles tendon inserts. If it hurts there you have insertional achilles tendonitis if it hurts farther up your leg from there you have regular Achilles tendonitis. Planter fasciitis is on the plantar surface of your foot. This is directly the bottom of the heel. Some people will say it radiates to the rim of the heel but really not the back of the heel. Not uncommonly people have both. They tend to be very overweight people. These of course are the most common diagnoses I these areas. It could be a dozen other things. If it's PF.... Stretch, ice, take some time off and absolutely avoid flat things until u r better. So no barefoot, slippers, flip flops in the house or out. It makes a huge diff. Buy a generic Powerstep inset as well, available at almost all running stores. . These steps work for a 90% of people. Feeling those you go on to more invasive or aggressive things like injections, ancillary therapies, off waiting etc. As it turns out these same things work for achilles tendonitis as well. The difference is PT is likely to prescribe eccentric calf raises for AT.

I got cleared earlier this year after a tibia stress fracture, built to 50mpw, got what I thought was PF, tried to run thru a couple months, got a cortisone shot, later got an mri and found out I had a calcaneus stress fracture. I’ve been out with 4+ months of repercussions from this and no end in site. Anyway don’t mess around. I have no idea when I’ll run again.

yikesareyoume wrote:

I got cleared earlier this year after a tibia stress fracture, built to 50mpw, got what I thought was PF, tried to run thru a couple months, got a cortisone shot, later got an mri and found out I had a calcaneus stress fracture. I’ve been out with 4+ months of repercussions from this and no end in site. Anyway don’t mess around. I have no idea when I’ll run again.

@yikes, have you gotten a bone density test done? I had the same PF ambiguity, tried running through it, and it turned out to be a calcaneal stress fracture, which was surprising to me given my modest volume and mild pain. I’ve been resting from running for a month, but since right around the time I stopped running when the left MRI showed a calcaneal stress fracture, my right heel developed a milder version of a very similar pain, so I’m in the process of getting my doc to get an MRI approved for the right as well, and suspect it may be a nutrition or bone density issue, especially if the right foot also checks for calcaneal stress fracture.

Indeed I have. Bone density is fine, but I certainly was not fueling properly. I’ve been working with a RD as I’m desperate to get out of this cycle.

Sounds like a classic case of PF to me. Just stretch/loosen your calves. And take 3-4 more days off should do it since it just started recently and you haven't let it progress.

Walk backwards in your house. Do a little bit every day and increase over time. Was recommended by massage therapist and it worked a dream.

Update, still don’t know what it is but it has reduced a lot from stretching, not running, and sleeping with a foot wedge boot. On a pain scale it is at a .5/10 rn which is basically that I still acknowledge that it exists. I will run an Alter-G that I have access to at my PT office for wed/thurs and will try a ground run Thursday or Saturday. Thanks for the help and hopefully it will continue to improve at is has as I return to activity. I will keep this thread updated.