Forums » Health & Wellness » Injury Prevention

1. Lisa Sabin
   Administrator

   Plantar fasciitis has been bothering me for about 8 months. I went to physical therapy this week and found there are some muscle imbalances that may be contributing to the problem. The plantar is on my left foot. My left toes aren't plantar flexing correctly. My pelvis is slightly off, which creates the illusion of a longer left leg. The left glute is weaker. This is throwing off my gate. Compensations on the right side are weak adductor and weak right oblique muscles.

   Exercises prescribed:
   Dead bugs
   Left glute contract and hold
   Left toe point and hold
   Right adductor lift and hold
   Side planks

   Has anyone else experienced this? What exercises were prescribed? What helped?

   Posted 5 years ago #

2. Brad Hefta-Gaub
   Administrator

   Lisa, these symptoms are similar to mine... with similar exercises prescribed. And of course corrected orthotics.

   But I'll admit, I don't know what "dead bugs" are. ;)

   The other aspects of my "recovery plan" are:

   • Stretches:
     • Calves - tight calves=danger zone for PF
     • Foot Pumps-particularly in the morning.
     • Toe stretches-throughout the day
   • Massage:
     • Bottom/Arch of foot-particularly using golf ball or tennis ball
     • Sides of foot/heel
   • Ice:
     • Bottom/Arch of foot with frozen water bottle
     • Top and Sides of foot/heel

   Posted 5 years ago #

3. Lisa Sabin
   Administrator

   I have had the same exercises prescribed for me in the past. I seems that I have a problem with alignment. My hips can get off a little, and then I have to work to get back into balance. I try to stay on top of my exercises, but I still need a tune up every now and then.

   Posted 5 years ago #

4. KarlOnSea
   Member

   Hi - I think I've joined your club too. Actually I know I have, and it's been there for about 4-6 weeks, caused (I think) by too sudden a jump in my hill repeats schedule. It seems I had the heart, lungs and legs for these. Just not the right foot. :-(

   This hasn't been too good, as I've been working up to my first 1/2 IM, and I've basically got through by minimising my running - doing the absolute bare minimum, mostly as bike cool-downs, or brick sessions. I think I'm going to be OK for the race, and plan to take 8-12 weeks completely off running afterwards to get fixed.

   Do you have any video / stills of the exercises, and how often do you need to do 'em?

   Posted 4 years ago #

5. Brad Hefta-Gaub
   Administrator

   Dude! Sorry to hear about your injury...

   I think the key is stretching... and I found the frozen water bottle and tennis ball really helped.

   Posted 4 years ago #

6. andreabona
   Member

   karl,
   you're taking the right approach in thinking you'll take a long break after the race. my p.f. only went away after a good 8-10 break from running. still did other stuff like row and swim.
   agree w/ brad on the frozen water bottle. i'd suggest a "pinkie" ball instead of tennis. it's softer and with solid foam it won't colapse under your foot and risk further injury.

   i have dealt w/ p.f. on each side at different times and the night splint with rest was the answer for me. supposedly they have mixed results with but it's apparently it's hard to get people to wear the damn thing every night.

   as far as exercises, i remember doing the "grab the towel" so put a hand towel on the floor, sit down in a chair and put your foot at the near end then use your toes to grab the towel and pull it. let go and repeat so that eventually you have now pulled the towel completely past your foot. does that make sense?

   good luck!!

   Posted 4 years ago #

7. Brad Hefta-Gaub
   Administrator

   Oh yeah... I think I actually prefer a golf ball to a tennis ball.

   For me, there was a certain joy in the pain I got from working through those adhesions by pressing down on that little ball. I lost my ball while we were on a road trip last summer and so I went out and bought a new one Yellow Stone souvenir golf ball from the gift shop. Ahh... hurt so goooood.

   Posted 4 years ago #

8. oldbungalow
   Member

   Early and aggressive treatment is optimal and ice and golf ball work are necessary...other bits of info that have helped me recover and then prevent pf...

   http://www.smiweb.org/plantar.pdf
   http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=3999

   Posted 4 years ago #

9. KarlOnSea
   Member

   Wow - that's some superbly detailed information - Thanks!

   Posted 4 years ago #

10. karenjane
    Member

    Before I seek a medical diagnosis, what are the symptoms of pf? I have had pain in the area of inner foot,lower arch/ upper heel for about 2 weeks. Have found the pain is there when wearing no shoes or flat shoes, but seems to be better with a supportive shoe with good support. I'm hoping I just strained something, but if not, I need to keep this from getting worse if I can.

    Posted 4 years ago #

11. KarlOnSea
    Member

    Karenjane - that looks like it to me. Welcome to the club?

    Posted 4 years ago #

12. KarlOnSea
    Member

    UPDATE: I'm thinking that the initial cause of my problems was a big jump in my running mileage, mixed with some pretty aggressive hill repeats. BUT! It now seems to be triggered by cycling, wearing my commuting shoes (Specialized Sonomas), especially when I've been on my fixed wheel bike, Trixie The Fixie. I did just 18 miles on Thursday, and my foot & Achilles tendon is pretty tender now.

    :-(

    To try & fix the problem, I've moved the cleats back as far as they'll go, and I'm now looking at getting custom footbeds for the shoes. I'm even wondering about taking the clipless pedals off, and replacing them with flats instead.

    Anyone got any experience of plantar frasciitis & cycling?

    Posted 4 years ago #

13. andreabona
    Member

    no experience with pf and cycling, just from running. cycling kills my achilles so i suspect that it's a matter of when you have an inflamed "something" just about anything can hurt it more.

    be careful with pf and achilles issues. they're basically caused by opposite things so in trying to fix one you can create another. the pf from being on your toes too much (thereby shortening the plantar fascia causing the fasciitis) but the achilles tendons don't like the foot to be stretched - why night splints are used for p.f. but heel lifts for achilles tendonitis.

    seems like all research points to getting more flexibility in the foot, ankle and calves. of course, getting a handle on what caused it is 90% of the battle.

    i found time off and religious use of night splints to be the key to getting rid of my p.f. took about 8 full weeks and i threw a few more weeks in at the end just cause it had been so long it didn't really matter to add more time off.

    good luck!

    Posted 4 years ago #

14. manuellang2957
    Member

    Here are some stretches:

    (1) The Seated Foot Stretch

    * Begin by sitting on the floor, with your legs stretched out in front of you.
    * Loop a strap around the ball (at the front pad) of the injured foot and slowly pull the strap towards you, keeping your legs straight.
    * Pull until you feel a gentle stretch, then hold the position for approximately 30 seconds. Breathe gently throughout.
    * Relax for thirty seconds and repeat 3-5 times.

    (2) The Wall Calf Stretch (Knee Straight and Bent)

    * Stand facing a wall and place your hands on the wall at head height.
    * Extend one leg backwards, bending the front knee. Make sure both feet stay flat on the ground (i.e. don’t let your heels rise up).
    * Lean towards the wall, allowing the front knee to bend until a gentle stretch is felt in the back leg behind the knee.
    * Hold for 30 seconds, then repeat with the other leg.
    * Rest for thirty seconds, then repeat 3-5 times.

    (3) The Standing Calf Stretch

    * Stand on a step on the balls of your feet. Be sure to hold on to the stair rail or a wall for balance.
    * Slowly lower your heel over the edge of the step until you feel a gentle stretch in your foot and in your calf muscle.
    * Hold in a nice easy stretch for 30 seconds. Repeat with the other foot.
    * Rest for thirty seconds, then repeat 3-5 times.
    * As your flexibility and control improves, you will be able to progress to stretching both feet at once.

    Best of luck with your plantar fasciitis stretches

    Posted 3 years ago #

15. nikkileeaz
    Member

    I've been searching for forums so that I can post a response that will hopefully help someone. I began having this pain and was diagnosed by a podiatrist with plantar fasciitis. I received a cortisone injection but within a few days the pain was back. I causally mentioned it to my chiropractor and he said "I can fix that!". We proceeded to work on my ankle because he said that the reason my tendon was so tight was because my ankle was sort of jammed up. He really decompressed my ankle a lot ... lots of pops and it felt so much looser after just one adjustment. The second time he worked on it, I got some pops out, but the third time it appears to have stayed in place. The pain was gone after the first time he worked on my ankle.

    Just wanted wanted to pass this on. Some docs treat symptoms and others fix the PROBLEM! If you're having this problem, find a good chiropractor that can help fix the problem...especially before going under the knife!

    I hope this helps!

    Posted 1 year ago #

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