plantar faciitis rehab

I tried to run it on PF, too. Then I thought, maybe a little easier running; that was not enough, either. I had to completely stop for 2 yrs, the one single 1 mile jog when it started to feel OK brought it back for another 1/2 yr. Mountaneering seemed to help: 60 + pounds backpack, nice and slow step, step, step, every single one of them stretching the Achilles and the PF....

Best of luck!

I had PF last year and had good luck rehabbing with a combination of time off from running (longest 3 months ever) and PT (lots of stretching) and ionophoresis. I re-started running VERY gradually- 1 mi every other day for a week, then 2 mi every other day, then 3 mi every other day, etc. I don't think I ran on consecutive days for about 5-6 weeks after I started back. I would recommend the most aggressive PT program you can tolerate before surgery.

What kind of footwear are you using? I cured mine by taking time off and switching to doing all of my running in racing flats.

I had it for about 6 months and kept running on it. It got to the point that I couldn't even walk with limping. I took about 2 weeks off doing nothing (the end of this past December) and it still killed me the 1st running step I took in January. Since January 1st, I have:

1) Switched shoes from Adidas Adizero (flexible heel) to Nike Pegasus (more stable heel)

2) Iced religiously everyday for 30 minutes (a complete wrap around the whole foot)

3) Had PT 3 times weekly with very aggressive stretching and some active release; the PT determined I had a rotated hip which caused my foot to fall abnormally and strain my arch in combination with the flexible heel

Now, I can tell it's not 100% but it's getting close. I think I'm going to quit PT (but keep up the stretches on my own). I will definitely keep up the ice everday indefinitely. I will switch back and forth between the Adizero and Pegasus (I like them both but too much Adizero hurts my arch and 2 much Pegasus hurts my achilles).

I've had it for a few months and I still do. I've taken time off, done PT (helped, actually), and done the whole icing/stretching routine. It is still there but it is under control, which has allowed me to run without too many problems.

taking time off does not help. it will just come back when you start doing some serious mileage or speed work. the shots help but only temporarily. My ? is: why hasn't your podiatrist made you some custom orthotics to relieve the stress on your arches? That's what 'cured' me finally from crippling pf in both feet. my pod. had to tinker with them several times over the course of a year to get them just right, but, I was finally cured and have never looked back!

I know this won't go over too well, but why are you in neutral shoes? Motion control or even stability shoes will help with cure. Or give orthotics a try.

The straussburg sock did the trick for me. Sleeping with your foot dorsiflexed (what the sock does) can bring quick relief. Mine lasted 18 Mos. until I started sleeping in a sock. Now I sleep with a pollow wedged between the footboard and the mattress. I jam my foot against the foorboard to keep my foot up and I dont have any problems with PF. Now if I can just get my achillies/Calf issues to go away, still working on that one, but this has helped overall.

If I try to walk across the floor on my heels, that is what hurts--- the actual back-of-the-foot part of the heel. Everyone keeps telling me PF masks itself in your heel as pain.... I don't feel any arch pain or tightness... just the pain when I put my weight through my heel (ie: walking across the floor on heels). The soft tissues around my heel don't really hurt when I palpitate them, but is that just how PF works? The arch seemingly feels fine but in reality is so tight it makes the heel hurt by pulling on it? Sorry, but sometimes I just need things spelled out for me and I just don't get it regarding true PF because I don't feel any sort of soft tissue pain around the heel...

Can anyone please help me and tell me if this heel bone pain is a common symptom of PF? I've already stopped running and have been in the pool for 4 weeks but I still feel it. Thanks!

i've spent the last two months dealing with P.F. I came off from running some really quality winter mileage with severe pain in my foot. Since then I have read every thread there is about P.F. on letsrun and this is what I took away and what has helped me tremendously:

1) Strassburg sock (or if you do not wish to spend the 40-50$ I found what works equally as well is sleeping with pants that have the elastic at the bottoms and having it go around your heel and then all your toes, thus pullung your foot up in the flexed position, similar to what the strassburg does.

2) Foam roll your calves. eventually working up to using a nalgene in place of the foam roller.

3) Icing. Freeze a water bottle. use a bag of ice.

4) Ibuprofin

5) Pull your toes toward your shin and massage the thin band running along the inside arch

6) in class or whenever your sitting, roll a golf ball on your arch and heel

7) orthodics (plain dr. scholls)

This is what has helped me in a span of a month and a half go from no running to 50mpw. I hope this helps the rest of you with this bull sh1t injury.

Also, for those of you who do have orthodics and seem to have gotten something out of them, do you actually run with them on or just in your normal casual shoes? An answer would be appreciated.

Dynemeter is right. Get some motion control shoes. As soon as I switched out of neutral shoes to motion control, my PF went away. And I had been dealing with it for over 4 months.

So i've been having some heel pain on and off for awhile and I've been running on NB 900s. I switched to NB 1060s and I was able to successfully run for about two month and I thought I was cured and then the pain started to creep up and now it appears to be worse only on my right foot.

What motion control shoes would one recommend?

Two things: stop running and get ART.

If you get ART once or twice a week and workout in the pool instead of run, you could be cured in 6 weeks. I'm serious. Do all the other stuff too (ice, ibuprofen, epsom salt, etc), and you'll be fine. ART helped way more than anything else for me though, and the two chiropractors (who do ART) I talked to said they've have tremendous success with it in their practice. The website,

www.activerelease.com

, says ART has over a 90% success rate in treating PF, so it will probably work for you.

Two things:

1) orthotics

2) golf ball

That is it!

Time off does not work at all.

Shockwave therapy worked for me, I had plantar for 2 years. I also have heard Platelet rich Plasma injections work for plantar. In the mean time, I would suggest ART, orthodics, and sleeping in a night splint.

There are like 1000 threads on this topic. I had to deal with PF a few times. It sucks, it's terrible, it's an insidious condition that saps all the joy out of running.

Here is what worked for me:

1) ART- active release therapy.

2) I started going to PT and recieved inontophoresis (anti-inflamitory). I followed the exercises they prescribed (lots of stretching and strenthening).

3) I wore a boot for a while.

4) Wrapped my foot during the day with a $2 ace bandage, kept it as tight as I could stand.

5) prescription NSAIDs

Eventually I kicked it, but it was a long tough battle. I know the knee jerk reation is to change shoes, but I can't say that saw any difference with that approach.

good luck and try to stay away from all the gimmick sold on the net. I know it's tempting, but resister the urge.

try ESWT. it's fda-approved for PF, so thus insurance will cover the cost. read heelspurs.com, also.

you are going to the wrong podiatrist if he can't custom design you some orthotics to relieve strain on the plantar ligiments.

I am the one that started this thread a while back. I tried all of those things. I know that most of you think that I am crazy and that my running career is over but I went ahead and had surgery on it. Had it done a month ago. Hope to start easy running soon. If interested I can provide updates.