Plantar Fasciitis

[Pedal Wench]

Just diagnosed with it, been doing PT and stretching for two weeks now and it still hurts. Been riding a little bit, but need to really get back into training. Been avoiding bare feet, have inserts in all my shoes - including my cycling shoes. Anyone have any tips or hints to get this gone quickly???

[spokewench]

freeze a round bottle and ice your feet - look up on internet stretches for plantar fasciitis; they consist of stretching lower calves and that area. That gets tight and it pulls on your arch area

[OakLeaf]

Trigger point work, trigger point work, trigger point work. It will hurt like crazy, worse than your ITBs ever felt on the foam roller, but you'll be able to tell it's that same good hurt, and it should start giving you relief pretty quickly. Whenever you're standing or sitting, roll your feet out on a spiky ball or stick; if you have anywhere you can walk barefoot on gravel this time of year, or if you can bring a box of gravel into the house, do it for a few minutes each day.

The other thing that really helps my Achilles - very closely related - is barefoot single leg calf raises. If you need support starting out, do NOT hold tightly to anything since the point of the exercise is to strengthen the stabilizing muscles and align the feet and ankles. Just rest your fingertips lightly on a wall, chair back, etc., and experiment with doing them no hands, until you can do two sets of 15 on each leg without hanging on. Go as high up on the balls of your feet as you can. Then immediately stretch out the calves, both gastroc and soleus. If you have a varus or valgus heel, use a little wedge to align your foot while you stretch. (A rubber door stop works ... or stretching in a door frame between rooms where the carpet is of different thickness.) Whenever my Achilles or plantar fascia start acting up, I double down on those exercises and it works them right out.

Another highly recommended exercise (that I personally usually neglect ) is putting the edge of a towel under your toes, then use your toes to skrunch up the towel toward you and then extend it back out away from you.


Along the lines of the night splint (which only give me very temporary relief and I don't even bother with them any more), make sure to un-tuck the sheets on your bed, so that your sheets and blankets aren't forcing you to plantar flex while you sleep.

[Pedal Wench]

Thanks for all these great ideas! I'm doing all the stretches the PT suggested, and I'll add these to the repertoire. I was told that walking barefooted was bad - but is walking on gravel recommended? What about sand? (I'm in Miami, afterall...)

[Selkie]

First and foremost, I am so sorry. I had it over the summer and it took a good two or three months for it to heal. Be patient---you will get better. You should be able to ride your bike and do low impact stuff while you're getting better. Swim (so says the swimming addict, haha. Seriously, it does help). Or aqua jog.

Wearing a night brace helped me tremendously, especially with the horrible first steps after sleep pain. Forget the Strassburg sock--it will pull too much on your big toe. In any event, Road Runner Sports sells a decent brace online (worth every penny of the cost).

Proceed cautiously and don't do any foot/lower leg strengthening work until the PT thinks you're ready. I had major setbacks when an inexperienced PT had me doing barefoot balance work on a foam pad too soon. Stretching helps a lot, icing it as well (bucket filled w/ice water suffices nicely). Agree the massage will help it heal faster as well. I've found some good tips at a heelsspurs.com or .org (can't remember which). In addition, Wahine posted a thread on it, so if you search, you'll find her tips.

You might need to stick with having decent insoles in your shoes (work, sneakers, etc). Superfeet worked great for me. In addition, Birkenstocks and Naot make supportive shoes that don't require the insole. Naot has some work-friendly styles and so comfortable.

Best wishes for a fast recovery!!

[Crankin]

+1 on the Naot shoes.
I had PF about 25 years ago. One treatment I had, that hasn't been mentioned, was ultrasound/massage, when my foot was in some kind of small whirlpool and the ultrasound waves were sent through the water. Perhaps they don't do this anymore, but it helped a lot. I also did the stretches and got custom orthotics for my aerobics shoes, which were the source of the issue (more like teaching 7 classes a week on concrete floors, covered by carpet). I have never had another incident.

[OakLeaf]

Thanks for all these great ideas! I'm doing all the stretches the PT suggested, and I'll add these to the repertoire. I was told that walking barefooted was bad - but is walking on gravel recommended? What about sand? (I'm in Miami, afterall...)

Barefoot on gravel just to work out the knots in the fascia, not for any long period of time. I don't think I'd be walking on sand just yet if I were you - not even in shoes.

[katluvr]

All are great ideas/suggestions. I still have a "touch" of PF that does flare from time to time. But what worked the best for me is that I mostly wear barefoot style shoes for all walking. I went to 4mm heel drop on my running shoes and identified that the danskos I wore to work were probably what was aggrevating it and switch to a lower heel drop shoe. I am better. I am a poor stretcher but do try to work on my calves. Again, see if there are a certain pair of shoes that may be aggrevating/contributing. Just my 2 cents worth.

K