Discussion Topic |
|
This thread has been locked |
Mike Friedrichs
Sport climber
City of Salt
|
|
|
Topic Author's Original Post - Jul 10, 2014 - 07:10am PT
|
I've got it bad in my left heel. I've never had it before and it's pretty painful. Went for a 6 mile run yesterday and had to walk (limp) the last two miles. Anyone have good advise on how to get rid of this? I already miss running.
|
|
msiddens
Trad climber
|
|
|
Jul 10, 2014 - 07:14am PT
|
Sucks man, I've suffered for years and it gets worse for me with running, hiking, life. Best advice like many will share is to seek out a good therapist and stick with the routine
|
|
overwatch
climber
|
|
|
Jul 10, 2014 - 07:17am PT
|
Agree with the therapy suggestion...also try running on the balls of your feet and limit heel strike
Good suggestions at athletico.com...can't link it on my phone
|
|
nevahpopsoff
Boulder climber
the woods
|
|
|
Jul 10, 2014 - 07:19am PT
|
SuperFeet insoles, fixed mine.
|
|
sandstone conglomerate
climber
sharon conglomerate central
|
|
|
Jul 10, 2014 - 07:35am PT
|
I had that terrible sh#t for two years off and on. Miserable, miserable especially walking in work boots all day on concrete. Standing on a tennis ball and rolling it from front to back, side to side with as much pressure as you can stand will help.
|
|
clarkolator
climber
|
|
|
Jul 10, 2014 - 07:39am PT
|
All I can say is my own experience. I had PF on and off for a couple of years, it had me on crutches at one point.
One time it flared up and I started massaging and pressing on spots on my foot. There was a place just below the ball of the foot, towards the heel, where when I pressed, it felt really good -- total relief. When I stood up with a golf ball pressing in the spot, it relieved the pain.
I taped a bunch of stuff onto my foot that pressed into the spot, and wound up carving a piece of styrofoam that was the right shape and taping it in place. Wore it all day in my shoe. It worked just right. I was pretty much cured in 2-3 days.
I had to make a homemade thing because orthotics didn't press hard enough on the foot. The golf ball, styrofoam, etc. had to really press into the area -- swedish massage pressure -- to even begin to work. When I pushed with my thumb, my forearms would get tired.
I think what was going on is I have really high arches, so high that the plantar fascia was getting strained over the arch and pulled tight over the cup of the heel. Orthotics were way too flat for my mutant high arch. When I pressured the connection between the ball of the foot and the plantar tendon it stretched the tendon and got slack back into the fascia.
|
|
DonC
climber
CA
|
|
|
Jul 10, 2014 - 07:41am PT
|
I've had two really serious bouts of this. I fought it for about a year the first time, worked with a podiatrist who gave me cortisone injections and sold me custom insoles. These didn't help at all. After a year I went to a surgeon thinking that was my last resort. He put me on a table, twisted me a around - and said I was to tight and need to stretch! So after 3 months of stretching it was gone. Look up stretches for plantar fasciitis and do them regularly and you should get though it. I did 30 minutes 3x per day. The podiatrist never told me to stretch, and the surgeon told me the custom insoles were worthless. I got it again several years later 3 months before a hike of the JMT so I stepped up the stretching I did PT previously and got though it before my hike. For me it was all about stretching - not just a few minutes, but serious sessions of stretching.
|
|
Mike Friedrichs
Sport climber
City of Salt
|
|
|
Topic Author's Reply - Jul 10, 2014 - 07:49am PT
|
Thanks for all the great advise. I am staying away from insoles although I'm popping ibuprofen today because I'm in pain. Chi Running said the cure was to walk on sharp rocks barefoot. I only run in five-fingers and am pretty good about not heel striking.
I get the stretching idea. My feet are tight and it makes total sense. I'll order one of those rocker thingys today. I've been doing yoga foot stretches. Anyone ever try acupuncture?
Thanks again for the good advise. I really appreciate it.
|
|
DonC
climber
CA
|
|
|
Jul 10, 2014 - 07:53am PT
|
roll a tennis ball under your foot too, or if you have one of those rubber spiky balls for your dog - those work great. I kept one under my desk at work and would do it several times a day.
|
|
overwatch
climber
|
|
|
Jul 10, 2014 - 08:36am PT
|
walking on sharp rocks barefoot would be kind of like acupressure/ acupuncture so there might be something to that
running on the balls of the feet focuses development on the calf muscles so stretching would be even more important
|
|
SteveW
Trad climber
The state of confusion
|
|
|
Jul 10, 2014 - 08:58am PT
|
Mike
Sorry to hear that you're suffering this. I don't have any
experience or suggestions, I just hope it'll go away fast for
you.
Hope to see you at the Vooshifest!
|
|
Flip Flop
Trad climber
Truckee, CA
|
|
|
Jul 10, 2014 - 09:11am PT
|
What about Morton's Neuroma? Anyone?
|
|
crankster
Trad climber
|
|
|
Jul 10, 2014 - 09:14am PT
|
Ice
Stretching (lots, see therapist)
Special foot brace for sleeping
Rest
Orthodics in shoes
No barefoot
|
|
Daphne
Trad climber
Northern California
|
|
|
Jul 10, 2014 - 09:15am PT
|
Calf stretching
Standing on golf balls is best-- can target the fascia better
A pinky ball is better than a tennis ball if a larger ball is the only thing tolerated
Daily attention can beat it
Also, there's a brace that keeps the foot flexed at night while sleeping. If above doesnt work try a brace.
|
|
Flip Flop
Trad climber
Truckee, CA
|
|
|
Jul 10, 2014 - 09:44am PT
|
Ekat, hiddie is right!
Wide feet, tele-boots, climbing shoes and conx. work have done a number. I did a sympathy marathon when the baby was in the belly. I also was carrying a bunch of sympathy weight. (215 vs. the current 185). The Big Sur Marathon is notorious and by 15 miles I was hobbling like a drunken troglodyte.
What scares me most is not being able to go backcountry skiing and climbing. It hasn't flared lately but I can feel it in there, lurking and waiting to hot-nail my soul (sole;).
Daphne, is that advice good for me? My feet are friggin hooves with ultra-high arches. My relaxed state looks like I'm swimming.
|
|
Ken M
Mountain climber
Los Angeles, Ca
|
|
|
Jul 10, 2014 - 10:13am PT
|
What about Morton's Neuroma? Anyone?
Wrong location.
|
|
LEG
climber
|
|
|
Jul 10, 2014 - 10:24am PT
|
Sorry to hear, this is no fun.
I had it in both feet at the same time. I was forced to crawl to the camode in the middle of the night cause they would hurt/be so tight.
I was working as a carpenter at the time and took shitloads of Advil to get through the day plus I wore arch support insoles.
Once off work I'd go barefoot as often as possible. After months of acclimatization I was back to running without foot or previously felt knee pain. I'm definitely running with a more 'barefoot' style - haven't felt any foot or knee pain for 6 years
I think the key for me was taking the time to let them heal before re-streghting.
|
|
ron gomez
Trad climber
fallbrook,ca
|
|
|
Jul 10, 2014 - 10:47am PT
|
Pain in my heel. Hope yer going to get this checked out by a doc in the near future. Heel pain may not be PF...heel spur or stress fx. PF typically will start in the arch, mid foot and work its way toward the heel and terminate with heel pain where it inserts on the heel bone. In most cases PF is brought about by a weakness in the anterior tibialis, solius, post tib. The weakness causes the arch to fall then the pain in the arch persists. I'd R/O anything more serious in the heel before too much time goes on, because you can treat the sx all you want but you have to address the problem. If it is PF, get the arch comfy by all the above mentioned methods then work on strengthening the muscles in the tibia area. Any PT or ATC can guide you in this direction. Has your running routine changed recently, before the sx came on? This is often the cause of the PF and weakening in the tibial area. Had shin splints lately? Is the pain directly on the bottom of the heel or slightly forward where the fascia connects to the heel? Sharp stabbing or dull achey?
Good luck with it, but get a correct DX before you start chasing cures.
Peace
|
|
Fat Dad
Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
|
|
|
Jul 10, 2014 - 10:49am PT
|
I get that occasionally, mostly from wearing dress shoes all day. In fact I've felt that familiar twinge the past couple of weeks. I'll reiterate what most have said:
don't go barefoot
ibuprofen
tennis ball massage works really well for me
supportive soles or heel cups in your shoes
Another therapy is to sleep in a sock with a toe strap, so your foot stays in more or less a 90 degree bend at night. They sell those or you can jerry-rig one. Mine has not gotten that bad, but when it's bugging me I try to make a conscious effort to stretch the soles of feet by flexing my toes toward my shin before I get out of bed. Seems to make a big difference when I first weight my feet when climbing out of bed. There's a stretch too that mimics that movement. Flex your foot toward your shin, grab your big toe and stretch it upward.
Try everything. Sometimes it's the combination of a number of small changes that make the difference.
|
|
DanaB
climber
CT
|
|
|
Jul 10, 2014 - 10:57am PT
|
As you can see PF is very common. People have suggested a variety of treatments, and that highlights one of the most frustrating parts of PF - there is no single way of approaching the problem. It's made worse because PF definitely does tend to come and go, so it is very difficult to know if the exercise/medication/orthotic/rest, etc. helped or whether the PF just went away on its own. Example: The second time I had it for several months, I ordered custom orthotics, and one day before they arrived I woke up and my foot felt fine. The third time I tried cortisone injections, OTC inserts, rest, ice, stretching, and a night splint but it was the new custom orthotics that did the trick. Or did they? I'm sure a lot of people on this forum will criticize custom orthotics as a rip-off, and most podiatrists will tell you (and the medical literature supports this) that there is no evidence that they are a magic bullet but they seemed to work for me. Finally, I have access to a medical school library and I found nothing in the medical/podiatric literature that suggested that one way of treating it was more successful than any other. Painful, frustrating problem. You should find a good podiatrist and be willing to be flexible and patient. Good luck.
|
|
|
SuperTopo on the Web
|
Let us know!