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plantar facilitis what now
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Hi Wonder Woman. I hope that you are still pain free. I am no expert but I would maybe wait for a week or so before trying to run. In the first few weeks of having this, I had pain free days so kept trying a run and then it came back even worse. I promised myself 2 weeks pain free but then I saw a different physio who said if I was pain free to try try a run and that there was no need to wait. So I did and it was fine when I ran but within or so of getting back it was really bad and terrible the next day. That was three weeks ago and I haven't tried again since. Even spinning is aggravating my PF.
Regarding shoes, I'm still spending a fortune to find something for work. I need to look quite smart and I thinkflats are a no no so I've gone for secure wedges. Not very glamorous though! I have heard good things and bad things about Flip Flops - good in that they support the arch, bad in that you there principle is about balance which may cause you to grip with your foot - not good for PF. For walking, shouldn't you be ok with your boots providing that you have your insoles in?
I've had quite a few sports massages on my feet and calfs but I've stopped as I am worried that someone getting their thumbs in to your tendons could be stopping the healing process.
But as I am not getting better any time soon, who am I to give advice?
Do your legs ache alot? Sometimes the ache up my legs, right to my hips, is worse than my feet but nobody else on here appears to suffer much with that.
Hi Beth - thanks for the reply, I'm also afraid if I try to run it will return and I'm not sure I'm mentally ready to deal with that! I was late for something today and had to jog half a mile to get there - no choice. That was about 5pm and now 8:30 and no issues as yet......
I've not got achy legs ....are you stretching all your muscles out? I seem to be ok with spinning, cycling, swimming and cross trainer in the gym.. I am Still icing and golf ball rolling and stretching.... What are you doing for yours?
Fingers crossed you will be OK tomorrow. If you are, perhaps it l give you the confidence to have a'proper' go. I would start with just a mile though (or less!)
My legs feel achy with a dull rather than muscular pain but then I get these`starnge random burning sensations. I'm: icing, using the golf ball, stretching calves and hamstrings and using the foam roller. As my problem is more or less confined to the heel I've not bothered with a night splint as I have no morning pain. I'm also not real stretching my feet as I read earlier on this thread that this could slow the healing process if you have a tear in the arch. I've had a relatively pain free day today until this evening so am using the roller now.
I had to bite my tongue a few minutes ago when I was on the phone to my stepdad who told me that I may have to acceopt that I will be carryoing this injury for the rest of my life and should learn to tolerate it and why don't I do something else. They don't get it, do they?!!
Let me know how you get on,
Beth
Beth - no they don't get it! I had a telephone 'consultation' with my GP as my physio had said to get referred for an xray to rule out bone issues - I happened to get someone with bitter personal experience of PF and he basically told me I should give up running, I was virtually in tears by the end of the conversation.
Any pain I have is confined to the heel too so similar to you. When I can return to running (fingers crossed) I will make sure I cross train a bit though. I think the RW ultimate schedule I followed for my marathon in April was a bit too full on for my body. Still at least I got a PB.....
How are your feet after that half mile 'run' Wonder Woman? My feet are absolutely fine today! Hopefully I am finally on the mend!
Feet feel fine Beth - only a slight 'tingling' sensation - but not sure whether I am imagining it....you know when you are SO focused on a particular area! Glad to hear you're good too. I'm looking forward to getting my new orthotics Monday and will then need to decide whether to try a little run. Although done a lot of reading on the web and people seem split as to whether carrying on running actually does harm anyway?
When will you try a run again Beth?
Plantarfasciitis can be so painful! I had to be particularly careful for the first few minutes of the day when it first starts to get stretched, as my podiatrist explained.
He also said rather than expensive custom orthotics I could treat the condition myself using a cheap bandage and tape to do the same thing. He recommended a strapping technique called 'low-dye taping' and showed me how to do it. Its particularly good when you start running as you can tighten up the bandage as it loosens.
thanks Eric - are you recovered now? How long did it take and did you continue to run through it?
I had PF up for at least 6 months up until December last year. I only just started running again this week after a hernia operation but still get a bit of pain underneath my foot during my run but never at any other time which seems to be quite different to what other people are getting. It always strikes at around 10mins into my run and is either gone by 20mins or I have to stop due to the pain, its difficult to manage because I took time off last year to stretch and ice etc but wouldn't know if I'd recovered till I went for a run!!
I thought I'd posted a reply this morning but it is nowhere to be seen - how strange! I probably won't run for a week of being discomfort free and then try something really small. When I first got this I kept trying a run when I felt OK but tried 6 miles or so which was too much. Absolutely no pain or even discomfort today. That's day two!
Eric - I had my foot taped by my physio and it felt great, really supporting my arch and keeping it off the floor. I bought some tape but just can't do it so I've ordered at Patstrap which is meant to do the same trick but it hasn't come yet when ordered it almost two weeks ago.
How do you tape? Is it easy?
Sprint Akie - Yes your problem is the reverse of mine. I feel fine when running but it seizes up the next day!
This is nearly as strange as IT band syndrome that I had 4-5 years ago!! I'm hoping the night splint will help along with huge amount of stretching and icing.
Just found this thread so thought I'd add my experience of PF. I've had it for nearly 7 months and finally bit the bullet and saw a physio after running the Manchester Marathon. I was expecting him to say I needed to rest it but he told me the opposite! Apparently, if you rest it, it will heal in it's shortened position which means as soon as you run on it again it stretches and all the little tears open up again. So cut back on the mileage but don't rest it altogether. Also, do lots of stretching. He advised me to get the Strassburg sock which I've been wearing for the last few nights and I can now walk to the toilet first thing in the morning without limping across the bedroom! The theory being that stretching it for several hours at night has to be better than just a few minutes during the day. Ice it after running and apply heat if you can before stretching and massaging.
Like people have said before, different things work for different people and the amount of information out there is often conflicting and confusing. But the above is working for me. I have a feeling that this is something that will never go away completely but I do believe it is manageable if you continue with the stretching etc.
Hi all - been to physio this morning - she thinks I don't have PF but more likely tight perineum and potentially nerve issues. This makes more sense in terms of where it hurts (and the no morning pain factor). So once my new orthotics arrive on Monday I'll go for a 1-2 mile jog (on soft surface!!) and see how I get on... Another physio appt at the end of next week but hopefully I can start to come back from this. Over a month of no running is getting to me!
I wonder if that is more my problem too as my symptoms are hardly usual of PF - Peroneal though, not perineum (isn't that on your bum?!)
Third day without pain today and my PSC Pattstrap has finally arrived.
Hmm you are right, def peroneal.....!! Had acupuncture along that muscle this morning. My xray appt finally came through for Friday next week (4 week wait!) will go for that too just in case.
Glad you're still pain free. Just off to look up Pattstrap???!?!?
They seem good - just like taping but without the hassle. I've just been looking up Peroneal nerve and tendon damage and I'm really wondering whether that is what I can have. I have arch pain, no heel pain and no pain in the morning and a dull ache all down my leg where the Peroneal nerve goes. PF has not sat right with me since the beginning - it just seems to be a general term given for foot pain. How did your physio diagnose it?
Beth - the physio I am seeing used to be physio to ballet dancers so she knows a lot about feet! My pain originated at the back edge of the heel and apparently that is where nerve slots round - also I don't have any pain where PF inserts to heel, and no morning pain. When it was sore I was getting pain along outside edge of foot . Physio also looked at mobilisation to see any restrictions I guess.
@wonderwoman, it's fine for the moment touchwood, I rested until I went to a different podiatrist and found out about the strapping technique and then I started running on it. @bethW No, its not hard to do, he showed me how to do it to myself at the clinic and printed out a pdf with the instructions... but I haven't needed to look at that really.
Used foam roller in gym today that seemed good, no running for me at all yet though. Thought I'd better get x ray result first,,,,
Unfortunately I seem to have got worse, not better, despite having not run for over 7 weeks. The pain has shifted into my heel a bit in my left foot which wasn't actually a bad foot for about 6 weeks and I'm getting quite an intense pain under my ankle bone on both feet. It's becoming quite unbearable to be honest!
I finally have an appointment with a podiatrist a week on Wednesday and I'm going to demand a scan. I'm not sure whether my symptoms are more podterior tibius tendonitus (or something like that!)
I've been trying to stay positive - borrowed a road bike which I loved but I'm worried that even that has aggravated it. I've also been learning front crawl and have tried pool running! The fact is, anything that involves me using my lower legs seems to be aggravating it. I'm just going to keep my feet up and concentrate on stretching this weekend as I'm back to work after a week off on Monday and in really worried about how I'm going to manage.
How is everybody else?
Beth
Feeling very demoralised and not sure what to do next. GP has referred me to muscular skeletal clinic ( prob get appt in a month or so). In the meantime do I continue to spend on physio (costing me a fortune)??
I am considering buying a road bike.... Beginning to think this summer I'm not going to be running which is dreadful... So need to replace with other activity. Have also been swimming.
Do you have one of those aqua belt things for pool running Beth ? If so are they good, is it really boring?? have considered it but not done yet.
Keep me posted, good to have some company in this!
Oh no, not you as well! I honestly thought you were on the mend! I'm sorry to hear you are not good. Yes I have an aqua belt and yep, it is mind-numbingly boring but it's better than nothing! I'm actually thinking that I have Posterior Tibial Tendonitis as the symptoms sound exactly like me! The area of pain is now mainly below my inner ankle bone and then a little arch. I finally have my appointment with the podiatrist next week and I'm going to push for a scan. I know I've already said this before - I keep going round in circles! How did your scan come back WW? Is it PF or what your physio thought? I've hardly done any cardio exercise at all for over a week as a PT I'm seeing for rehab ( along with my mum who thinks she is the expert!) is telling me I shouldn't cycle. I'm going to get FAT and go CRAZY! If they're right though, I don't want to put myself back! Oh dear...
Beth I am right with you - getting fat and crazy are my two biggest fears with this injury. Feel like I am looking down a long dark tunnel at the moment with no certain end....
Which aqua belt do you have?
I've not had an U-S scan yet - only the x-ray (which was clear). Tried hard for referral for scan from GP but being passed from pillar to post - they have now referred me to muscular skeletal clinic which I hope will mean they might agree to a scan. However, no appt through yet, am sure that will be a bit of a wait.
I get my new orthotics tomorrow (finally) after they were wrong first time. Physio on Friday. Hope this resolves soon before my bank account is empty....
I've just been to look at road bikes - cycling doesn't seem to affect my foot thank goodness.
Have you been swimming?
ps has anyone on this thread actually got better??? Or have they just stopped running.....?
I don't want to tempt fate WW, so I won't say I've got better, but I don't notice any pain when running most of the time, a few twinges at the very back of my calcaneus from time to time but that's it. Two cortisone injections, custom orthotics and a 4-6 month lay off because of a cycling accident.
My left foot ( the 2nd one) is really causing me grief today and I think I can feel it in my heel abit
I think I'm going to pay for a private scan after waiting for a podiatrist appointment for do long! I've been quoted ??270 but I am do fed up it is worth it.
Well - got my referral to muscular skeletal clinic... 3 July. AGES away. Don't they know how desperate I am?!
At least I got my new orthotics today. Hoping they might be at least part of the solution. Podiatrist thinks I might have a bit of tarsal tunnet syndrome going on...
Orthotics are good thanks. Pod said wear them in for 3 weeks then try a little run....which will be just before my referral appt so I think good timing as I will need to know by that stage whether things have improved or not.
Am missing running a LOT. Been out on my bike which is good but get resentful everytime I see a running bouncing along. So annoying as Brighton Mara this year was a PB and was probably at my fittest cardiovasuclar-wise and then it's all wasted due to this stupid injury!
How about you, what sort of running distances do you like?