Recovering From Plantar Fasciitis

I’ve been suffering from the dreaded Plantar Fasciitis on and off for almost as long as I’ve been running. When I was training for my second marathon, it was the worst it had ever been. I took a month and half off from running to let it heal and I’ve been pain-free for the first time in months.  When I was suffering from the pain I googled every treatment all over the internet…and here’s what I’ve been doing to help speed recovery process and help my feet stay healthy!

Keep in mind that I’m no doctor, but these are the techniques that work for me and helped me recover from this painful injury!

1. No running. The first thing I did was take time off from running. For the first month, my foot would still hurt after certain exercises, like long walks, sometimes even after body pump. But slowly the pain started to disappear. I knew taking time off would be the only way to get rid of it. Things I did to keep my fitness up: long distance cycling, spinning, yoga and weight lifting.

2. Ditching sandals, heels and flats without support. After my marathon I think I wore my supportive hiking boots with my orthotics for a week  every day. They were the only shoes that didn’t cause me pain! Eventually I found some supportive black shoes to wear that were more office friendly and didn’t make me look like a senior citizen. I also wore my running shoes and orthotics anytime I needed to walk somewhere far.

3. Orthotics. Another key thing I found that has helped, especially as I ease back into a running routine, was wearing my running shoes along with my orthotics the day before and the day after I ran. My orthotics are custom made and are covered by insurance (Thank goodness, they are expensive.)  Wearing unsupportive flats after a run was painful, and leaving my sneakers on (even if they don’t match my work clothes…) helped a lot.

4. Calf stretching. My Physical Therapist gave me a list of calf stretches to do to help stretch out the plantar fascia, the fibrous band of connective tissue that runs down the calf to the bottom of the foot. With overuse, the tissue tears and causes pain. For me it felt like someone was stabbing my heel with an ice pick every time I put weight on my foot. Ouch. Stretching 1-2x every day, before and after runs especially, helped me. Also, massaging my calves helps loosen things up.

The pro stretch device at Physical Therapy also helped stretch out my calves too. I’ve been meaning to get one of these for myself!

5. Pain Relief Cream. Someone recommended that I try Topricin, a homeopathic pain relief cream. I had samples of it from a while ago that I tried–and I don’t know how–but this stuff works! I ordered some from Amazon and I make sure to massage it into my heels and along the bottom of my feet before and after running and before I go to bed.

6. Frozen Water Bottle/Tennis ball rolling. This has to be the most common “cure” for PF that I’ve seen–the tennis ball technique! I try to do this once a day to help roll out the fascia on the bottom of my feet and loosen it up. I’m going to eventually graduate to a golf ball, which you can use once the pain disappears. But sometimes using even a tennis ball on inflamed heel is pure torture, so the frozen water bottle is best when it hurts.

Other methods for recovery

Night Splints. I have a set of night splints but I found them annoying and uncomfortable to wear during the night. Some say they really work though!

KT Tape. I got taped once at the PT’s office, and the tape stayed on a few days! I was interested to try it again to see if it would help me more, but I never got another taping session.

For those of you out there suffering, too. I feel your pain!! Hopefully these tips will help and get you running again!