plantar fasciitis

Has anyone experienced this condition that can give me some insight on how long it will last and possible treatment. It is apparently caused by extended weight bearing on your feet and causes a great deal of pain from your heels to your toes.

The case I'm dealing with looks like it may have been caused by lots of plyometrics in addition to leg workouts in the last weeks of contest prep trying to bring the legs in more cut and defined. The pain has not really subsided for 6 weeks and getting bit worried. Dr advise is rest and ice feet...wtf?

orthotics were another recommendation...anybody been through this and if so, did orthotics come into play.

Orthotics are a big help,and Ice and stretching. My doctor suggested freezing a water bottle and rolling it under my feet. Don't try to work through it. There is very little blood flow to the tendons in your feet so anti-inflammitory treatment is only moderately effective.
I hurt mine in Karate and tried to work through it for four months, the end result was I had to get custom orthotics ($400), 18 months of pain,(I could hardly stand in the mornings), and finally when it was almost healed I got physio, and cortisone injected into my heels.
I still have to wear custom orthotics.

I have had some feet problems in the past....my job requires me to stand on my feet for 14-16 hours per day.....so not a very foot freindly enviroment....Orthotics are really the way to go with this...they are expensive but are really the only thing will help out your situation. I would highly recommond getting them..they really helped me out a lot

Quote:

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Originally Posted by cyrus

Orthotics are a big help,and Ice and stretching. My doctor suggested freezing a water bottle and rolling it under my feet. Don't try to work through it. There is very little blood flow to the tendons in your feet so anti-inflammitory treatment is only moderately effective.
I hurt mine in Karate and tried to work through it for four months, the end result was I had to get custom orthotics ($400), 18 months of pain,(I could hardly stand in the mornings), and finally when it was almost healed I got physio, and cortisone injected into my heels.
I still have to wear custom orthotics.

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Thanks..the water bottle approach is unique and will try that. Was the stretching a down and back pronating movement. Your symptoms sound the same with the difficulty in the morning. Did you experience an almost burning like sensation in your heel.

What type of physio did you endure...was it mostly stretching as you stated or were their specific movements.

Yes, Burning heels and i couldn't flex or roll my feet in the mornings b/c of the pain. The stretching was like doing calf raises on stairs, and runners stretch. The physio was called myofascial release.

You need to strengthen your foot/digit extensor muscles. Especially your Extensor hallucis. The usual treatment is orthodics (sure, but your just treating the symptom of the problem), rest, anti-inflammatorys. None of those fix the underlying issue. BTW, I have a feeling that all orthodics might be designed wrong

USUALLY, the underlying issue is inflexiblity along the plantar fascia.

Well how do you fix this?

Stop wearing shoes (kinda serious). You see when you wear shoes you can't extend your big toe (up) so the plantar fascia is never stretched and becomes very tight over time....(this also leads to collapsed arches/flat feet)

You can get a pair of those vibram shoes, OR, what you want to do is everytime you walk make a conscious effort to extend your big toe UP, this will stretch the plantar fascia and increase the arch in your foot.

So, soft tissue work by a physio/massage therapist will relieve the pain temporarily, but it will come back eventually. Bottom line, increase extensor hallucis (big toe) muscle strength.

Thanks Devo and Cyrus...at the point where will try anything to relieve the morning pain and stiffness....some days feel like it's getting better and then next day worse then ever so there is some curse words going on

I had this about 8 years ago and it caused some of the worst pain I have ever experienced. It started off in the heel and then worked its away along the side of my foot. Rest was the only thing that helped me.

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Originally Posted by devo09

You need to strengthen your foot/digit extensor muscles. Especially your Extensor hallucis. The usual treatment is orthodics (sure, but your just treating the symptom of the problem), rest, anti-inflammatorys. None of those fix the underlying issue. BTW, I have a feeling that all orthodics might be designed wrong

USUALLY, the underlying issue is inflexiblity along the plantar fascia.

Well how do you fix this?

Stop wearing shoes (kinda serious). You see when you wear shoes you can't extend your big toe (up) so the plantar fascia is never stretched and becomes very tight over time....(this also leads to collapsed arches/flat feet)

You can get a pair of those vibram shoes, OR, what you want to do is everytime you walk make a conscious effort to extend your big toe UP, this will stretch the plantar fascia and increase the arch in your foot.

So, soft tissue work by a physio/massage therapist will relieve the pain temporarily, but it will come back eventually. Bottom line, increase extensor hallucis (big toe) muscle strength.

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ABSOLUTELY!! WELL SAID!!
Orthod-ICKS (lol) are just a band aid. It's the "easy way" out, really..... UNLESS you have a severe malfunction/deformity of your foot bed.
There is a special sock that you can purchase that you wear at night. It puts your puts your foot into dorsi flexion while sleeping.
And yes, it was most likely the plyometrics pre-contest. Plyos are fantastic conditioning but if you aren't following with a stringent protocol of stretching the extensors of the lower leg and foot----well.... that's when the problems arise.

Good luck with the advice that's been thrown your way. Rest it, ice it, stretch it, strengthen it.

BTW ---- I've got 3 pairs of VIBRAMS ---- best ever.

i got it when i was pregnant
lucky for me i had a good foot doctor
orthotics along with some stretching exercises he gave me were key
mine last probably about a yr
brutally painful
i've had clients with chronic plantar fasciitis

make sure you have along with orthotics... good foot where