UKC

I have been suffering on and off for a year or two now with a strain of my plantar fascia. Pretty sure I stretched it rushing down a Snowdon trail wearing soft-soled boots that sagged in the middle when stepping on two rocks with a gap in between. I went climbing the other day and standing on my toes definitely made it much worse. Now every morning it feels tight.

My question is - has anyone here had it and then come back strong from it? If so, what were your rehab techniques?

Thanks!

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant:

Do you mean plantar fascia or achilles?

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant:
golf ball/superball rolled under arch of foot 10-15 mins a day for a week - works for me

are you not a bit young for PF? could be something else

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant:

Try wearing a night splint. It keeps the foot at about 90° during the night instead of allowing it to flop down allowing the plantar fascia to contract. Worked for me following a partcularly hard swing into the rock. Lots of them on the market. They all look a bit like this: http://www.amazon.com/Florida-Orthopedics-Healwell-Plantar-Fasciitis/dp/B00...

In reply to jon:

Specifically fitted and moulded NHS orthotics in my work shoes. It was those that gave me my problems. I don't wear a pointed toe any more either.

I've actually managed to start running in a neutral shoe again as well without any raised arches or support.

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant:


On and off over the years. When it flares up I stop bouldering, wear softer shoes, walk less, eat painkillers and try to avoid mornings. Time takes the edge off it, generally one month of 'rest' from agonizing to niggling, another couple and it's forgotten about. All the rehab stuff the doctor provided me with was aimed at the elderly and basically involved gentle stretches and being more active but only to a level I was already exceeding even in my hobbled state. Stretching my feet out before getting out of bed did seem worthwhile.

That said, it's probably still worth seeing your doctor, you never know, you may get a useful referral.

jk

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant:

I had it for a while last year. I put it down to changing my gym shoe to a slimline low profile shoe(perfectly timed a couple of months before an alpine trip).
A lot of stretching eased the problem enough, though I am now still have pain in my Achilles I've yet to remedy.

Good luck with it.

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant:

footwear. I was wearing very thin soled flat shoes all the time, and running in cheap trainers rather than proper running shoes. switched to proper running shoes, and stopped living in the same pair of shoes all the time (a lot easier if you're female as there is more variation in things like heel height)and the problem went away with time

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant:

Hi,

I changed my footwear from running trainers to 3/4-season boot's. I walked for years in trainers and the stress on the feet from a lack of a good sturdy sole ended up with me having the Plantar Fasciitis to the point where I hobbled about.

It takes time for your feet to settle and the stress to go so you have to be patient.

I also did some exercises like rolling a tennis ball under the arch of my foot for 10 mins before bed, stretching the calves and feet in the morning and daytime regularly.

It hasn’t gone away 100% though, if I wear trainers again after 15 miles I can feel the foot complaining a little, but with boots there’s no issues whatever the mileage/terrain.

There’s arch support you can use but it’s expensive stuff and really is more chance than cure. There are some soles you put in the oven and then stand on the soles to mould your foot so they are kind of personalised for you, they worked ok but they cost 30 quid a throw.

Really, I’d say change footwear for a good boot like Meindl or Scarper and leave the trainers/soft soles alone, walk in the boots as much as possible even if it’s just around town or on the hill etc. Not sure on the climbing side of things I’m sorry. Perhaps if you rest a little and use the boot technique the foot will de-stress and climbing will just come back naturally.

Jason

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant:

As others have mentioned - golf ball and specific stretching exercises, coupled to changing footwear as necessary to give appropriate support and cushioning.

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant:

Slightly usually, I managed to strain mine whilst wearing sensible stiff boots - I think they were too high volume (and to some extent not thick enough socks, but mainly wrong boots for me) and being used to wearing fell shoes, when faced with trying to regain balance on very steep ground, twisted my foot *within* the boot to try and get control rather than edging.

Probably not as badly strained as yours, though - my approach has been to wear stiff boots (not the same pair!) when doing long days or carring a heavy pack, but to wear thin, flexible shoes when doing short gentle stuff. Even things as simple as carrying a rucsac full of shopping for a mile was enough to set it off in thin shoes to start with. Certainly seems to be improving, though (damaged it before Christmas some time).

It was absolutely fine on ski trip, but can't recommend wearing ski boots at all times....

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant:

On top of rolling a tin or golfball under my foot, taping the arch of my foot helped me.

youtube.com/watch?v=1jQv_CipqyU&

I used the thinner tape rather than the thick stuff on this video but it helped enormously and got me back running a lot sooner than rolling alone.