The Plantar Fasciitis Community Will Help
PF rears it's ugly head. again.
I have PF and thought it was under control after ALL remedies other than surgery and accupuncture. (going on 1 year now). A heavy dose of anti-inflamitories followed by cortizone injection finally seemed like a "cure."
I tri-train, and run about 3-6 miles, 3 days a week. Today I did a little hill work. Not too much though. That's the only change in my normal workout, but today after 1/2 hour of gettng home I HURT. The usual spot...where the PF attaches to the heal.
This was PAIN. I was limping around all night at work while on second-trick (shift)
This may sound crazy, but I can feel my pulse in the area that it hurts. Anyone else had that happen?
Any thought? Snake oil salesmen, no comments please. :) Will wear boots to bed and see how tomorrow AM goes...
~Chad
Views: 88
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Kim on -
Hey Chad,
I'm a triathlete as well, and have struggled with PF for years. I had surgery on April 13th. I've obviously been seeing my doctor for various follow-ups. During one of our visits, she talked about the connection between the archilles tendon and calf muscles as well as the hamstrings to the planter fascia ligament.
She told me that when she goes into "release" the planters fascia, she also checks the calf muscles and the achilles to see if they need to be released as well. If they are "tight" that means they are "short"..... meaning essentially a tight PF can result in tight calf muscles and tight achilles. If your calf is short, odds are your hamstrings will tend to be tight.
Hill work-outs/ hill repeats/ sprinting all stretch your hamstrings, which in turn, stretch the calf, achilles and the planter fascia.
I'd back off the running for a few days (I know it's hard). Hit the anti-inflams or get another cortizone shot? Then rest/ice and stretch (gently).
Sorry....I know what a pain this is.
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Permalink Reply by Kim on
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BTW, I found the best way to ice is to get a plastic trash can, fill with cold water and some ice cubes (not too many or you won't be able to tolerate). This way you can get your entire foot and half way up the calf, nice and cold for about 20 minutes. Then elevate your foot and rest. Reapeat an hour or so later.
You might also consider investing in a pair of night splints. Night splints keep your foot at almost a 90 degree angle while you sleep. When you lay down, your planters fascia is in the shortened position, most of the healing takes place at night. That is why you feel the intense pull in the morning when you get up. Repeatedly doing this increases scar tissue, which will make the PF harder to get rid of.
I would suggest ordering night splints today. It takes a bit to get used to it, but of all the conservative treatments, the splints helped me the most
Amazon.com: FREEDOM® Dorsal PF Night Splint, Medium: Health & P...
This is the style I have liked the best. I would wear them whether you have pain or not as long as you are running. Stretch your foot with a belt or strap when you first get to bed, and before you get up in the morning.
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Permalink Reply by Chad Moll on -
Thanks. I have done all of the above, but usually only iced for 3-5 min. I was talking to an ortho nurse last night at my sons ball game. She said that is a relatively new procedure called "platelet rich plasma" (PRP) that spins out the healing platelets in your own blood, then it is reinjected in your PF problem area to heal the PF. She said you are usually off work in a boot for several weeks to allow a full heel (heal....pun :). It is not a band-aid fix... as long as you identify the source of the orig problem, it is supposed to be a fix. Not all pod Dr's do this though. it's pretty new from what I've read. reserarch it... looks hopeful.
BTW, thanks for the hamstring suggestion. After shortening my stride several years ago, tighter hamstrings would seem a logical collateral damage. WIll focus on those stretches and see how it goes. This AM it felt fine. Go figure. Maybe the garlic and cross above my bed kept the PF gremlins away. :)
Gonna stick to easy miles on the bike this week and see how it goes. I have several sprints jun/jul and an olympic in aug that I was shooting for. Time will tell...
getting old sux. turned 40 this year.
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Permalink Reply by Chad Moll on
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Chad Moll said:Thanks. I have done all of the above, but usually only iced for 3-5 min. I was talking to an ortho nurse last night at my sons ball game. She said that is a relatively new procedure called "platelet rich plasma" (PRP) that spins out the healing platelets in your own blood, then it is reinjected in your PF problem area to heal the PF. She said you are usually off work in a boot for several weeks to allow a full heel (heal....pun :). It is not a band-aid fix... as long as you identify the source of the orig problem, it is supposed to be a fix. Not all pod Dr's do this though. it's pretty new from what I've read. reserarch it... looks hopeful.
BTW, thanks for the hamstring suggestion. After shortening my stride several years ago, tighter hamstrings would seem a logical collateral damage. WIll focus on those stretches and see how it goes. This AM it felt fine. Go figure. Maybe the garlic and cross above my bed kept the PF gremlins away. :)
Gonna stick to easy miles on the bike this week and see how it goes. I have several sprints jun/jul and an olympic in aug that I was shooting for. Time will tell...
getting old sux. turned 40 this year.
http://www.podiatrytoday.com/platelet-rich-plasma-can-it-have-an-im...
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Permalink Reply by Brenda Bensema on -
Hi Chad: I just posted this (below) and wanted to share it with you. I tried stretches, icing, etc...pretty much everything I could find short of injections or surgery. I think the key to this device is that it gently stretches the hamstring and calf muscles all night long. If it works for you, please pass it on to others. I'd also be interested in knowing if it doesn't work. I was on the "Couch to 5k" program when I ran into bad problems. I'm thinking about trying the program again this year and I'm 52 (hehe).
"I dealt with PF for nearly 18 months and gave up walking/jogging, golfing, etc. I had very good shoes, but still after a day at work I was in pain. You all know what I'm talking about. The pain in the heel area that seems to move around and you're hardly able to walk when you first get out of a chair, worse yet when you get out of bed in the morning.
I found what I consider a miracle cure in Walgreens. It is the ACE Brand Plantar Faciitis Sleep Support. I had purchased a couple of other supports online, but they were a total waste of money because the cloth bands would slide down the ankle and not support the foot throughout the night. The ACE product is plastic on top, so it stays in place and has two wide velcro bands that are completely comfortable and adjustable.
The results were miraculous! (I'm not exaggerating) I think it took only about 2 weeks to be pain free. I stopped using it completely after a month and now only use on a very rare event that I start to feel a bit of discomfort. It's been several months now...but I've sort of made it my mission to pass this on to others since it was such a good product for me. I think it cost around $35-40 and I actually bought two as both heels were bothering me some. The other added benefit was that I experience minor lower back ache after some activities and that went away too.
I HOPE THIS WORKS AS WELL FOR YOU!!!"
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