Monday, January 5, 2009

Plantar's Foot?

I have been dealing with a pain in my left heel for a while now, that only occurs when I get out of bed in the morning, or after I've been sitting/resting for a while and then get up to walk. After consulting my friend Mr Google, it seems I may have something called plantars faciitis. Apparently this is a common runner's ailment.  

The treatment seems to be--aspirin, cut back on running or lay off altogether, and stretching. Uck.

Have any of you running bloggers out there dealt with something like this? If so, what worked for you?  I saw in the latest Runner's World that there is something called Kinesio Tex Tape, that is supposed to help, but I'm not so sure.  I have been trying to stretch my left heel/foot more often throughout the day, but am not sure I am stretching correctly.  What stretches work the best?

I hate to cut back or stop running, but I also don't want to further aggravate an injury. Help!

5 comments:

Mel-2nd Chances said...

Yikes! Sorry to hear about the foot, luckily i haven't had to deal with that yet. Seems like everything else, but not that yet. :) wellsphere.com also has a great community of runners if you're looking for someone with experience... just a thought! Good luck!!

RunToTheFinish said...

I have dodged this bullet, but mr google is giving me some crap about runners knee.

don't forget to turn in your HBBC points

joyRuN said...

Oh yeah. Plagued me during the training for my first half marathon.

Here's what worked for me:
1- New shoes
2- Chiropractor
3- Lots of stretching
4- Strassberg (sp?) sock

Eric Gervase said...

I caught mine early (which sounds like you might have too). What worked for me was (yikes) reduced running and stretching religiously.

I probably stretched 5 times a day. The one that seemed to work the best was standing on a stair (kinda like picture below, only one foot at a time).

http://www.velogirls.com/resources/publications/stretching101/heel_drop_calf.jpg

I treated it as active recovery, but did reduce mileage.

Anonymous said...

Before you run, massage your foot by rolling it over and around a tennis ball. I recently went to a physical therapist for this and that was one of the ways he suggested to stretch it out. There are also a few other stretches you can do, I can see if I still have a copy of what he gave me and scan it, and try to email it to you (think I have your email since you commented on my blog.)

Also, ice massage, and a night splint can help, especially if it is bothering you in the morning. That's a big sign that you have likely diagnosed yourself correctly. They can cost upwards of $60, though (mine did.) But it certainly helped.

And joyRuN also mentions good suggestions - when you started running, did you have someone watch the way you walked to be sure you were fitted with the right shoes? There might be certain insoles or shoes that could help alleviate the pain, by correcting the way you run (if you pronate, etc.)