I'd like to know about this too. It is painful arches, right? I've definately got that. Very cramped and painful and my heels are very tight too. Love to know what I can do.

Worst injury I ever had. I would start all my runs limping feel preety good during the run only to feel the pain again within a half hour of stopping. Mornings were the worst.

Some remedies:

1) While sitting on the couch at night roll a golf ball under the affected area. This will break up scar tissue and also will increase blood flow.

2) After running put your foot in ice for about fifteen minutes or so. This will also reduce swelling and promote blood flow to the area.

3) When you can at rest elevate your foot, again helping to clear the old blood with gravity with your foot at a higher level then your heart.

4) An anti-inflamatory before your runs can help. Take with a bagel or something. Too much can lead to an ulcer.

5) Tape the area for running. I used to get great relief by doing this but it has to be done properly. Heelspurs.com has a diagram that will show you how to do this with regular sports tape.

6) The boot. There are boots for sale that stretch the tendons overnight. Your foot will feel better in the morning. Sometimes I had to take this boot off at night because it hurts after a few hours. I think you can also find a boot on heelspurs.com.

7) Place a pair of shoes next to the bed in the morning so you don't have to walk around barefoot. Slide right into them before leaving the bed.

Mine took eight months to go away. At one point I just accepted the fact that I would always have that injury. It's been gone for two years now. Good luck and be patient.

This is how my doc explained it to me?and why it hurts more when you first get out of bed. As you sleep, your foot relaxes and the tension on the tendon is reduced. Think of it this way: When you?re standing your foot is at a 90-degree angle to your leg and there is tension on the tendons. When you lay down/sleep, the muscles and tendons relax and there more of an angle between your foot and leg (toe points away from the body). It is during this time that the plantar is healing. When you get out of bed and put weight on the foot (go back to a 90-degree angle), the partial healing in the afflicted area is pulled out again. That?s the initial pain you feel. But, if you sleep with the night splint that keeps your foot at a 90-degree angle, the tendon heals in that position. When you put weight on it you?re not pulling what just healed. Still, it takes lots of time for the tendon to heal.

Thanks for this discussion! I am 34. I have been running consistantly for over 10 years, and have been in the 20 - 40 mpw range for the last 5 or 6 years. I just started experiencing heel pain (mostly when I wake up in the morning) and it is driving me crazy. I want to be able to walk when I am older!

I just spent about 30 minutes on the web reading about foot pain... 2 questions I still have and hopefully someone has some insight...

1) Is there a way to avoid this? I never keep shoes too long, and I am careful about mileage increases, etc. I am trying to get better about stretching after runs. Unfortunately, I run on concrete (not a lot of options) and I have high arches.

2) Am I doing long term damage to my feet that will effect my ability to walk in 30 or 40 years?

Thanks!!!

had it for 2 years...sucks sooo much...got in the beeginning of track season, played thru it the whole season icing it...then ended up getting a cast for 7 weeks and plenty of cortizone shots....not fun get it fixed the first time bcuz its hard to go away...

Im wondering these same things
I have a weird sensation in only my arch. It does NOT hurt when I wake up. I dont want it to turn to something bad, like PF which sounds horrible and long....it doesnt really hurt alot, I just notice it and I dont want it to get worse
those with PF...is this how yours started?
maybe I should rest now before Im forced to?

There sure is lots of confusion around this... Sounds like it may be tough to determine what the problem is because there are a few different foot injuries.

My heels are sorest in the mornings, and the pain goes away after a mile or so of jogging... however, now I can still feel slight pain all day long. I have incorporated the reverse calf raises and they help a lot! Icing doesn't seem to help much, but I may not be doing it enough.

I think my feet got worse when I added a lot of hill training which I read was a typical culprit.