Plantar Fasciatis

[[old] John Rupp]

Mark,<br /><br />If you didn't keep landing on your head, you wouldn't need the gel caps. <br />

[[old] Terry S]

This worked for me--ice the bottom of your foot at least daily for 10 minutes--especially after any exercise session. When the icing is completed, take a golf ball and place it under the arch of the foot. While seated, or standing but putting very limited weight on the foot, roll the ball around under your foot concentrating on the arch and back where your heel becomes your arch. You'll know when you're doing it in the right places because it feels really good--much as a good massage feels with some kneading of sore muscles. This idea came from a high school coach's book on treating sports injuries. <br /><br />This is an exquisitely painful, lingering injury. It won't disappear overnight, but this regimen should buy you some relief. After mine healed, I learned to be very careful never to overflex my foot. For example, I was able to resume running (without orthotics, etc.) but any time I knelt in front of the hearth to put in some fire wood, I learned to keep the tops of my toes flat on the floor rather than flexing my foot. If I forgot, I tended to reinjure the fascia. FWIW, I flex my feet on the erg without any recurrence; however, I set the footplates one notch higher than I might have otherwise with this in mind.<br /><br />Good luck.<br /><br />Terry

[[old] R S T]

<!--quoteo(post=57512:date=Feb 27 2006, 10:54 PM:name=DavidA)--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(DavidA @ Feb 27 2006, 10:54 PM) </b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--quoteo(post=57511:date=Feb 27 2006, 05:49 PM:name=R S T)--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(R S T @ Feb 27 2006, 05:49 PM) </b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'>How I beat a dose of PF:<br /><br />- Trip to the Orthodontist - listen to the experts, not some quacks on internet forums <br />Cheers<br />Richard<br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br />How did getting braces on your teeth help with PF? <br /><br />David<br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br />How embarrassing!!! <br /><br />Podiatrist, podiatrist, podiatrist............................................<br />

[[old] mpukita]

<!--quoteo(post=57781:date=Mar 1 2006, 05:26 AM:name=Terry S)--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(Terry S @ Mar 1 2006, 05:26 AM) </b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'>This worked for me--ice the bottom of your foot at least daily for 10 minutes--especially after any exercise session. When the icing is completed, take a golf ball and place it under the arch of the foot. While seated, or standing but putting very limited weight on the foot, roll the ball around under your foot concentrating on the arch and back where your heel becomes your arch. You'll know when you're doing it in the right places because it feels really good--much as a good massage feels with some kneading of sore muscles. This idea came from a high school coach's book on treating sports injuries. <br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br /><br />A buddy of mine uses an empty wine bottle ... instead of a golf ball ...

[[old] deppe4]

<!--quoteo(post=57810:date=Mar 1 2006, 07:32 AM:name=mpukita)--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(mpukita @ Mar 1 2006, 07:32 AM) </b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--quoteo(post=57781:date=Mar 1 2006, 05:26 AM:name=Terry S)--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(Terry S @ Mar 1 2006, 05:26 AM) </b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'>This worked for me--ice the bottom of your foot at least daily for 10 minutes--especially after any exercise session. When the icing is completed, take a golf ball and place it under the arch of the foot. While seated, or standing but putting very limited weight on the foot, roll the ball around under your foot concentrating on the arch and back where your heel becomes your arch. You'll know when you're doing it in the right places because it feels really good--much as a good massage feels with some kneading of sore muscles. This idea came from a high school coach's book on treating sports injuries. <br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br /><br />A buddy of mine uses an empty wine bottle ... instead of a golf ball ...<br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br />This topic came up on the Team Row Pain Row Gain thread...I'm copying over two links that a member listed for PF exercises: <a href="http://www.plantar-fasciitis-treatments ... rcises.php" target="_blank">http://www.plantar-fasciitis-treatments ... ses.php</a> and <a href="http://www.thestretchinghandbook.com/ar ... ciitis.htm" target="_blank">http://www.thestretchinghandbook.com/ar ... tm</a>.<br /><br />Also, when I was in PT one of the things they had me do was to pick up marbles with my toes and put the marbles in a bucket.<br /><br />-deppe4

[[old] morph000]

Well, that all made interesting (if predictable) reading !<br />First up - PF is one of the hardest injuries to treat effectively as I know from first hand experience with it.<br />I suffered with it before I got serious about eradicating it, which I did in 2 weeks, and 6 months on it hasn't returned.<br />What needs to be done here is to address the root cause of the problem rather than symptoms.<br />So.. forget about the orthotics, the shoe inserts etc. Clearly, anyone who's been wearing such devices for years and still has the problem is wasting their time with them ! They treat the symptoms and only provide transient relief and may create further problems by preventing the foot from functioning as nature intended it to.<br />(They're like using weight belts in bodybuilding for abdominal bracing - they don't work anywhere near as well as good strong abs and core stabilisers when it comes to providing stability.)<br />The Plantar Fascia is best treated by effective stretching and strengthening. As for not stretching an injured muscle - this would have to be one of the silliest things I've heard ! You MUST stretch in order to break down the scar tissue and regain a full range of motion !! A muscle with scar tissue is like a rope with a knot in it !<br />I would suggest the use of a seated calf raise machine with some decent weight as it will both stretch & strengthen very well.<br />Also check your calf muscle flexibility. ie do you have tight calves ? If so, some good calf stretching routines will prove invaluable. PNF based hamstring stretches work well here (ask your gym instructor for help here). If you have access to an incline leg press, you can use it in a calf raise mode but just let it plantar flex your feet (bend your feet towards you) by placing the balls of your feet on the edge of the plate and letting the weight bend your feet down.<br /><br />P.S. I'm a certified fitness instructor/personal trainer, dedicated gym junkie and hold a range of state records in various categories, so I might have some idea what I'm talking about..<br /><br />Hope this helps. Feel free to ask for more info.