Plantar Faciitis will not go away, and I've rested a month now.

am I through wrote:

What I thought was a stone bruise in my right arch did not seem to heal and finally was diagnosed as plantar faciitis. I iced it, rested it for a month but it has NOT improved one bit. Still hurts like hell in the morning until it is warmed up by massage and soaking the foot in hot water for 10 minutes. Will the strain ever clear up? What's the deal with this weird injury?

LAST YEAR THIS INJURY DOMINATED MY RUNNING AND IT REARED ITS HEAD THIS YEAR, JUST TO REMIND ME. ITS A BITCH. BAD SHOES AT WORK WAS MY PROBLEM. I TOOK TO WEARING OFF THE SHELF ARCH SUPPORTS AND MET PADS, AND EVERYTHING CLEARED UP - EVENTUALLY.

like it or leave it.

while you guys are pissing and moaning and doing the same things with the same results try something different.

Core work -

www.ronjones.org

work on flexibility in the hips and glutes

stretch the hip flexors

work on strengthening the glutes and lower back

squats - light weights high reps, good form

kettle bell swings

dead lifts

do the usual pf treatments, but work on the above 3 x/ week.

Bob Wildes wrote:

An injury with a mind of its own. I've been thinking that for several months now.

I'm a piker compared to Johnny Rotten. Only had p/f about 19 months versus his 14+ years.

The main reason that your statement seems so likely is that mine switched feet after the 9 month mark.

yes.....mine was in both feet, eventually. cortisone shots cleared it up, but I had to get custom made, soft orthotics to eventually cure it. I wore Earth shoes as my 'street shoe', as they had a negative, toe to heel slope, keeping my achilles stretched out.

i had PF for over 8 months, tried everything to get it better. it\'s been mostly gone to the point where it only hurts after long runs or races for 3 months now.here\'s what i recommend

do all of the things he said...time off actually makes it worse bc the plantar muscle is healing in a tighter position so when you start back to running you just tear it even worse. so run every day, ice, ibuprofen, stretch, learn how to tape it correctly before every run. don\'t get cortisone, its just a temporary fix for the pain, just deal with the pain

Just want to say it one more time, since not many other posters even mentioned it... Check out shockwave therapy (ESWT).

atwork wrote:

don't get cortisone, its just a temporary fix for the pain, just deal with the pain

uhh....no thanks. After a cortisone shot in each arch (which hurt like hell), the pain was totally gone a week later.

I've had a similar problem in the past. After seeing the threads about how off the shelf orthotics might not be enough, I would heartily suggest that you try an insole called "Powerstep." They are pretty much the closest thing to orthotics that you can get. I have used them for about 3 years now with no signs of PF coming back. Good luck!

Hang 'em up. You're done; start biking.

Talk to your doctor about extracorporeal shockwave therapy:

http://orthopedics.about.com/od/footankle/i/shockwave.htm

I could hardly walk the day before I had the procedure done, and was up and running in just a day. It took some time to completely go away, but it was almost miraculous. I know it DOESN'T work for everyone, but it DID for me!

Good Luck!

Hang em up wrote:

Hang 'em up. You're done; start biking.

and give up my scholarship and give up running at age 20? I got an appt. to get cortisone shots on Monday and will take the rest of next week off. I'm crossing my fingers that the pain will then be gone.

cortisone shot worked pretty well for me. still kinda have to watch it, but its been over 2 years.

tijuana donkey show stated the best advice yet. You have a weakness somewhere in the kinetic chain that is causing tightness in your gastroc or soleus... this may be the cause of the PF. I got rid of PF after 10 sessions over 4 weeks of fairly intense calf raises (seated and standing) in the weight room. Massage the calf muscle too. The problem is almost certainly not originating in your foot. Multiple cortisone shots are simply for lazy people and will set you up to be a gimp later in life.

you, my friend are certifibly......insane. God bless you.

dmonspeed wrote:

The problem is almost certainly not originating in your foot. Multiple cortisone shots are simply for lazy people and will set you up to be a gimp later in life.

I had multiple cortisone shots, maybe 6-7, over 3 years in college, to keep running on the track team, as I was a scholarship miler. This was in the late 60s, early 70s, before anyone had thought of orthotics. I am now 58 years old, have had no shots since 1973 and my arches and health is fine.

EXTRACORPOREAL SHOCKWAVE THERAPY. DON'T GIVE UP WITHOUT LOOKING INTO IT!

people do not understand this injury!!!!! It is not chronic if you treat it correctly!!

first...you need to be in the correct support for you.

second...medical people are trained to treat the Pain...STOP THIS IMPROPER THINKING PROCESS!!! Treat the problem and the problems caused from the original problem. Too much pronation, improper training, etc caused damage to more then your foot. If you get deep tissue massage im sure you will notice lots of knots/adhesions/crunchies in your lower leg (the posterior tibialis and such under your achilles and soleus). these knots are causing a tightening in your foot. your foot being weight baring and the tissues being smaller/weaker are feeling the pain. get ride of those knots and you release the pressure on your foot.

I treat people with this everyday and i have people running pain free within 2months or less. when some come to see me they are crawling out of bed the previous 6 months.

the tp products are what i recommend. there are other less expensive ways to achieve it but i have not found anything as effect (aside from a personal masseur). spend the money and get it!!!

http://www.tpmassageball.com/footinjuries.php?sym=8

warm up before getting out of bed/sitting. make circles/alphabet with your feet for a min or two. this gets blood back to that area. then use a light massage on your foot followed by some light stretching. use the microstretching method.

http://www.microstretching.com/

basically a 30% stretch for 60secs repeated 2-3times. you do not have to repeat it 2-3times all the time. this stretch method will NOT cause more trauma..

wear the CORRECT amount of support for your foot ALL DAY. if you dont know, go ask a "Shoe Expert".

so here is the routine to get it to heal...

warm up the tissue. light movement (walking or the circles again) this gets blood to the area. then use the massage products. follow their instructions. the massage opens up the fibers, manipulates the knots (breaks them up) and allows the blood (which is there b/c of the warmup) to activate the tissues. after doing this your body is set up perfectly to gain a lot from stretching. use the microstrecthing on your lower leg and foot. you can use other methods on the rest of your body. then ice your lower leg. use a frozen cup and apply 5-7mins of ice massage. the tissue is already opened up from the massage which allows the crynotherapy to penetrate deeper into the muscle belly. this method is much more effective and allows you to get the results in 5mins. repeat this several times a day if possible. at minimum morning and/or night.

light massage, light stretching and icing is all you need on the plantar itself. get too aggressive with the plantar and you can cause more trauma to this rather delicate fascia.

you can stay active and even run through this. just back it down and stay on soft surfaces and avoid a lot of hills if possible. use biking. elliptical, and swimming/aquajogging in place of some of your mileage. alternate these exercises. you have adapted to being a runner not a crosstrainer. so dont go over board on cross training. just remember if you are not healthy then you are not running. fitness will come.

stay away from ridged plastic orthotics. they are CRAP. your foot has 26 bones in it and they are designed to move and flex. most orthotics prevent this desired movement. some people will say that you want to immobilize the arch. wrong. you want to move it and stretch it to a normal degree. a running shoe with the correct support will do this..

oh and DONT get those shots!!!!! they will only mask the problem. treat the problem and the PAIN WILL GO AWAY!!!

this should get you going.

be consistent with the therapy and you will have amazing results. i promise. feel free to email me if you have more questions.

razorbackmiler@yahoo.com

Can't believe no one has mentioned the most logical solution - foot strengthening exercises: 25m x each on grass, sand, or carpet - barefooted, walk on the outside edge of your feet, inside edge, back on your heel with toes and forefoot off ground, high up on your toes.