[Closed] Recovering from Plantar Fasciitis?

It's not cushioning that's needed, in fact I found it makes it worse.

I found getting good solid arch lifting insoles into my shoes makes no end of difference, they make my life bearable after years of huge heel pain.

My wife is a podiatrist. She recommends you get some correctly fitted insoles with the correct arch support and some suitable calf stretches.

Hate to have to say this Devon, but a mate of mine who loved biking and hiking got it about 10-12 years ago and its never ever gone, he doesn't do any activity now, apart from metal detecting!! He's a GP, so pretty switched on, tried absolutely everything, insoles, injections, god knows what, but as soon as he starts doing any (serious) walking or biking or similar it flares up again. It actually contributed to the demise of his marriage as he got so down about it. Having said that, Another mate who I run with got it, rested for a while, and it's never bothered him since.
Insoles etc might help, but I reckon the best bet is to rest it for a while.

I partially tore mine (with the help of the runner behind who trod on my heel in a race causing the tear). Patience is the first ingredient as it takes a long time to heal - a year with no running in my case.

Bike: stop using clicky pedals, buy MTB downhill pedals and pedal like a paper boy. This removes tension from the PF.

Strtching: yes, but nothing that pulls the PF. Sitting on the floor hamstring stretches are good. When you have enough movement to pull gently on the toes, do that too.

Edit: I spent a fortune on orthopedic soles and was worse with than without. I walked my way back to health in a 35e pair of Adidias trainers.

Walk: this advice surprised me. I was advised to walk little and often gradually increasing the distance. I had to learn the level of discomfort that made things no worse and stop there. I used to push my bike so that I could ride home if it suddenly felt worse. The initial distance was only 200m.

Shock wave treatment was a turning point, six sessions and things started getting better rather than worse.

PF is a pain (literally and metaphorically) - I'm prone to it but I'd not be as negative as some of the posts. I find that if I forget to stretch and warm down properly it starts to creep in.
For me it's closely linked to calf stretching and if I ensure that I stretch off the calf it usually subsides. Calf being linked to achilles then round to the sole of the foot.
In the bout of PF I use a bottle of frozen water as a foot roller to drop the swelling and then use a tennis ball to roll the arch on too.
It's curable - I had some acupuncture on a bad bout also which really helped.
Ongoing some kinesio tape (lots of vids on YouTube) can help support the arch.
Good luck and don't worry too much

Nike trainers cause it for me so no wearing anything with air fusions that can collapse is my best advice!

[url= http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=a9_sc_1?rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Astrassburg+sock&keywords=strassburg+sock&ie=UTF8&qid=1423933232 ]I use a strassburgh sock - gentle stretch whilst you sleep..takes a while but works for me [/url]

Are you sure it's plantar fasciitis? Could he be sufering from a bruised heel(a.k.a fat pad atrophy)?

"My wife's a podiatrist and she recommends custom insoles" .. no surprise that is her job 😉

I had it had to stop running for 18 months but it can be treated so he has to stop doing what aggravates it. Stretching, golf ball or frozen bottle rolled under heel into plantar helps, keep calves supple, sports massage and don't hurry back too soon. You HAVE to be patient with PF to get rid of it.
good luck as it is incredibly painful!

[i]Has anyone experienced this before and what made it better? I'm wondering whether some custom insoles with arch support would be a good idea?[/i]

Yes. Nothing. Misery since the summer. At least riding a bike doesn't aggravate it.

At least riding a bike doesn't aggravate it.

That's what I thought for a while. Anything that puts tension on the PF will aggravate. When things started improving and I started to ride again I had to redrill my roadie shoes to put the cleats further back, and I avoided any shocks through the feet when mtbing (on an FS set up as plush as possible).

Well, yes, you're right. But it aggravates it less than running (or indeed, walking).

PF is a catch all diagnose, a bit like IBS. Rolling frozen bottles under the feet brings some relief but you need to address the cause. For me, it was a combination or core and glute medius strengthening. However, I also use a custom hard (nylon) orthotic. EVA type orthotics are of little use as I found out as EVA tends to compress to almost nothing with 13 stone applied to it.

Find someone who really knows what they're doing which is much more difficult than it sounds.

Thank you all, there's a lot to think about there! He prefers short but higher intensity rides due to time constraints, so whilst he hasn't been riding quite so much with the recent icy weather, I think he will find it very difficult to ease off too much! His job involves him standing most of the day, something else which probably doesn't help.

Like some of you say, it's difficult to know exactly where to go for advice. We have a podiatrist in town but I think she's newly qualified so may not have the experience to get it sorted but who knows

KISS works for me every time - tennis ball, golf ball and coke can.

Roll the arch over each one as much as you can. The golf ball hurts but works!

I suffered with this and a combination of rolling a tennis ball under my foot and lots and lots and lots of calf stretching helped get rid of mine.

I found standing half on a stair and dropping my heels really helped. Once your heels are dropped bend your knees and this will stretch the tendons involved.

Indeed Renton nails it

It's a horrible thing to have. Mine got so bad that i had to crawl out of bed some mornings.

I went to have my feet measured and looked at by a foot person working for NHS and came out with a £60 set of special shoes with hard arch support in soles and wore them at times for a bit.

Plantafacitus believe it not comes and goes as I was told but mine which was very bad at the time saw me having to hold onto the shelves to get to the toilet it was that bad.
I have never felt pain like it before or after.
Mine lasted for 2 months at it's very worst before wearing off and now no pain at all thank the lord.

Another top tip is to stretch the lower leg muscles as these in turn relax the sole muscles of your foot somehow.
I was given a tennis ball by physiotherapist to stand on and do excercises to rotate the ball specifically under the arch to stretch the muscles.

The more pressure the better and is easier said than done.

Please do not seek reflexology sessions as it is nigh in impossible to be of any comfort and is literally torture!

Reflexology once it has dissapeared though is a good follow up to it mind 🙂

All I know is is that for anyone suffering it is excruciatingly painful and is best to get as much recovery time off your feet whilst maintaining a consistant stretching excercise plan.

I suffered a running induced PF for some time.
Essentially all that sorted it was strapping, coupled with ice (I used frozen pea bag, and exercise. Place a towel on the floor and pull it towards you by scrunching your toes.
But its the strapping that works as it takes the stress off the plantar and allows it to heal. You wear it all the time. You tube will help out.

Yes Renton mentions crawling out of bed which I had to do many a time and is wholy undignified experience.
Forgot to mention an ice bag will help of course reducing the swelling of the arch.

I think my PF was caused by wearing flat soled workmans boots where there is not enough arch support.

I got this a few years ago and can vouch for the pain of getting out of bed. Saw a podiatrist, got some custom nylon arch lifts; changed how I run so that i'm on the balls of my feet most of the time (not on steep descents). It's gone, no sign of it coming back. I can't see cycling aggravating it though - but I only ever used flats.