Planter Faciitis anybody ever deal with it? How?

[dancally]

Has anyone dealt with planter fasciitis? How long can it last for?

I am self-diagnosed of course, but experiencing pain in my left heel mostly when I wake up in the morning and towards the end of the day. I usually run anywhere between 3-5 times a week (about 3 miles each time). I have tried the heel insert, roller thing used to work muscles on bottom of foot, icing, alieve, and a lot of stretching. I have been using the rowing machine instead of running to get my cardio in.

Just like to get an idea of what some other people have done to remedy this? And how long did it last for?

Thanks in advance!

[Caesura75]

Yep, had it after wearing worn out shoes for far too long. It got to a point where I couldn't walk for about ten minutes after getting out of bed. Horrible pain.

Unfortunately there's no quick remedy. It's a chronic inflammatory condition and will take time, in my case approximately ten months before it finally went away. To aid healing though, ensure you have quality/stable footwear and try to massage the sore area in the evenings. I found that all helped, albeit very slowly.

[mendeldave]

It does sound like a classic case of PF.

Do you work at a desk/sit all day? If so, freeze a water bottle (standard bottle you'd buy anywhere) roll your foot over it to massage it. Do this a lot throughout the day as you sit at your desk. You'll work out the muscle via massage, and the cold will be good for it too. Do it all week.

Also, check into the Strassburg Sock -you can get it at any running store or online if you don't have a store. It's a long sock you wear to bed at night that has a strap in the front that keeps the toes in a slightly bend angle. It's not uncomfortable and after a night or two you won't really notice it. Probably costs around $30.

I've had PS twice, both times several years apart. Frozen water bottle + strassburg sock + maybe some advil or aleve, and I was a-ok in no time. Maybe it lasted a month but from when I started to treat it, it got better after a few days. I was never off running for more than a couple of days because of it. I've lent out my strassburg sock so many times I can't recall who even has it now.

[dancally]

Thanks for the advice Mendeldave and Caesura75

Yes Mendeldave, I saw the socks you were talking about online, I will order one today.
I do work at a desk for most of the day, I will use the frozen water bottle aka massage mechanism.

[yettiatcpg]

first time took about a year to clear up. the last time I tore the planter tendon right off the heal bone. that took 5 months to heal after the cast came off.
best things I can tell you is lots of rest with your feet up as high as your heart.
second; ice is your friend. freeze a couple water bottles. then when your sitting down roll one under your foot. makes the pain pass.
I have to wear high top work boots with the steel toes and shanks to support my feet. without I get pain. if I go bare foot I'm fine but only if I haven't worn shoes yet that day.

[virtualbrian]

Strassburg Sock also worked well for me. I also massaged the hell out of the area at all points through out the day. Here's how I did it: I had PF in my right foot. I'd sit cross legged with my right foot on top of my left leg. I'd take my right foot in both hands and grind the tendons on the bottom of my foot with booth of my thumbs over and over.

I had to stop running for some time to get through this. The frozen water bottle also worked well.

I ended up wearing very stiff soled shoes throughout the day.

Good luck!

[Old-Time-Lifter]

I have a set of inserts from the 'Good Feet Store'. Pretty pricey but they last forever and definitely help. Only time I have trouble is when I get lazy and don't switch them between shoes.

[Blamo456]

Have it in my left foot. I felt it coming on, but continued to do intense intervals on an elliptical until it really became inflamed. I've never used prescription painkillers but strongly considered taking some of my brother's meds from when he had kidney stones. Anyway, there was a silver lining for me. The injury forced me to focus entirely on lifting instead of splitting my workouts 50/50 cardio/lifting.

I stopped cardio entirely, and adjusted my leg workout, removing calf raises, good mornings, deadlifts and leg presses for a few weeks and allowed the inflammation to decrease.
Since the onset two months ago, I've re-added deadlifts, good mornings, and leg presses back into the rotation but no calf raises. Tried a few times and could feel I was pressing my luck.

Good luck with your injury. The only thing that has helped mine is Ibuprofen + rest.

[parttimeely]

Have someone pull your toes back and then with the other hand go deep from the heel to the top slowly and deep .. This is a temporary releif , also try rolling your foot on a gulf ball .. Good luck

[mcbourque]

Had it big time when I was teaching high impact aerobics and running. Ouch! I couldn't stop because it was my job.

What helped was to
-- change my shoes every 6 months (or every 100 hrs of exercises including waking to and back)
-- ice 15min on and off after every cardio session (elevation and pressure too - RICE)
-- rolling/scrunching a towel with my foot to strengthen the muscle of my feet.

Took a while to get better but it did eventually.

[irongrandpa]

Another thing that has helped mine in addition to those listed above is I wore an arch support that was for PF. A pair of them was only $20 at the pharmacy. The ones I bought work great with shoes and socks and they don't effect DL's, squats or other leg exercises.

[Corbi]

Had it for awhile, tried a pair of orthotics and they didn't help. Podiatrist was doing cortisone shots in my heel but that only helped for a short time. Started working out and within 6 months all the symptoms were gone and not a trace of it has come back. Don't know why or how but i'm fine with not knowing.

[gbk56]

Has anyone dealt with planter fasciitis? How long can it last for?

I am self-diagnosed of course, but experiencing pain in my left heel mostly when I wake up in the morning and towards the end of the day. I usually run anywhere between 3-5 times a week (about 3 miles each time). I have tried the heel insert, roller thing used to work muscles on bottom of foot, icing, alieve, and a lot of stretching. I have been using the rowing machine instead of running to get my cardio in.

Just like to get an idea of what some other people have done to remedy this? And how long did it last for?

Thanks in advance!

I get it when I run (both heels and also self diagnosed). I stretch, ice and massage and it goes away. I find that as I stretch more the problem goes away in several weeks, but need to continue to strech. Otherwise, the problem comes back and need to go back to stretching, icing and massaging. I guess the problem never really goes away.

[ajdahlheimer]

Mine just went away after about a year. I tried about every trick I could find, but what ended up working was time and just running through it. I actually had forgotten I even had it by the time I realized it was gone (if that makes any sense)....

[crupiea]

For one you have to leave it alone sometimes. You would think that aggressively rolling and stretching would help and it does to some degree but tine also helps.

Imagine you cut your arm and every day your stretched the scab open again. It would take a long time to heal.

So maybe once a day or so roll a tennis ball or racquet ball for a few minutes but thats about it.

Next is KT tape it. tape it all day and leave it taped. This alone will make a huge difference.

The last is to wear a cheapo walmart arch supprot. its not so much the heel as the arch you want supported. Just wear it in your shoe all day.

This worked for me when nothing else did.

[acrawlingchaos]

Plantar Fasciitis is an overuse injury.



Stop running and heal.

[JeepCreeper]

I used to get it every time i ran. I tried taping the bottom of my foot (look online for methods). This helped some. During this period when running I was a heel striker. About 5 years ago I started wearing less cushioned shoes and adopted a forefoot strike. I eased into it to allow my foot and leg muscles to strengthen. I have had no plantar fasc. pain in about 4 years. I currently run between 1 - 4 miles at a time, outside and on treadmill.

[ajdahlheimer]

Plantar Fasciitis is an overuse injury.



Stop running and heal.

Stopping for a long enough period for it to heal (it is an amazingly slow healing process for that particular injury) isn't an option for a lot of people, ACC.

[acrawlingchaos]

Stopping for a long enough period for it to heal (it is an amazingly slow healing process for that particular injury) isn't an option for a lot of people, ACC.

Trust me... well aware. I had a bad case in the service... had I stopped marching and doing PT, I would have healed so much quicker. I refused to have a "soft shoe" profile.

Yes, it sucks, but it IS an overuse injury. Not allowing adequate rest is what usually causes a 12-18 month heal time. If you are persistent with your pre-hab (rolling / massage, rest, stretches, rest, ice, rest, analgesics, rest, anti-inflammatories and rest) you could see a heal time of 3 months (or less).

If your recreation time is spent running, then yes, you do have a choice. It no different than lifting through an injury. Do what you want, but don't wonder why it's taking forever to heal when you try and push through an injury.

[dancally]

Everybody thanks for the all the input/advice!

[spazisis]

You're going to need to buy some N52 magnets rolling underneath your feet for a 30 min while you're watching TV slowly my pain went away it's working for me..
Magnetic therapee..

[bigtallox]

Has anyone dealt with planter fasciitis? How long can it last for?

While it's not the same, I tore my plantar facia tendon. It took about 8 months to feel completely normal again.

[socket]

I call it planter foot lol. Stretch and rest. Don't try to work through it because it just keeps getting worse.

Stretch the calves all through the day and those feet whenever you can. And wear good shoes with good arch support. I keep a racket ball by my bed. I roll the bottom of my feet every night when I go to bed and every a.m. Before I even take a step.

The good news is if you treat it, it will heal.

[TaRockula]

Switch to riding a bike and let it heal. This is what I'm doing.

Logic.

[TaRockula]

Mine just went away after about a year. I tried about every trick I could find, but what ended up working was time and just running through it. I actually had forgotten I even had it by the time I realized it was gone (if that makes any sense)....

WTF!

Running through it?

Please leave the planet!

[Old-Time-Lifter]

WTF!

Running through it?

Please leave the planet!

I think he means letting it run it's course.

[iabs]

ice and US (ultra sound).

[Postmort3m]

Tennis ball massaging helped mine tremendously a few years ago and it never came back (why did I say that?!!?)

[Keoking]

Wish I'd seen a thread like this when I got PF from a pair of bad shoes. Once I got on the right program it was easy to lick after a couple months, but spun my wheels for weeks before. Lots of good advice in there. It's a shame that the BB.com search function is so weak. Hopefully folks in need will land here coming from Google.

[Phattso]

One of my first jobs out of college, I got PF in both feet from standing all day along. I went to a Podiatrist and he confirmed the PF. Then, he froze the bottoms of my feet, then injected them with cortisone. Instant relief.

I changed shoes and that helped, too.