Treating Plantar Fascitis: Any Success Stories?

[Beauty is Only]

I have been performing a basketball-based workout regimen relatively consistently for about 2 1/2 years. I enjoy it and my enjoyment of it helps me to keep at it. The problem is it involves a lot of 'high impact' on my feet and legs. This has resulted in a pretty persistent case of plantar fascitis (also known as 'heel spurs').

Does anyone else fight this condition? If so, what treatments have been most effective for you? I had been doing some stretches (towel across the toes, lowering heels on a stair, standing calf stretch, etc.) with some relief, but I've also read those stretches are potentially harmful. I saw a website today for a device known as 'the foot trainer' which contained some glowing testimonials. Can anyone testify to its effectiveness?

Any advice would be appreciated.

[Dan T.]

Two things can help.

One, before you get out of bed in the morning, do some stretching by pointing your toes up toward your shins as far as you can. Do a couple on each side, and hold the stretch for 10 seconds or so.

Two, to help alleviate the pain, put a water bottle in the freezer. In the evening as you're watching TV or whatever, put the frozen water bottle on the floor and roll the bottom of your foot over the water bottle back and forth. Put a little bit of pressure on it. The cold and the stretching of your foot helps with the pain.

Good luck.

[mardi gras skin]

Stretching took care of it for me. That or it just went away on its own.

[ZoEd]

Almost 20 years of combat boots and PT took it's toll on my feet. I had heel spurs so bad I could barely walk in the morning, felt like my feet were breaking with every step.

Went to the foot doc, did the stretches and nothing really gave me relief. So, Doc took some molds of my feet and got me some orthodics and suggested I get better shoes. I went to a local shoe store and they recorded me running barefoot on a treadmill which allowed them to choose the right shoes for my feet.

Since then my feet have been fine. No more heel spurs and my shin splints have went bye bye as well.

[Corcaigh]

http://petemagill.blogspot.com/2009/02/petes-home-remedies-plantar-fasciitis.html

http://petemagill.blogspot.com/2009/03/morning-read-simple-cure-for-one-heel.html

[Kosher Ham]

It definitely stopped me from playing basketball 3 nights a week. I play now maybe once or twice a year, and barely do anymore jumping or stuff like that.

It used to hurt so bad it was unbearable. I started wearing better shoes and it has not been a serious problem since, but again, I rarely play ball anymore.

[Beauty is Only]

Corcaigh--thanks for the links. I'll get to work on this regimen in the very near future. Thanks, all, for your input. I don't know why I haven't taken advantage of this board in the past for other questions I've had. This could be the start of more regular questioning of this online community.

[Oldskool]

Stretching of the muscle helps. So does proper footware and not walking barefoot on hard surfaces such as a tile floor in your house.

[Slateman]

Heal spurs? WTH is this?

[Skinz4Life12]

sit on the couch and roll your feet and heels over golf balls.

[Wingman44]

I had plantar fascitis a few years ago, and I purchased this semi-boot like contraption that I would wear to bed. It wrapped around half of my foot and my ankle and the result was it forced my foot to remain at a right angle while i slept. In about 3 months, the plantar fascitis went away and I have never had any trouble since. It wasn't the most comfortable thing to wear at first, but it was worth it in the long run.

[mardi gras skin]

Stretching of the muscle helps. So does proper footware and not walking barefoot on hard surfaces such as a tile floor in your house.

Yeah, I was told flip flops make it worse.

I still wear them.

[Corcaigh]

Yeah, I was told flip flops make it worse.

I still wear them.

If you don't have PF, bare feet or flip flops won't be an issue. But if you do have it, treating it is the first step; stretching before you get out of bed and giving it the support it needs will help you recover faster.

By the time you've hobbled a few yards in base feet in the morning from the bed to the bathroom you've already added to the damage.

[Jeeb]

mine just sort of stopped one day

[jrockster21]

Do what Big Joe Salave'a did, and operate on it yourself. Man up!

[SkinsTerps26]

yes.

a chiropractor or physical therapist who performs soft tissue technique called Graston. Its a simple myofascial release using these beveled tools.

Telling you i've seen dozens of people get better from this in like 3-6 weeks time.

[81artmonk]

I had plantar fascitis a few years ago, and I purchased this semi-boot like contraption that I would wear to bed. It wrapped around half of my foot and my ankle and the result was it forced my foot to remain at a right angle while i slept. In about 3 months, the plantar fascitis went away and I have never had any trouble since. It wasn't the most comfortable thing to wear at first, but it was worth it in the long run.

Yeah my wife has it, and the doctor had her stretch and other things. However she still has it. She's looking into that boot thingy you are talking about. Hopefully it will work for her too.

thanks

[skinfan133]

what about necrotizing fascitis?

[DeanCollins]

Yeah, I was told flip flops make it worse.

I still wear them.

I believe that this is cause of most cases. For me it was boating shoes or other loafers with not a lot of support. You need lace up shoes or tennis shoes. When I get (about every couple years when I forget) It takes about 2 months of wearing well fitting tennis shoes tied snugly. I got one of these purpose made rollers to rool under my foot. You know it's getting better when doesn't hurt to do it.

[Oldskool]

Yeah, I was told flip flops make it worse.

I still wear them.

Flip flops won't do anything but cause the condition to get worse, if you wear them on a daily basis. But if you can manage the pain, by all means.

[wysknz1]

stand on the edge of stairs with your toes on and heels off. Slowly and carefully lower the heels then lifting back up with the toes. stretches the acilles tendon.

Also, sad to say GOOD orthodics. Not those crummy Dr Shoals things. Go to a real pediotrist. They can fit you with real supports. don't wear sandles, flip flops or anything with a flat soles.

I've also heard going barefoot more helps.

[mardi gras skin]

Flip flops won't do anything but cause the condition to get worse, if you wear them on a daily basis. But if you can manage the pain, by all means.

My feet are fine now. They got bad one fall a few years ago when it was time to switch back over to shoes anyway. I just wore good shoes tied tight and stretched a lot. I was over it in about a month.

I haven't had a problem since then. I couldn't imagine giving up my flip flops in warm weather. That would be tragic.

[Special K]

You can talk to your physician about a cortisone injection. I've been told it hurts like heck, but I've seen it help a lot of patients.

EDIT: And always wear proper-fitting shoes...don't walk around barefoot, flip-flops, etc.

[da#1skinsfan]

Bringing this back to the top - stretching doesnt seem to be working well for me. I am looking into accupuncture which supposedly has some good results. What are you folks doing to treat this? It sucks, havent been to the gym and need to go!

[Corcaigh]

There are many different ways to stop the pain. And many remedies that may or may not work, including botox injection, surgery and more.

Wearing the boot while sleeping seems to help many, along with doing the foot exercises. The bottom line is that PF develops when your feet aren't working properly. You need to make your feet stronger, or else it will keep coming back, and worse.

The article in the original link I posted has gone, but here's the text:

From March until August of 2005, I kept a crutch at my bedside. That way, when I woke up in the morning, I didn't have to crawl to the bathroom. Plantar fasciitis is nasty, and it's a bane of us older runners.

The plantar fascia runs from our heel, along our arch, to our toes. Plantar fasciitis can be felt as pain in the heel (often mistaken in the early stages for a heel bruise), as pain where the heel meets the arch, or as pain along the arch - or even throughout the foot. And left untreated, it can linger for months ... or years.

Not sure if you've got it? Okay, here's what you do. Take your opposite thumb to the inside front part of the heel - right where it begins to slope into the arch - and dig in hard. If your scream wakes the neighbors, congratulations, you've got PF.

OKAY, STOP RIGHT HERE: If your PF pain came on suddenly during a very recent run, you need to stop running right now. Forget about the exercises below. Take a week off. Or two. If you've got a tear, you don't want to risk injuring it further. Because trust me, this is one injury that just won't go away!

If you're still reading this, then I'm guessing that means you've had your PF for awhile. I had mine for two years. Raise your hand if you tried rolling your foot over a golf ball? Over a ice cold can of Coke? If you wore a "night sock" to keep the fascia stretched? If you tried taping? And RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation)? And anti-inflammatories? And prayer? ... And when prayer didn't work - cussing? Because I tried it all. And none of it worked. And I decided, forget it, I don't need this!, and I threw my running shoes in the trash - hadn't used them for months anyway. Sheesh, after all that time off, my legs probably wouldn't work right anymore anyway ...

And that's when it came to me, right then, like a bolt of lightning: maybe my plantar fasciitis isn't an injury, maybe it's a symptom of a foot, ankle, and lower leg that simply aren't working properly. I did a little research, cobbled together the simple exercises you're about to review, and I was running 7 days a week the very next week.

And it wasn't just me. I passed on the exercises to Rich Burns (see his Event Training entry for 1500 meters on this blog), who had terrible PF. And they worked for him. And when Tom Dalton, a 5-time USATF Masters X-Country Runner of the Year complained about his PF, well, the exercises did the trick for him too. All in all, I've been teaching these exercises as a cure for PF for 3-1/2 years now. About 50% of the people I've taught had a full recovery. Another 25% got some relief from the pain. And the final 25% got nothing - sorry.

Here's hoping you'll be in that 50% ...

EXERCISE 1: TOWEL TOE CURLS

1. Sit barefooted in a chair with a towel spread on the floor in front of you (like David Olds in the photo at the right).

2. Using your toes, drag the towel toward you, arching your foot until you've reeled in the entire towel (just slide the towel behind your heels as it bunches beneath your arch).

3. Do the whole towel 2 or 3 times.

Hint: Remember that this isn't a competition! Don't curl too hard or too fast. Also, setting a shoe on the far end of the towel prevents the towel from rebounding with each toe curl.

EXERCISE 2: FOOT ORBITS, FOOT GAS PEDALS, & FOOT ALPHABET

1. Use 1 of the 2 positions modeled by masters runner Grace Padilla. Either lie on the floor, one leg flat, toes pointed up, with the opposite leg raised, bent 90 degrees at the knee (and propped by your hands). Or else lie with one knee bent, foot flat on the floor, and the other knee drawn towards you and held just below the kneecap.

2. Perform 1 or 2 of these 3 exercises:

Foot Orbits - Rotate each foot clockwise and then counterclockwise 20-30 times.

Foot Gas Pedals - Point and flex each foot 20-30 times.

Foot Alphabet - Draw the letters of the alphabet with each foot.

Hint: Hold the knee immobile. Limit motion to the ankle and foot.

EXERCISE 3: BEACH TOWEL CALVES

1. Lying on your back with one knee bent, foot flat on the floor, and the other leg raised and straightened with thighs parallel, hook a rolled beach towel around your forefoot and gently pull back your toes.

2. Hold for 30 seconds, then repeat with the opposite leg

Hint: Flex the raised thigh for maximum release (and flexibility) in the calf. Don't force this stretch! It's about loosening the calf, not stretching it like taffy.

EXERCISE 4: BEACH TOWEL HAMSTRINGS

1. Lying on your back with one knee bent, foot flat on the floor, and the other knee raised and straightened, hook your rolled beach towel around your arch and pull the leg vertically, while pulling back gently on the foot.

2. Hold for 30 seconds, then repeat with the opposite leg

Hint: Only pull the raised leg to your natural - and comfortable - limit of flexibility.

And guess what? ... That's it!

Do these exercises every day after you run - before you run if you're suffering from PF right now and need some relief just to get out the door. And do them every day for a couple weeks. And then make them part of your regular post-run routine.