Plantar Fasciitis

[Anonymous]

Has anyone ever experienced plantar fasciitis from running? How long did you have it for? When were you able to start running again?

[Anonymous]

I had it. I won't tell you how long it took to get rid of it! What worked best for me was freezing a tennis ball and rolling it hard under my foot, and lots of stretching in the morning before stepping out of bed. Also no walking barefoot and wearing only shoes that had really good arch support.

[Anonymous]

There are also a number of products that you can wear while you sleep. See smartfoot.com. All of the products have the same goal - to hold the foot at a 90 degree angle while sleeping. Then you should do stretches in bed before you even put weight on the feet in the morning. Then stretch out the hamstrings while pushing against the wall. If you don't already have custom orthotics, you should get them. And, yes, no barefoot, no unsupported shoes like sandals or flats.

[Anonymous]

I had it, too. So painful, I'm sorry! I found the Strassburg Sock on Amazon, used it every night for a few weeks (or maybe a month, can't remember exactly) and was cured! But totally agree with the stretching, not going barefoot, etc. Taping my foot during the day helped, too (you can find videos on youtube on how to do it). I kept running through it because it wasn't really painful while running, but I did reduce my mileage until it went away.

[Anonymous]

Ditto to all of the above. I wear either Crocs or Birkenstocks while inside, and similarly well-supported shoes outside the house. I got heel cushions from heelthatpain.com, and they've been a godsend.

Consider scaling back your mileage until it's well-healed. PF is notoriously difficult to eliminate, and can linger on for a LONG time if not treated properly.

[Anonymous]

I got a boot from Amazon that you put in the freezer and then I could ice my feet every night. I tried the supports that you wear overnight and always woke up after an hour and tore the thing off my leg because it drove me crazy. Icing every day, I was able to get it to go away in a month or two, as long as I wear good shoes all the time. I stopped running and took up swimming for that month so I gave my foot total rest. I don't wear flats or sandals or flip flops for any reason, except once or twice a year to a wedding or something. If you are prone to PF, it will be recurring unless you are careful.

[Anonymous]

I am a runner and I have got Plantar fasciitis for about a year. At the beginning I could not step on my feet in the morning and today I am almost over it.
First of all you should listen to your body. If some kind of treatment makes you feel better then keep on doing it. There are many kinds of treatment for plantar fasciitis and you should follow the ones that make you feel good.
I took a complete rest from running for 3 weeks and then slowly returned to run. Today I am still not running as much as I used to but I am getting closer. Instead I started swimming which is a great cardio workout.
There is an interesting webpage about running and plantar fasciitis in this link.

[Anonymous]

Anything that ends in --itis usually means chronic. So be very careful. Do not try to run through the pain, which will only make it worse. It is an injury, which needs to be iced and babied until it heals. This usually takes about 6 weeks. There is lots of info about this in books on runners. Most long term excersize/runners train in another area for the duration. Swimming for example.

[Anonymous]

It's chronic. The only thing that keeps it at bay so I can still run and keeps me in shape is Bikram Yoga.

Tried therapy, stretching, the boot, socks, the ball with the spikes, Advil all day everyday forever, etc.

After doing Bikram my feet got strong and streached and I rarely have a recurring event unless I stop doing the yoga.

[Anonymous]

You do have to rest it to feel better.

One thing that has helped me in the long run, actually, is wearing barefoot (or minimalist) shoes while running. The act of running barefoot strengthens your calves and ankles, which helps prevent PF. I haven't had any recurrence of PF since I started wearing barefoot shoes.

[Anonymous]

Mine took a year to completely go away. But it has not returned.

[Anonymous]

Get fitted for running shoes/insoles. Honestly, once I got into the correct shoes for my running style-- I virtually have no pain. I also make sure I stretch my calves very well after each run.

Good Luck.

[Anonymous]

I also had recurring pf and was fitted for proper shoes. It helped immensely and it hasn't returned since.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I also had recurring pf and was fitted for proper shoes. It helped immensely and it hasn't returned since.

+1 I went up a whole shoe size to fit all the inserts, but it really worked.

[Anonymous]

I had it horribly for several years. I ended up at a podiatrist who gave me some cortisone shots (three in total) that really helped stop it.

To keep it away, I always ALWAYS wear some kid of shoe with a back (no slides). If it starts coming back, stretches and sleeping in a "boot" help.