Sudden PF flare up...what gives?

I too, am dealing with (once again) with a PF flare-up. Actually, mine has progressed to a heel spur, which was confirmed on an x-ray I had, 2 days ago. I thought it was a stress fracture, but turns out it's a heel spur caused by a severe case of PF. I'm tackling mine with some aggressive massaging (with a small ball), lots of icing & stretching, and cutting down to running every other day vs everyday, like I had been doing(when the pain was tolerable). My doc also recommended using heel cups in my "everyday" shoes.

Edited by nscrbug 2008-08-21 11:51 AM

Yeah, I figured the flat summer sandals I've been wearing haven't been helping. Also, we were taught a new running technique last night that had me running more on the balls of my feet than the heels (something called "POSE") which may have stretched my arches a bit more than usual, and I was definately running faster than I usually do - a couple of what I would call "sprints". I will stretch and ice them before bed tonight and see how things go.

Question - do heel spurs ever go away? When I had PF years ago I had developed spurs - would they still be an issue now after years of no pain?

Edited by sarytyr 2008-08-21 12:15 PM

Hmm...that's a good question, and unfortunately it's one that I cannot answer...since this is my first time dealing with a spur. According to the sports med doc I just saw, I was told that with some very aggressive massaging of the PF tissue...especially at the point where the tissue band attaches to the heel bone (the site of my spur), I should be able to breakdown that spur. I've been using a special ball that I picked up at my local running store. It's about the size of a golf ball, but it's covered with little nubbies all over it. I use it every morning before I get out of bed...but my doc says that I have to be a bit more aggressive with it...almost to the point of inflicting pain. He said that he often finds that his patients have trouble doing that...and they end up going to a physical therapist that can do it for them. I've got 4 weeks to try and breakdown this tissue...if there is no improvement, then it's off to PT for me.

Perhaps new orthotics that are specific to your running shoes would help?  I would imagine that orthotics wear out over time.  Probably worth asking your doc.

Ok...so now I have to ask - since the change in running style caused your PF, are you still running with a midfoot strike? Or have you gone back to a heel strike? Reason I ask, is because I very recently changed (or perhaps TRIED to change, would be a better way of saying it) my running style exactly like you did, and I am now dealing with a full-blown heel spur spawned from a severe case of PF. So now I'm wondering if this change was the cause of it all. I'm still not really sure if I have the whole "midfoot striking" thing down pat yet. I find it rather difficult to actually "feel" if I'm striking on my heels or on the midfoot...seems all the same to me. Should I continue to keep trying to change from heel to midfoot strike...or is this just going to delay and prolong the healing of this heel spur?