Plantar Fasciitis

The cure for PF is to stop doing whatever you're doing to cause it. This may be

)running with bad form

)running too much

)running at all

)bad nutrition

)bad equipment

)overweight

and other possible things too numerous to mention. Until you figure out which one it is, the only sure cure is to stop running entirely and wait for it to heal up.

Alleviating pain for any overuse-type injury is the dumbest thing anyone can do. It should hurt. That it hurts is your clue to not make it worse.

It arrives mysteriously, and it leaves the same way.

If you can run without pain, do it; otherwise, don't.

Cross train, too.

I think it's TMS (a la Dr. Sarno,) but that's another story.

Graston Technique worked for me.

Minimal shoes took care of it for me. Strengthening your feet is the key to eliminating pf. If it flares up the best ways to get rid of it (most to least effective) are

Complete Rest

Use a Night splint

Switch to new shoe type

Incorporate barefoot running into your routine

Stretch (here are some standard ones

http://www.footminders.com/plantar-fasciitis-exercises.html

)

Ice

Good suggestions so far. Open your mind. Be willing to venture off the beaten path. It is usually the road less traveled that has and will solve your PF. I will give you that much. I am still competitve. I cant give away the farm. You might beat me at the next race.

this, except for the night splint - which is retarded & sounds like something some 19th century quack would prescribe along with blood letting.

As you sit on the sofa, dorsiflex your foot while keeping your heel on the ground. You'll feel a stretch in your lower calf and flexion of the shin muscles plus pain in your foot. Hold for 10 s. Do the same to the other foot. Repeat several times. PF will clear up in about a week or two.

I took close to 2 weeks off (per my doctor's orders- who happens to be a runner and has suffered from PF himself) in an attempt to clear up an aggravating/chronic case of PF. I started running again 2 days ago and all seems well (knock on wood). I also swtiched my sneakers. It's amazing how my feet respond immediately to the time off. Within 2 days the pain was nearly gone- even upon waking first thing in the morning. In the past, I would have started back running the day the pain went away... but this time I forced myself to wait.

My plan: When/if PF returns, I will taking an increasing amount of time off, starting with 2 weeks (since this seems to have worked this time), until I've made a full recovery.

Jeff Galloway, he has several pages on a treatment from a runners POV. It worked best for me after several other treatments! Here is a link on the internet but it is best to have the book which goes into great detail on his treatments.

don't laugh Jeff understands runners injuries and what works best for runners

http://www.jeffgalloway.com/training/injury_archives/plantar.html

DWIGHT SCHRUTE wrote:

this, except for the night splint - which is retarded & sounds like something some 19th century quack would prescribe along with blood letting.

I disagree completely. The night splint was the onyl thing that got me back on the road and it did it in a goddamn flash too.

PF was my first running injury after about two months of serious training after a lifetime of fatassery and it was a biiiiitch. Felt like someone was sticking a rusty knife into it every time I got up after sitting down for more than about an hour and mornings were even worse. The problem is the fascia gets a very limited supply of nutrients and regenerates very slowly, but you re-injure it every morning when you take your first step. That pain? Night's worth of repair out the window. And so the problem persists, and persists.

What the night splint (or, to be more precise, sock - those moonboot things are stupid) does is allows the fascia to heal in an extended position overnight so when you get up in the morning, you don't reinjure it. It breaks the cycle and got me back to training after two months of constant icing, stretching, strengthening, ultrasounds, prescription antinflammatories you goddamn name it.

That said, stretchign and icing are great ideas, and really getting in there and breaking up the scar tissue is imperative - it sounds hardcore but what worked for me also was to stand wearing socks facing backwards on the edge of a step with my heels near the edge, stand on one leg and with all my weight on the calcaneus, slowly slide the edge of the step over the heel and into the arch. You can feel it crackling away but it clears up pretty quick.

SO all the normal stretching, strengthening, icing stuff (freeze a tin of beans and roll your foot over it), but get a night splint as well. The strassburg sock is the best.

Plantar fasciitis is one of the more common complaints that I see. Here are some self massage and flexibility exercises that have help some of my clients.

http://tao-fit.com/self-treatment-for-plantar-fasciitis

I also recommend deep tissue massage from a highly skilled fascial therapist with experience treating plantar fasciitis. I generally see significant reductions in pain within 2-4 sessions.

To treat the underlying cause of the injury - postural dysfunction, poor form, over training, ect. I recommend doing corrective exercises to restore and rebuild your posture - feet, hips, and shoulders; functional movement training; and a barefoot lifestyle.

I'll second "The Sock" (Strassburg sock). It made a big difference for me. When I was recovering I was always a lot tighter if I forgot to wear it at night. A lot of people put it on too tight; IIRC they've updated the instructions so you don't put your toes to sleep at night. it just needs enough tension to dorsiflex your toes past vertical when your leg's extended.

PF sucksss wrote:

I took close to 2 weeks off (per my doctor's orders- who happens to be a runner and has suffered from PF himself) in an attempt to clear up an aggravating/chronic case of PF. I started running again 2 days ago and all seems well (knock on wood). I also swtiched my sneakers. It's amazing how my feet respond immediately to the time off. Within 2 days the pain was nearly gone- even upon waking first thing in the morning. In the past, I would have started back running the day the pain went away... but this time I forced myself to wait.

My plan: When/if PF returns, I will taking an increasing amount of time off, starting with 2 weeks (since this seems to have worked this time), until I've made a full recovery.

Still Good here- no sign of PF in either foot and i'm back running. I advise taking 2 weeks off of running and see where that gets you.

Mine flares up whenever I'm running 70+mpw. It's always the first thing to happen to me...secondary to fatigue and soreness.

Cutting down the mileage helps obviously. But as far as treatments:

1. Laying in bed for about 10 minutes and pushing my toes back into mattress while on my stomach. Relaxing, and repeating again.

2. Putting my feet in warm water in the bathtub prior to a run...getting that tendon nice and loose.

3. Running a barefoot one mile cool down for 8-10 minutes a couple times per week.

PF can be caused by weak feet OR tightness. Strengthening your feet may work, or you may need lots of stretching exercises. I can't run anymore because of PF, but stretching my calves for 30+ seconds every morning and night has made a WORLD of difference – more than a night splint, rest, or strengthening exercises could do.

Feetures makes a PF sleeve. It's $25

http://www.feeturesbrand.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=206

i had pf pretty bad for perhaps 6 months. it went away when i changed to running in vibrams. The minimalst style really worked out well for me in terms of pf and my back.

I'm not trying to advocate barefoot running, so before all the idiots hop on and say I'm stupid, I'm only listing my opinion: Minimalist running shoes and some barefoot miles have cured every single injury I've had so far. PF is from overloaded plantar tendons that can't cope with the amount of stress placed on to them. Just strengthen them so it doesn't become recurring.

Old thread, but worth a comment. Don't stretch, esp eccentrics. That will further inflame it. Don't waste time strengthening intrinsics. Don't go to PT; that, too, is inflaming. Cross training is inflaming. Shut it down for a bit, self-massage it, and return to running slowly, slowly. Roll with ice after each run. Consider some over the counter insoles. No rehab, no stretching, no Theraband, no self-treatment YouTubing. Rest it, then use it, then ice it. You will get through it. Oh, also don't get it injected unless you make your living running. Injury is usually a message about overuse. I personally like 4mm drop and I don't benefit from the conventional wisdom that PF requires a lifted heel. It can benefit from arch support. Most soft-tissue injuries heal in their own sweet time. And I personally don't realize the benefits of rest until I start back, which may have to do with blood flow and scar tissue.