Plantar Fasciitis....help!!

[Shortdraw]

I have managed to get a very special case of plantar fasciitis. It probably started up last fall but I just kept pounding on it. Now it's pretty grim. Since early January I have tried cortisone (2 shots - very little relief for very little time), pulse therapy (no success), a myriad of store bought orthodic insoles, gobs of anti-inflamatory drugs, and a night splint boot. Still no progress. Has anyone had a bad case of PF that they overcame? How long did it take? Did you do anything special or unusual that helped you out? Right now I can't take the dog for a walk without having to ice my foot. This is not boding well for archery mule deer!

 

[neverquit]

I had a pretty bad case. The best medicine I found was redeployment back to the states and a honorable discharge. And rest. With about a year.it was completely gone. If I hit it hard for several days I begin to feel the area, it's not painfully but it let's me know it needs rest.

 

[Matt Cashell]

I had terrible PF. The best advice I got was:

It is a torn ligament. Treat it like the real injury it is.

I stayed off it for two months. No running. I stayed up with cardio on the bike. Strasbourg sock at night. After I felt ZERO pain for a month straight, I started working back into running as long as I had no pain, slowly increasing distance.

Since then, it has been over a year without recurrence.

When I realized that it wouldn't heal if I kept "pounding" it, I started to recover.

 

[Poser]

I had it bad in 2002 and struggled with it off and on for 10 years. I tried all the usual remedies, but did not overcome it until I buckled down and strengthened up my feet by wearing minimalist type shoes (no support) exclusively with the exception of boots for hunting. Casually, I wear Chuck Taylors. For exercise, I wear NB Minimus and/or Five Finger shoes. My ligaments strengthened up in virtually no time and feel stronger than ever. Note that this goes against virtually all of the mainstream advice you will get, though most of that advice is centered around pain management and not recovery. Ditch the shock absorbing soles and lifted heels. Your feet should be strong enough to support an activity your body is capable of and joints and ligaments should survive about 115 years of proper use.

 

[ethan]

Unfortunately, I know exactly what you're going through. I tried almost everything, didn't do the corotozone. My doc said all it would do is mask the pain and I'd end up with crystalized cortozone in my foot.
I did ultra-sound therapy once a week for 15 treatments. That broke down the fluid around the ligament tear and enabled my body to start the healing process. (doc's words, not mine).
He gave me "powerstep" insoles and told me wear them constantly. If you get up on a Sunday morning and are walking around your house drinking coffee, make dang sure you are wearing them. Never go barefooted.
I kept golf balls in my desk at work, by my couch at home, and by my bed. Use them to message your heal, a lot!
NEVER get out of bed or get up from sitting for a while without stretching. And in the words of my doc, stretch like a mad man. I stretched almost constantly, if I thought about it 25 times a day, I stretched 25 times a day!

I suffered with it for almost two years. Even after it "mostly went away" if I tried to go fro a run I paid dearly for it for a few days afterwards. Like an idiot, it took me a few months to get serious about it and do exactly what my doc said, but once I started doing it religiously I saw great improvement. I'm slowly starting to run again. The last time I ran I only did 4 miles and won't run again for at least a week, but I never thought I'd be able to do that again.

 

[Poser]

Unfortunately, I know exactly what you're going through. I tried almost everything, didn't do the corotozone. My doc said all it would do is mask the pain and I'd end up with crystalized cortozone in my foot.
I did ultra-sound therapy once a week for 15 treatments. That broke down the fluid around the ligament tear and enabled my body to start the healing process. (doc's words, not mine).
He gave me "powerstep" insoles and told me wear them constantly. If you get up on a Sunday morning and are walking around your house drinking coffee, make dang sure you are wearing them. Never go barefooted.
I kept golf balls in my desk at work, by my couch at home, and by my bed. Use them to message your heal, a lot!
NEVER get out of bed or get up from sitting for a while without stretching. And in the words of my doc, stretch like a mad man. I stretched almost constantly, if I thought about it 25 times a day, I stretched 25 times a day!

I suffered with it for almost two years. Even after it "mostly went away" if I tried to go fro a run I paid dearly for it for a few days afterwards. Like an idiot, it took me a few months to get serious about it and do exactly what my doc said, but once I started doing it religiously I saw great improvement. I'm slowly starting to run again. The last time I ran I only did 4 miles and won't run again for at least a week, but I never thought I'd be able to do that again.

That's the opposite of what finally healed me. I go barefoot as much as possible.

 

[ethan]

Crazy, but I can definitely see it from your end. For what it's worth, a good friend of mine has had almost the exact same results as you by going barefoot as much as possible.

 

[CBelkslayer]

I had a really bad case of PF a couple of years ago. It felt like knives we being stabbed in my feet. Turns out it was from running too much. My doctor recommended better insoles. I bought a few couple pair of superfeet insoles and made sure that I put them in whatever shoes I was wearing that day. I have not had a problem since.

 

[Jeff Martin]

Just hit me for the first time (4 weeks go). Funny enough, I starting getting heel pain after wearing orthodics. I now have a bone spur and like the guys above Doctor told me the following.
1. Stretch !!
2. Ice !!
3. NEVER go barefoot - buy birkenstocks for home. they have a high arch support
4. Wear custom orthodics

So far, the only thing that works is ice. I can not get rid of it. I went from totally healthy to miserble PF in literally a month.

I work from home (my team is all over the world) and I work barefooted all day. DR told me that was my downfall.

 

[Shortdraw]

and so goes my dilemma. I hear "wear orthotics and stretch" and I hear "orthotics weaken your foot and so should go barefoot." Right now I'm on the Birks around the house (NEVER in public!!) and orthotics in my shoes with stretching program but I have to say I have not really improved in a couple of months. Running? Ha, I wish. I was on ice after taking the dog for a walk. Ive used orthotics from Superfeet, Sole, Sof-sol, and Northwest Labs. Best seem to be Sof-sol but by a small margin. Of course podiatrists LOVE to sell me some custom orthotics. I could have bought a guided hunt in BC for all the crap I'm throwing at my feet!! BTW the reason for the Birks/Haflingers is they don't bend which protects the PF. Seems like a good initial approach but doesn't seem long-term advisable.

 

[Poser]

Again, my advice goes against the grain, but I'll argue that arch support is one of the central causes of PF in the first place. Other causes are obesity (too heavy for your feet to support your weight) and heel strike running (due to shock absorbing footwear).

Obviously, you need to allow the initial injury to heal and you do that by staying off your feet as much as possible, icing etc. Get a Lacrosse Ball (much more firm than a tennis ball) and really work that area of the foot. Once the injury heals, I suggest working on strengthening the foot back up to full strength and, at that stage, wearing arch supported shoes is only going to keep the foot weak. Following mainstream advice, I suffered through on and off pain for about 10 years. When I first got PF, I was running high volume miles while wearing shock absorbing, arch supported running shoes. I figured my running days were over for good during that 10 year window of on and off again pain. Since I have gotten my feet back up to full strength going barefoot and wearing minimalist shoes, I have 0 problems running and run regularly. Though I have no interest to returning to high volume miles, I would have no hesitation about my feet if I felt inclined to sign up for a marathon or a ultra race.

I hate to say, but the medical community has a lot to gain by pain management (office visits, treatment, medications) and little to gain from recovery. In fact, many people with PF will tell you that full recovery is not an option. I struggled with it 10 for years before I figured out how to make a full recovery, but once I committed to the process of letting my feet do what millions of years of evolution designed them to do, recovery was pretty quick.

 

[Jeff Martin]

Again, my advice goes against the grain, but I'll argue that arch support is one of the central causes of PF in the first place. Other causes are obesity (too heavy for your feet to support your weight) and heel strike running (due to shock absorbing footwear).

Obviously, you need to allow the initial injury to heal and you do that by staying off your feet as much as possible, icing etc. Get a Lacrosse Ball (much more firm than a tennis ball) and really work that area of the foot. Once the injury heals, I suggest working on strengthening the foot back up to full strength and, at that stage, wearing arch supported shoes is only going to keep the foot weak. Following mainstream advice, I suffered through on and off pain for about 10 years. When I first got PF, I was running high volume miles while wearing shock absorbing, arch supported running shoes. I figured my running days were over for good during that 10 year window of on and off again pain. Since I have gotten my feet back up to full strength going barefoot and wearing minimalist shoes, I have 0 problems running and run regularly. Though I have no interest to returning to high volume miles, I would have no hesitation about my feet if I felt inclined to sign up for a marathon or a ultra race.

I hate to say, but the medical community has a lot to gain by pain management (office visits, treatment, medications) and little to gain from recovery. In fact, many people with PF will tell you that full recovery is not an option. I struggled with it 10 for years before I figured out how to make a full recovery, but once I committed to the process of letting my feet do what millions of years of evolution designed them to do, recovery was pretty quick.

Given I never had an issue until i put insoles in my shoes, I think I agree with this. I feel like a dummy for creating my own issue.

 

[Bearhunter]

Been fighting this same dilemma for for 10months now. The green super feet have made my days tolerable and taken the pain level way down, there are days I think its almost gone, to having it back the next morning. I recently started not using the super feet and the pain has resided even more it seems, I may need to try the minimalist idea as well. Unfortunately I have to wear steel toe boots 10 hours a day....

 

[couesbitten]

I battled PF from December 2013 until December 2014, the summer prior to that, I ran 1 triathlon, 2 half marathons, and numerous 5k and 10k races, went into hunting season in the best physical condition I had been in since I was a senior in high school. After hunting season, tried to get my running going again and BAM, nasty case of PF! So I was just talking to my cousin that also battled it, and we compared notes on treatments that are supposed to help (golf balls, frozen water bottles, etc.), and both agreed that in the end that the only real treatment that cures PF is time. He said the same thing, about a year to get over his, and now he and I are both careful, stretch a lot before running, listen to your body, and pay special attention to your feet.

 

[landont20]

One thing that can help is getting some support specifically designed for PF. Take a look at the links below. Both of those braces aid in recovery while asleep and awake. I deal with a lot of collegiate cross country runners where PF is everywhere, and a lot of schools use that PF Strap during the day. Both products really help to keep specific pressure right at the forefront of the heel. I've heard more than one coach say that PF strap is the best thing ever created for PF. They aren't the cure-all, but inexpensive enough to give them a try. Pm me if you are interested, I may actually have some I can just send you.

Good luck

http://www.bledsoebrace.com/products/pfs-strap/

http://www.bledsoebrace.com/products/night-splint/

 

[Shortdraw]

PM sent

 

[zman]

Again, my advice goes against the grain, but I'll argue that arch support is one of the central causes of PF in the first place. Other causes are obesity (too heavy for your feet to support your weight) and heel strike running (due to shock absorbing footwear).

Obviously, you need to allow the initial injury to heal and you do that by staying off your feet as much as possible, icing etc. Get a Lacrosse Ball (much more firm than a tennis ball) and really work that area of the foot. Once the injury heals, I suggest working on strengthening the foot back up to full strength and, at that stage, wearing arch supported shoes is only going to keep the foot weak. Following mainstream advice, I suffered through on and off pain for about 10 years. When I first got PF, I was running high volume miles while wearing shock absorbing, arch supported running shoes. I figured my running days were over for good during that 10 year window of on and off again pain. Since I have gotten my feet back up to full strength going barefoot and wearing minimalist shoes, I have 0 problems running and run regularly. Though I have no interest to returning to high volume miles, I would have no hesitation about my feet if I felt inclined to sign up for a marathon or a ultra race.

I hate to say, but the medical community has a lot to gain by pain management (office visits, treatment, medications) and little to gain from recovery. In fact, many people with PF will tell you that full recovery is not an option. I struggled with it 10 for years before I figured out how to make a full recovery, but once I committed to the process of letting my feet do what millions of years of evolution designed them to do, recovery was pretty quick.

Amen. Time will heal PF but it will come right back if you don't strengthen your foot at some point.

Think about this... you hurt your knee, back, whatever. What do you do? Physical therapy. Work on increasing flexibility and strength. You hurt your foot... they tell you to brace it up, support it, protect it. Why should foot injuries be any different than a knee or shoulder injury? Think about how weak your arm gets when you have a cast on it for a month. That is what you are doing to your feet with the braces and insoles... muscle atrophy.

 

[gwl79902]

I have had it to and there is hope at the end of the tunnel. I did the insole no bare foot thing and it helped but did not cure it. If I have it again
I will do keep off it as much as possible wear insoles and ice it untill I think it is healed. Then I would slowly start strengthening my feet. For me
I find minalmist shoes are critical. I streach a lot. I do insanity and p90 workouts bare footed. I run in flxable shoes. I try to streach my arches when I walk.

My point is what works for me is once the ligaments are healed I needed to gain strenth back in my feet. I also do a lot of one leg standing excerises. This seems to work well for me. Everyone is different and this may not work for you.

In short I agree with Poser

 

[Poser]

I recently read an excellent and fascinating book called The Story of the Human Body: Evolution, Health & Disease by Daniel Lieberman, professor of Human evolution and Biology at Harvard. He's dome a considerable amount of research on this topic, some of which you can read here: http://www.barefootrunning.fas.harvard.edu/

In the book, in a chapter titled "The Hidden Dangers of Novelty and Comfort", he delves into PF in relation to shoes.

"Some people's genes may predispose them to getting flat feet, but the problem is mostly caused by weak foot muscles, which otherwise help create and maintain the shape of the arch."

"Another related and common problem that may occur from wearing shoes is plantar fasciitis. PF has multiple causes, but one way it develops is when the muscles of the foot's arch become weak and the fascia has to compensate for those weak muscles that are unable to maintain the arch. The fascia is not well designed for this much stress and becomes painfully inflamed."

"Strong, flexible feet are healthy feet, but instead of strengthening their patients feet, many podiatrists prescribe orthotics and advise patients to wear comfortable shoes with arch support and stiff soles. These treatments do effectively relieve the symptoms of flat feet and PF, but if their use is not discontinued they can create a pernicious feedback loop because they don't prevent the problem from occurring and instead eventually allow the muscles of the foot to become even weaker"

http://www.amazon.com/The-Story-Human-Body-Evolution/dp/030774180X

 

[GibsonKuenzi]

Dont want to change the subject here, but what is good advice on preventing PF?