I'm a previous 2:43 marathoner itching to get back to running hard again. I'm 31 and had PF for about 14mos. Still experiencing daily symptoms in both feet. Running at 4:30/km (7:00/mi) for all my runs now - running 45-50km per week. Just started wearing night socks. Any tips or resources to get back to racing?
see a specialist if you haven't already. That's too long if you've been doing all the usual stuff like stretching, rolling, strengthening.
Get a lacrosse ball and squat all way down on your tippy toes and lean back to stretch your foot. This is what I found that helps.
Buy a pair of birkenstocks and wear them around the house. Get superfeet for your running shoes and work shoes. Never walk barefoot.
bpmacdonald wrote:
I'm a previous 2:43 marathoner itching to get back to running hard again. I'm 31 and had PF for about 14mos. Still experiencing daily symptoms in both feet. Running at 4:30/km (7:00/mi) for all my runs now - running 45-50km per week. Just started wearing night socks. Any tips or resources to get back to racing?
Had plantar for about 2 years.
Almost immediately cured after wearing foot brace at night.
I used to wake up in the morning with achy Achilles every morning until I started using the brace.
It kept my calf stretched at night and everything felt fine in the morning. Also, used a ball with nipple like things on it to stretched the plantar but it the brace was the cure.
After wearing the brace almost every night for about two weeks, I didn’t need it except for whenever I felt my calves get tight again... was good for about 2 years then I got a minor calf injury during s long runs do had to take some time off but the plantarhas been good.
i've used the foot brace for PF and it did help, and more recently for achilles tendonitis, which it has not helped for.
In both cases, i found that i could only wear the foot brace for an hour or two at the most, and i would wake up with it aching to holy hell, and had to take it off.
sub_3_is_the_goal wrote:
Buy a pair of birkenstocks and wear them around the house. Get superfeet for your running shoes and work shoes. Never walk barefoot.
This is good advice. In effect, your arches need a "crutch" to provide support until you can heal enough to start rehab and strengthening.
You need to provide your arches more support in ALL your shoes. I usually start with Superfeet and add a little extra felt between the hard plastic and the foam insert until the arch has enough support. I do something similar in my work shoes. I NEVER walk barefoot. Birkenstocks are okay, but I prefer to use old running shoes with Superfeet or similar arch supports.
I also tape my arch before races when I'm wearing spikes because they have less arch support.
Buy my book 200 Tips Every Runner Should Know. It's on Amazon. Read tips 42-49 for information on how to make your own orthotics to treat PF. Tips 69 explains why many runners get the steps of injury recovery out of sequence, which greatly slows the recovery process. Tips 1, 9, and 11 explain common causes of PF and what to do to avoid those issues in the future.
For example, here are the steps to treating and rehabbing an injury that doesn't require surgery. They must be done in order. Some runners (and some recommendations in this thread) jump straight to step 4 or 5. If you try to strengthen a torn muscle too soon, it will re-tear and the healing process must start over. This is one reason why hamstring injuries can take seemingly forever to heal... runners are reinjuring their hamstrings by not restricting the range of motion until the hamstring has healed enough to start rehab.
1. Prevent the injury from getting worse.
2. Restrict range of motion.
3. Provide support if needed.
4. Rehab to regain range of motion.
5. Strengthening
Try shockwave therapy! It cured my plantar fasciitis within a few weeks.
Probably means you had the foot stretched too hard (i.e., dorsiflected too much). I woke up with it aching a few times for the same reason, and the fix is to put it on more loosely. The point of the brace or a strassburg sock isn't to stretch the plantar fascia, the point is to keep it in a mildly-stretched position because otherwise it shortens while it heals overnight, then is immediately reinjured when you step on it in the morning. In other words, the point is to let the plantar fascia heal overnight without tightening and shortening during the healing process.
seattle prattle wrote:
i've used the foot brace for PF and it did help, and more recently for achilles tendonitis, which it has not helped for.
In both cases, i found that i could only wear the foot brace for an hour or two at the most, and i would wake up with it aching to holy hell, and had to take it off.
The Floyd wrote:
Probably means you had the foot stretched too hard (i.e., dorsiflected too much). I woke up with it aching a few times for the same reason, and the fix is to put it on more loosely. The point of the brace or a strassburg sock isn't to stretch the plantar fascia, the point is to keep it in a mildly-stretched position because otherwise it shortens while it heals overnight, then is immediately reinjured when you step on it in the morning. In other words, the point is to let the plantar fascia heal overnight without tightening and shortening during the healing process.
seattle prattle wrote:
i've used the foot brace for PF and it did help, and more recently for achilles tendonitis, which it has not helped for.
In both cases, i found that i could only wear the foot brace for an hour or two at the most, and i would wake up with it aching to holy hell, and had to take it off.
thanks, will try that.