I've had it for 7 months now, and bought the Strassburg Sock, Not to mention tons of money on Inserts and shoes

I thought I was doing better, Running on Tread Mill only, I thought I would try a easy 10 miler, I was in Increbile pain that afternoon after the run..

I guess I'm gonna have to go to the Dr, and have some Inserts made up, I've never had to do this before, are there any questions I should ask the DR,

And whats the average cost for having Inserts made up, It just sounds expensive, I have to justify this to my wife ( Who Dosent Run), So I can and tear something else up, going at it to hard

Any Input would be nice, I havent been on a regular schedule since Nov of last year, I would like to loose the few pounds I have found along the way..

Jim

quote:<HR>Originally posted by dscotina:
After running 87 consecutive days and averaging 50 mile a week I developed plantar fasciitis in both feet. I am doing a variety of strengthening and stretching exercises for the foot, ankle and calf, massaging the arch and icing often. I do this 2-4 times a day. Also changed to a new insert with good arch support. So far I have taken 3 weeks off from running and although I am showing improvement I still get mild arch/heel pain after I try walking on a treadmill for 20-30 minutes. Any other useful advice in treating this problem is greatly appreciated.
Thanks <HR>

I got a case of that last fall. I took time off running, while stretching it with The Sock at night. Doining other stretches for the calves and plantar. Didn't go away. I finally asked myself why did this happen? My intuitive hunch was that something got weak, and something got strong, creating an imbalance which made the plantar tendon take too much force of weight, causing a sprain basically. After doing a tom of research and reading stories of people who actually healed their plantar tendon after months of yhears of trying this and that to no avail, I realized I needed to make the following changes:

---stop wearing cushioned trainers with all that new-fangled plastic support that basically looks like a plantar tendon on a shoe. They make your feet weak--while your calves are getting super strong. Studies have been done that show runners who wear shoes with more technology and support and money in them are more likely to get injuries. Seems the body has it's own sensing system in the feet and will adjust itself to increased speed and impact accordingly, by using more a bent knee. So, I switched to a light-weight racer trainer and began to gradually introduce the Nike Free shoe into my running. I currently run all my miles in the Free. This shoe has no support, is flexible , has little cushioning, and is light. It is more like running barefoot. After running in the Free for awhile, I put on a pair of my cushioned trainers and took a run on the treadmill. It was amazing what happened. My feet were POUNDING and SLAPPING the deck. I couldn't make it stop. Boom, slap, boom, slap... I got off the treadmill and switched to my Frees, and I could barely hear myself running. My body could sense the deck better and was adjusting. Amazing proof for me that cushioned trainers actually do the reverse effect on the body of what they are intended to do.

--I walk barefoot around the house all the time now. This is contrary advice to every advice I've read from a podiatrist for PF. PF is virtually non-existent in barefoot cultures. I believe it helped.

--I reduced my stretching as I figured it wasn't a flexibilty problem as much as a strength imbalance problem. Stretching your muscles too much is not a good thing. I take the yoga philosophy that flexibility comes through balance of strength. My stretching is part of strengthening. I also stopped massaging it, icing it, and soaking it to death. I felt like I was just beating it up after awhile. Basically this is my gentle routine that doesn't take much time:

....Stand straight, barefoot. Feel the floor with your toes and feet. Press the toes into the floor. Now, using your foot strength, lift your toes up and stretch them back as if you were trying to touch the sky, keeping the balls of yoour feet on the ground. Hold 10-20 seconds. Retrun them to the ground. Now lift your heels, slowly, off the ground until you are standing on your toes, like a ballerina. 5 seconds will do, you build time over time.
Return. Now sway a bit. Letting your weight shift from foot to foot from heel to toe. Do this whole routine 5 times. Do twice a day.

...stand straight on a carpet. Alternating feet, drag yourself across the carpet with the strength of your toes. Go about 5-10 feet at first, increase over time. You can add picking up up marbles with your toes, or scrunching a towel with increasing weight to your routine. I prefer the toe walk-drag. I learned that from a Tai-Chi master.

...downward facing dog yoga posture (google it). This will stretch your calves, achilles, and the whole back of the leg down to the plantar. Once a day is good. Do only after your muscles are warmed up.

I have a yoga routine that really takes care of a lot of ills and imbalances caused by running. It includes lots of balancing on one leg. Any kind of balancing on one foot, while barefoot, will help strengthen your feet and ankles.

I have also lost 10 pounds.

The PF in my foot is gone, but fully realize that it could come back if I get lazy, or switch back to foot "crutches". I run 40+ miles per week now with no pain whatsoever. No pain in the morning as well.

Think about it. I'll see if I can find the studies which I referenced. Also there is a page where I got the foot routine (toe, heel raise) I do. It's basically the Mountain pose I believe. The doctor there explained how a woman's arch went from fallen to a naturally strong, high position and the PF disappearing, just by doing that and a few other postures. In a short time.

I found great relief as soon as I switched shoes and began walking barefoot around the house, then it healed fully when I stopped throwing everything AND the kitchen sink at it, and just did the short little heel and toe exercises, downward facing dog, regular yoga, and the walk the carpet by dragging it with the toes.

Good luck. It will heal eventually. Be smart, don't beat the poor plantar tendon to death, and fix the imbalance. The body has its own wisdom, and sometimes less is more.

--Jimmy

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Fascinating Jimmy. Completely contrary to everything I've read regarding PF, and yet 1 person I talked to said the ONLY thing that finally helped him was to wear nothing but Chuck Taylors (basically a slab of rubber with no support). I've also felt that it seems ridiculous to wear highly supportive shoes right out of bed and to never go around barefoot. I would think that would enable the foot to be even weaker. Very interesting and helpful. I've been battling PF for 4 months now, just starting back after a 4-week layoff and running low miles. Plus I've started Active Release Therapy and will see how that goes. Funny how we end up throwing everything at it, as you said.

http://This message has been edited by KC1125 (edited Jul-29-2007).

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I had someone tell me that PF can last up to 18 mos, treated or not. I treated mine with night splints, custom orthotics, no barefoot, ever., and two rounds of PT... and no running. It took 18 mos to go away.

give it time. and good luck!

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