Plantar Fasciitis

[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

[Pedal Wench]

.....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

Wow. I wore Keens everyday this summer. Same pair, forever. When I went to NY for Thanksgiving, broke out my old Danskos for the colder weather. By the time I got back home, I had to change out of the Danskos just to get out of the airport. I wonder if that's what did it!!! *written while icing foot, which will be followed by stretches and more icing tonight!*

[PamNY]

+1 on identifying problem shoes. That's what caused my problem. Good luck.

[pll]

I swear by this roller/log: http://www.roadrunnersports.com/rrs/products/FOL001/

I keep it at hand (or should I say "at foot"?) all the time, under the sofa. I dealt with PF nearly 10 years ago, for about 18 months. Luckily, I have not had it again.

[Wasp]

Wow. I wore Keens everyday this summer. Same pair, forever. When I went to NY for Thanksgiving, broke out my old Danskos for the colder weather. By the time I got back home, I had to change out of the Danskos just to get out of the airport. I wonder if that's what did it!!! *written while icing foot, which will be followed by stretches and more icing tonight!*

i ended up with PF a few yrs ago, and im pretty sure it was caused by the Dansko clogs i wore to work, the sole is so stiff that the clog does not let your foot bend naturally (the pair i had didnt).
I would apply ice packs to the bottom of my feet as often as possible. For work, i would take a second pair of shoes and put them in the freezer at the beginning of my shift and swap the shoes every couple hrs. Applying Ibuprofen based cream to the bottom of feet helped a bit.
Now im super picky with what i put on my feet. I own 8-9 pair of Noat shoes....worth every penny! Munro also makes good shoes.

[Kerry1976]

I have had it for 13 months and still struggling. However, you have been given really good advice and I hope you find relief soon.

[pll]

Indeed! You will recover. For me, the last tiny bit of pain went away went I started jogging again. I went through physical therapy, some anti inflammatory medication delivered with iontophoreis, icing, taping my feet, night splints, etc -- at some point, the pain was so bad, I could not walk 2 blocks... I'd literally take a cab at that point. After 18 months, I still had some residual pain, but I started jogging very gradually: 10 min three times a week for a couple of weeks, 15 minutes, 20 minutes... + walking and thorough stretching afterwards and again later in the day. I also stretched first thing in the morning, right out of bed. I also used the log I linked in an earlier post, every evening.

For about a year after the worst of the pain was over, I'd get pain if I was on my feet several hours. I am still careful about the shoes I use for walking (sometimes even between buildings at work), but I can use heels at work. For walking and jogging, I always have some arch support. My favorite insoles are Powerstep Pinnacle ones (esoles on the cycling shoes). Superfeet just do not have enough of an arch for me. In the summer, I walk with Chaco sandals, following recommendations I read in this forum. I use the sandals with the toe loop. Once in the office, I change into dressier shoes.

[OakLeaf]

Just because my acupuncture doctor has my shoulders all taped up at the moment, I googled "kinesio tape plantar fasciitis," and there are lots of resources online about how to tape, including this (video) from KT Tape. There are a few variations, so you might look at several and even try different methods. Kinesio Tape has a pre-cut foot fan.

Don't know anything about it, don't know anyone who's tried it for PF, might help.

[OakLeaf]

Here's what Danny Dreyer, founder of Chi Running, has to say about PF. Not much that hasn't already been said in this thread, but he pulls it all together in a way that makes it easy to understand.

Also ... since I'm getting acupuncture for my spinal and thoracic outlet injuries ... and as I mentioned my usual attitude toward healing pain is "please sir, may I have some more" ... but I hadn't mentioned PF to my DOM since the thought of acupuncture needles in my PF was just too painful to contemplate. (For those who haven't had acupuncture, mostly you don't even feel them going in, unless you feel the surrounding tissues respond in a non-painful way, but hands, wrists, ankles and feet - where the soft tissue is thin and there are a lot of nerve endings - can be sensitive.)

Well, I bothered to google, and it turns out that the typical acupuncture points for PF aren't in the PF at all, but in the calves and more general systems points. So I AM going to ask him to treat it on my next appointment. Lots of results on google for acupuncture for PF, too.


Apropos of not much, but very interesting, I asked my DOM why he thought so many acupuncture doctors are ex-engineers. (LOTS of them, including both of mine.) His speculation was that "engineers are systems oriented," which I thought was a very insightful answer. Unlike the reductionist approach taken in so much of north/western medicine, engineers understand that you can't tear down a part of something to rebuild another part of it, without having the whole structure fall apart ... you have to repair the whole bridge, so to speak.