Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Plantar fasciitis

I concur. The author, John Vonhof, is real nice fellow and he's always happy to help with specific questions if you email him. He also has a blog at Fixing Your Feet

Also, I'm not sure if it was mentioned above, but there is a product called the Strassburg Sock which provides tension on the area while you sleep, the theory being that some stretching or elongation of the tissue will result. I've never tried it, but have several running friends who swear by it. When I had this problem some twenty years ago, I elected for the nuclear approach of having a surgical release done. This involved wearing a boot for six weeks post-op, physical therapy, and a very long recovery period. I'm happy to see that people are getting past this using more conservative therapies nowadays.

Good luck Kent; I'm sure you'll be back hiking soon with all this great advice you've gotten!

Dave

Was cruising through Wal Mart today, saw an 'arch bandage', more like a compression tube, that was touted as relief from P. F. for less than $4.00...............steve

For the people who have had PF, did your pain get better in the winter while hiking on mostly snow? Mine does.

My experience with foot pain was similar to many others here. The cause seemed to be too much foot stress and a bad set of shoes. It was a nagging injury that I though would never go away but it did. I used heel inserts for a while and then Tylenol when I was going to be active, but tried to rest it as much as I could. Finally, it got better.

Right now, I'm dealing with the same kind of thing in my knee. Getting old isn't so bad, but the side effects are not all good.

Good luck. I know it hurts.

It’s easy to get scared and angry about plantar fasciitis (been there), but it is treatable and the sooner you get serious about dealing with it the better. I've had trouble with PF since my track&field days (too much running in spikes on a hard track). I have been researching PF for years and have seen many sports medicine and orthopedic specialists. Laura made some good points, and I should say I probably don’t have bone spurs. That's a whole other kettle of fish and I hear there's some debate on that issue. The take home message of my experience with PF is that if you’re going to expect your body to perform like an athlete’s body, then you have to treat it like an athlete’s body full time. Here's what worked for me:

Acute treatment:
-AVOID PAIN and let the inflammation subside.
-gentle stretching by pulling your foot upwards (sit down first) with your hand; pull harder with time as comfort allows. Do not cause pain.
-gentle massage (do not cause pain) with thumbs and ice cubes. Switch to gentle heat after a few days of ice treatments. Try alternating the two.
-NSAIDs. ‘Aleve’ works better for me on connective tissue, your mileage may vary.

Physical therapy: Treat much more than just the location of pain. You want to increase the flexibility and strength of the muscles and connective tissue of your calves, hamstrings, quads, shins, and of course, feet.
-Do you work at a desk or a job that keeps you sedentary? I do. Every hour or two, get up, walk around, and stretch your feet and calf muscles. I have some plastic roller things in my office now that I use for calf stretch. This is very important.
-Calf stretch: bent knee, straight knee, heel over a curb, toe up against a wall, etc. Find a variety of stretches that feel like they target tight tissue and do them 3 times daily.
-Hamstring: toe touch, right foot over left + toe touch (and reverse), seated hurdler stretch is one of the best, especially if you pull your foot back while doing it. Can’t reach your foot? You now have a goal.
-Other stretches are good for you too, but target the hamstring-calf-Achilles-arch system!!
-Return to activity slowly as comfort allows. You’ll probably notice some discomfort at first. If real pain returns, back off. Sometimes the pain can be delayed a couple days after activity so wait and see how it goes before you overdo it.
-Stay well hydrated... always good for connective tissue.
-Install heel cups or a quality foot-bed in ALL your shoes. Some people like orthotics… I hate them. I found some heel cups that I love. They have a ridge that stretches your plantar fascia as you walk/run/hike/whatever. It was uncomfortable at first but now it feels VERY good; like acupressure with every step. I LOVE THEM AND THEY ARE CHEAP! Now I can run in normal running shoes without Super-feet or orthotics again.
http://www.heel-that-pain.com/heel_seats.php

Prevention:
-Stretch often… if you are standing around waiting for something, stretch your calves. If you are reading a book, stretch your hamstrings. Stretch all the time, like it was heroine.
-Keep up the strength exercises: picking up towels, marbles, etc. with your toes. Walking on grass and/or sand barefoot. Weight lifting. Remember, do not cause pain.
-Find heel cups and/or foot-beds that work for you and use them in ALL your shoes. This may involve some trial and error.
-Avoid standing for long periods, especially in hard shoes.
-Stay well hydrated.
-Pay close attention to the status of your feet each day. Probe your plantar fascia with your fingers before bed and notice any discomfort. Your feet are your best friends and worst enemies as far as being active. Plantar fasciitis has a high morbidity, i.e. it can make you sedentary and screw with your quality of life so treating it is worth all the effort you can muster.

Just an update: I have put into motion a combination of the suggestions posted here. They have really helped, although it is not gone yet. For the first time in a long time, I feel like I am getting somewhere. It is still sensitive, but the pain is diminishing.

I bought two pair of Dr. Scholls massaging gell arch inserts

http://www.americarx.com/Products/6792.html?utm_source=1far2obo3gcl4ed&utm_medium=1cap2cb&utm_term=Dr.%2BScholls%2BInserts&utm_campaign=product


for the shoes I wear to work.... I even transfer a pair of the gel inserts to my work boots on my day off when I am out mowing the lawn and doing choirs and yardwork. I have also been wearing shoes around the house instead of walking around bare foot before and after work....a little odd but worth it.
I have also minimized extra walking and no running for now...with stretches and foot massage.

I hope to go on a small hike in April up in Big Sur and then see how it goes after that.

Thanks again for the help.

I am so glad to see this topic because my heel is fricking killing me!

I stand all day and have been doing some tree survey work on a steep hillside. I passed that duty to someone else much younger and after a week he is having problems. I've been ignoring the pain for 2 months but a week ago I finally started some treatments. I just can't rest and just got back from hiking today. Just a tip that works for me - you can still hike but stay away from extreme slopes, rough terrain etc.

What I started doing that is helping:

#1 stretching. I was in so much pain I finally had to do something. Calf stretching and the plantar stretch caused improvement within 24 hours. Plantar stretch is similar to calf stretch. Lean against a wall with your hands holding you up with one foot forward. Keep feet flat on the ground and slowly bend both knees. If you are doing it right you will feel it in your achilles area in the rear foot. Don't bounce - hold for about 10 seconds. Do these all day when you get a chance.

#2 I'm on my feet all day and bought new really good work boots last week.

#3 Anti inflamitories - I prefer Naproxen. I hate drugs but this is working. I would advise against taking these more than a few days at a time.

I still hurt but am really excited in seeing some improvement already. I'm doing Onion Valley to Whitney in 6 months. It's funny but if it wasn't for summer hiking I would have ignored this longer and I would never be motivated to lose that 10 pounds of holiday fat.

I'm going to try those heel insert things too. Anyone else have any experience with those? Oh I've been sporadic with the ice thing too but I'm going to try the hot cold thing too.

As usual you guys have great advice.

After 2 Achilles partial tears and a badly torn medial meniscus all on left leg over a 18 month period, I found that using heel lifts, such as Dr Scholl's massaging gel heel cushions helped alot. I've had no further trouble in past 2 years. I also stretch & use ice.

CMC

I was on a plane tonight to Northern New Mexico. Nothing esle to do except read my Runner's World magazine. Guess what? A article on taping yourself for plantar fasciitis! Here's the link to the article and a brief video: http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-241-286--13017-0,00.html

Good advice so far, but thought I'd throw in what worked well for me: regular Pilates workouts with a knowledgeable instructor. The footwork done on the Pilates reformer, with precise alignment (that's where it helps to have a really qualified instructor), strengthened my feet really quickly and helped me develop better movement patterns. Within a month of regular sessions (2-3 times per week), I was able to run and cross-country ski again, even trained for a 50K foot-pain free.
Yoga has also helped me keep my feet strong and stretched. Every morning I do a short practice that includes "broken toe pose": sitting on my heels with my toes turned under, moving the weight of my upper body back toward my hips and heels.

I noticed a couple of people mentioned taping... it can help you avoid pain in the short term if you have no other choice, but will not address the long term problems: lack of flexibility and strength in the arch, calf, etc. Taping and continuing full activity may actually make things worse because it tampers with the complicated mechanics of your foot and therefore your legs and back as well. If I was faced with a big competition or some event that I really couldn't miss then I would consider taping, but it's not a long term solution.