Plantar Fasciitis

I'm actually here because of PF. When it sidelined me in May and I had to pretty much cut my running out completely, I bought a bike and renewed my love for the road that I had set aside for 25 years. The biking came back quickly and I decided I might as well get coached for the swim.

But my battle with PF pretty much sucked. I'll provide a link to my discussion on the topic with my running peeps over on Runner's World.com as soon as I can get it to load. That site is giving me some problems right now. But the discussion has a lot of great tips and a variety of treatments to consider.

For me, 12 sessions of dry needling trigger point therapy to my calf provided the turning point.

Okay ... the page just loaded. Here it is:

Linky-poo. 

I fought it for 3 years along with a broken ankle... but it never resolved.  Aggressive massage therapy, ART, injections, even platelet rich plasma injection at 500 bucks a pop....  On MRI my PF was much thicker with the appearance of Long term injury...  I ended up having surgery 4 months ago and just started back to running this month... pain free.  I am not saying that is the route for everyone, my doc said he only does it on a handful of people.  but it was my way back to running.

good luck to you Byran.... i had it done 2x with no results.  it is what all the big time pro guys use... Tiger in his knee for one... and it worked great.  My problem was also compounded with baxter nerve impingement so maybe that was more the problem than the PF. 

I have found the following has worked for me:   

Active Release Technique & massage as needed.

Stretching:  Pre-run stretching makes my PF worse. Warm-up first, stretch, run, stretch again, especially the peroneus muscle.  

Ditched my motion control shoes and began running in a neutral shoe.  

I'm fighting it now.  ice after every exercise (and sometimes, just in the evening after a day on my feet), anti-inflammatories (I have a prescription from my podiatrist), the boot at night and stretching all help, and unfortunately, rest.    Ice in a water bottle and running your foot over the ice bottle works wonders too.

 I have this wonderful sports med podiatrist.  When he evaluated me, he said that my calf muscles were WAY too tight, and he thinks that it's a contributing factor (as well as a sprained ankle a year and a half ago that I got back to running too soon, and some other orthopedic things from a long time ago.), so a lot of stretching is needed.  The best stretch I've found is to put a towel around your foot, straighten your knee and pull back on the front of your foot with the towel - a really good stretch!

I also had a shot of cortisone, but as was said above, it was just a band-aid, really.  The shot hurt worse than the PF, and it didn't last too long, maybe a week or so, and I was side lined after the shot for a week anyway.  

I just hobbled my way through my first half marathon and ended in extreme pain (but finished!) - ran the first half, hobbled/walked/jogged the second half.  It's possible to do it, but she needs to listen to her body too!

Actually, the cross training will probably help her with the PF - since it's not all running.  She may be surprised at how good she feels once she gets to the run.   Man, do I need to get back in the pool...

Yikes, good luck. Sorry to hear that. A complete tear must be really painful.

I had P.F. many years ago. I was down for about 9 months - no running at all. It was painful just to walk around on much less run. Healing for me was a combo of prescription orthotics, a cortizone shot and a change of shoes (from motion control to stability).

Had it for 2 yrs (both feet).  First showed it's uglyness just before a marathon.  Doc said I could run the marathon, it wouldn't get any worse (it was pretty bad).  Hurt like a son-of-a-gun every morning, so I tried to run late afternoon/evening when I could. 

Did everything for it...stretching, icing, wore the shoes the dr rec. 24/7, had inserts made, slept in the boot, took meds, & even went the injection route (7)...nothing worked.  Decided I was going to just learn to live with it. 

By a fluke changed running shoes and it totally went away.  

Is your mother in the right size shoe? She should be 1 size up from her dress shoe (pumps, loafers) size.

So many variables to consider, but being in a too-short shoe is one of the causes of PF.

I had it.

Tried the sock, couldn't stand the thing and definitely couldn't sleep with it. Tried a few other healing methods that went nowhere including expensive custom orthotics.

I got scared when reading about people who had suffered with it for years. Mainly it seemed to me because they didn't do the obvious thing, which is STAY OFF THE FEET!

Ultimately it came down to me doing NOTHING for about 2 months... no hiking, definitely no running or biking, couldn't even golf. I could swim, but really couldn't do any of the rec activities I loved. But I was committed to not suffering this for any longer than possible.

Also had deep tissue massage on them 2x per week @30 minutes for a few weeks.

Different strokes for different folks, but what worked for me was just a short-term sufferfest of staying off my feet. 3 years Faciitis free now, I'm a distance runner primarily, and have never even had a glimmer of the pain since I let it fully heal.

He really worked a few knots in my calf and minimized them to nothing. I would leave the PT office feeling like he had worked my calf over with a baseball bat ... but would always feel incredibly loose the following day. Releasing tension in the calf is what, ultimately, freed the PF.

Also ... google the Graston Technique. If you can find someone who uses it, I've heard great results.

I don't want to start this debate here, but I'd advise against barefoot running as a cure. Unless you transition into bf running over an extended period of time, you're likely to over-rely on your calf and achilles which, in turn, would ask more from the already stressed PF.

Additionally, I would advise against looking to change your footstrike for the time being. If you are naturally a heel striker (some will argue that heel striking is not natural, but many disagree), don't try to shift to a midfoot or forefoot strike as a cure for PF. Again, you'll temporarily need to rely more on your calf area to make that sort of shift.

If your mother is unable to step on her foot right out of bed without pain in the PF, she should not be running yet. Get the PF in check first.

Yes, she can train and do a sprint.  You will just want to counsel her to be careful and pay attention to how her feet are feeling and always warm-up before running (massaging the feet and rolling on a golf ball are also helpful).

While there are plantar fascia injuries and mine started that way, I view my PF now as a condition that I work with/against.  Stretching, staying hydrated, avoiding wearing high heels, and the night-brace have all helped me a lot.

When I'm having a flare-up (right now!), I wear the boot at night (a futuro night brace that I bought at Kroger) and take anti-inflammatory drugs (ibuprophen or naproxin) and it calms down.  Interestingly, I find it easier to do brick workouts because they allow me to run once my legs are already warmed up.  I hope that your mom finds this to be the case also.

I was trying many different remedies this summer, to no avail. I didn't run for 6 weeks starting in mid-September. By November 1st the searing pain was much better and I began taping my arch daily. This has enabled me to run pretty much pain free.  I am still very careful and aware of overtraining too soon. I'm still taking lots of Ibuprofen to keep inflammation down. Before putting my feet on the floor in the morning I pull my toes back toward my shin for 2-3 sets of 30 secs each. I ran 15 miles yesterday, and I feel pretty good this morning.

This ailment apparently has many different iterations . You just have to keep trying till you find relief. The most common denominator in most peoples "getting better", starts with rest. Just MHO. YMMV.