Plantar Fasciitis and Running

[nj_likes]

Hi all,

I've been trying to go from walking to running, but I'm curious about some heel pain that I've been having lately. A brief web search makes me wonder if it may be Plantar Fasciitis (the pain is mostly in the mornings, the pain started a few weeks after giving birth to my daughter, and I've been barefoot a lot more lately). It seems to flare up when I'm really tired.

It's not a huge problem most of the time, but I'm wondering if taking up running would help or hurt the situation? The goal of the increased exercise is to improve my health by losing some fat (which, I would think, would take pressure off of the feet). Proper running shoes should support the feet so I'm not creating any "damage" to the heel, right?

I suppose I ought to see a podiatrist, but my schedule is a bit hectic lately (I'm taking a break from cleaning the house at midnight to post this!). I'd appreciate your thoughts!

[Wahine]

I tried to write a pretty comprehensive text on this issue a year or two back.

Here's the link.

[OakLeaf]

I'd just add my own (uneducated) experience to Wahine's excellent advice. My heel pain is a little higher up - the kind that masquerades as Achilles tendinitis rather than plantar fasciitis. Mine is all about trigger points in the calves. No amount of stretching or good form will make them go away. I have to work on them directly, and it's tough because they're SO deep and ingrained. But I hold out hope that one day I'll have them all worked out...

[Reesha]

There are those funny looking plantar fasciitis socks you can get to sleep in. I've seen them at running stores.

I have also been told that running barefoot or with Vibram five fingers really helps

[silver]

Please discount my reply because I work for a chiropractor.

We successfully treat lots of folks with PF. There are several therapies that are useful....I'm sure Wahine can explain them better than me....I just work the front desk. there's ART (Active Release Therapy) (the DC that I work for is not a "licensed" ART (little trademark thingie) therapist. But he does a manual therapy that is essentually the same. its a deep tissue massage while moving the muscle/tendon/fascia through it's range of motion (kindergarten explanation). also, muscle stimulation combined with ultrasound is very helpful.

the thing with PF is to not let it go on.....get treatment early. it can be a bear to get over and seems the longer it goes on, the longer it takes to get better. the way it was explained to me is that it would probably get better on it's own, if you gave it complete rest until it was healed, but that could take months.

[witeowl]

Not really an answer to your question (but I'll say that when I had PF, my podiatrist didn't believe that I should stop running).

My recommendations: Solidly increase your intake of omega-3 fatty acids, whether through whole food or supplements. (They help reduce inflammation.) Deep massage is also good, but the golf-ball trick didn't work for me. Instead, what seemed to work is sitting in the hot tub and sticking the bottoms of my feet right against the spray jets.

DO make sure you get good running shoes, but DON'T spend money on custom orthopedic inserts. My podiatrist actually didn't recommend them, and in retrospect I think he tried to subtly steer me away from them, but he was willing to order them for me. They did nothing for me and I've heard from a number of sources that they're no better than the ones you can get from the foot care section of your pharmacy.

[spindizzy]

There are those funny looking plantar fasciitis socks you can get to sleep in. I've seen them at running stores.

It's called the Strassberg sock. I've used it and it does work, along with exercise and stretching. Just drives me nuts having my foot dosrsiflexed all night. And I hate having stuff on my feet at night. But ya' gotta' do what you gotta' do.

Snap, my husband's clinic has been doing the shockwave thing. It does work. But it also sounds very painful...

[salsabike]

Actually, I had the shock wave treatment done and it didn't hurt, AND as long as I don't spend much time going barefoot, it's pretty much gone. And I am running regularly.