Red Cross (Injured Souls) Thread

[Selkie]

I have PF, according to my orthopedist. The good news is that my ankle is sound (x-ray) and healthy. No bone spur. And the dr. was surprised at the good ROM in my foot (dorsiflexion?). All that lower leg stretching that I did after my ankle injury last summer has really helped.

I start PT next Tuesday.

Doctor said that research has shown that wearing insoles with arch supports (i.e., Superfeet) has been proven to be effective in reducing/eliminating PF.

More good news: I can still do low impact things---swimming, biking, elliptical, walking on treadmill, etc. I'll ride on the trainer, swim & maybe pull out my Powerstrike DVDs (kickboxing), but I'm limiting my walking to only that which is necessary. At least until the pain subsides some. It's insidious. In addition to PT and the Superfeet, he prescribed icing 4x/day and OTC Aleve. I have a frozen bottle or water in the fridge to use for ice massages!

I'm mentally prepared for a long recovery. I just want this to get better & not come back. Ever. I can walk ok, no limping, but it hurts like a *****, particularly when I get up after resting/sleeping.

I might dig out my Strassberg sock and start wearing it to bed again.

Anyone else suffer from this and successfully conquer it? I dug up Wahine's old thread on it and printed it out. Thank you, Wahine.

[Tri Girl]

I had a BAD case of it about 5 years ago. PT, infrared heat therapy, that darn sock , rolling my foot on frozen water bottles and tennis balls and custom orthotics all helped cure it. And it hasn't returned. Thankfully.
My friend went into a cast for 8 weeks (instead of undergoing surgery because hers was so bad) and she's not had a lick of trouble since.
That PF is a crazy little bugger!!

Hope everything works out for you. I'm back to running and doing everything I used to. You'll be back in no time!!

[roadie gal]

I had it a few years ago. I did the Strassburg sock at night, rolled my foot on a tennis ball, did the stretches and taped my foot. Honestly, I think taping my foot did the most good. It took about 4 months for it to go away, but I haven't had a problem since.

If you're interested, ask your PT or do a search for "PF foot taping".

[pll]

Argh. PF!! I had it years ago, and I struggled with it for about 18 months. That's when I bought my first bike, as walking to work was impossible many days. I tried everything: splints at night, taping, some PT where they put some medication and electrodes (?) -- I cannot remember what it was.

Anyway, it was persistent and, for me, insoles and massaging with a foot log worked best. The last traces of pain went away when I resumed running (with insoles), which I did very gradually. First time: walked 15 min, ran 5 min, walked 15 min, stretched and massaged after that and again at night. I built up the running very slowly.

I tried Superfeet, but prefer Powerstep insoles on my running shoes and other sneakers. I still use them. For dressy flat shoes, I found Birkenstock half insoles helped -- I no longer use them and heels are fine now. And to this day, I have a foot log under my sofa, ready for a few minutes of use.

Here are the links to the things I mentioned:

• Powerstep insoles
• Foot log:
• Birkenstock insoles

ETA: Remembered the name of the treatment with the electrodes: iontophoresis. I did not notice any improvement from it.

[spokewench]

Had - always need to keep an eye on it; keep stretching to make sure calves are not too tight; this seems to trigger in me. I play tennis so this is a very prevalent injury.

I did all those things, ice, stretching, etc., etc. never did the sock or boot in bed; but finally had to do PT and I think that helped and finally got me over the last little bit.

[Crankin]

I had it about 25 years ago, from teaching aerobics on a concrete floor. I had custom orthotics made for my aerobics shoes and I believe some ultra sound and electric stim therapy in water. Also did the icing.
It never came back.

[Pax]

Had it bad off and on for several years, it finally cleared up by religiously wearing insoles and NEVER going barefoot, not even to the bathroom at night. Every once in a while I'll allow myself to think it's gone forever and wear some cute shoe with no support... and the cycle begins again.

[Selkie]

Thanks, everyone, for providing such great information! Best of all, for the encouragement! Knowing that it can be managed (hopefully, eliminated) and that I can run again is the best news.

The Strassburg Sock is heaven sent! Wore it last night and what a difference. Got up this morning and wasn't hobbled by the pain.

[ny biker]

What is PF?

[OakLeaf]

I just want to add a note of caution based on my own experience with Achilles tendinitis, plus plantar fascia that used to be just full of trigger points - so, related, but not the same thing. Large grain of salt both because of that and because I'm not an expert of any kind...

Rest is good to heal the acute injury. Not so much in the long term. What's been key for me in preventing the AT and trigger points from coming back is ditching the orthotics and going barefoot or minimal as much as possible - then also the PT did manual mobilization on my foot and ankle joints that were absolutely rigid from years of orthotics, and besides the myofascial release and stretching that everyone has mentioned, doing targeted foot and ankle strengthening exercises.

One exercise that gets a lot of mention for PF that I haven't seen yet in this thread, is using your toes to skrunch up a towel and then extend it again. And in the spirit of bringing healthy movement into everyday life, rather than limiting it to discrete periods of "exercise" - as much as I can, with shoes or not, I focus on the idea of standing on "four corners of my feet" that we learned in yoga. Try to keep your weight equally in the heads of the first and fifth metatarsals and both sides of your heels, and lift all three arches - that takes hip stabilizer as well as foot muscles.

Anyone who's ever broken a bone knows what happens not only to your muscles, but especially to your connective tissues and tendons, when you're in a cast. Rigid orthotics are just a cast for your feet. Sometimes necessary for short term healing, but just be really careful about relying on them long term. I wound up causing myself a lot of problems with mine.

[pll]

What is PF?

Plantar fasciitis.. an inflammation of the tissues that attach to the heel in the bottom of your foot. It hurts when you get up in the morning, even more when you walk.

[GLC1968]

I'd like to ditto what Oakleaf has said.

I used to have custom orthotics to 'correct' for flat feet which my previous podiatrist thought was the cause of my foot pain. The orthotics made it possible for me to continue with my activities (at the time, tennis and step aerobics), but they never allowed me to really heal. My flat feet were not the problem either, but that's besides the point for this post.

Fast forward a year or so and the next time I got heavily into activity, (step aerobics again and weight lifting and some running) I continued to use the orthotics. Then I started to have PF pain. I self-diagnosed and basically did a lot of stretching and limited my activity. I was able to manage it and it never got debilitating. Mornings sucked though.

Then I bought a road bike and pretty much immediately stopped doing ANY impact sports for about 5 - 6 years. When I decided to get into triathlon a couple of years ago, I ended up ditching the orthotics (they were old anyway) and worked on barefoot for the running and previous foot troubles. My new podiatrist confirmed my thoughts and suggested more of the same AND a change in my everyday footwear as well. I never actually gave any thought to the PF issues, though. Now it's three years later and I never saw even the slightest twinge of PF pain even though I ramped my running from none to half-marathon distances. I strongly believe in barefoot training to strengthen the foot as an excellent aid in over-use injury prevention.

The best part? I loved how good my feet would feel after a full day of hiking with a heavy pack while everyone else was moaning and complaining. My strong feet made me so happy!

(and yes, I'm annoyed that I'll be starting from well below zero on my right foot...but I'll get there again some day...)

[Sky King]

not PF, but my ongoing achilles issues drove me to deep water aerobics this spring and it really helped rehab my entire leg (knee, tendon, broken foot) I notice a huge difference on the bike as well so am one happy rider. I go back on forth on shoes, no shoes, orthodics, no orthodics so enjoy reading this thread.
Best of luck, may you heal quickly and don't forget to stand on that tennis ball!

[Selkie]

I had been wearing VFFs, just around the house and not for running. Last summer, running in VFFs and not being attentive to tight calves brought on ankle tendonitis & what I now suspect was PF in my now-uninjured foot/lower leg. I'm not anti-barefoot--just not sure it's the answer in my case--and I appreciate hearing about what helped you. :-)

It's probably a matter of your personal biomechanics (I have body alignment issues, a functionally short right leg, and am noticeably stronger on my right side). The superfeet inserts have helped a lot, as has the icing, stretching, and Strassburg sock. Yesterday was the first day in a week when I didn't want to chop off my right foot, walking to my car after work (it's a decent schlep, since I don't rate a reserved space!).

We'll see what the PT says today.