UKC

after a long lay off the hills ive started back full of enthusiasm and been out numerous times over the last month.
almost immediately ive hit a major issue.
during hillwalking and especially after I get very severe heel pain to the point where I can hardly walk the next day. the symptoms all point to plantar fasciitis and tie in with what a physio mentioned recently about me having flat feet.
So it looks like a visit to a podiatrist as ive tried shock absorbing insoles and different boots and nothing seems to improve the situation.
anyone suffered from this and had a successful course of treatment ?

cheers.

In reply to buzby: no, but i know plenty who have. Start with strenghening, stretching and careful shoe choice.

Have you had it before?

In reply to buzby:


Can't comment on your heel problem but I can comment on seeing a podiatrist. Podiatrists are worth their weight in gold and I have been wearing bespoke prosthetic insoles since 1993. Without them I would have knee pain so bad that it would hurt walking up stairs. However with corrective footwear, I can get about my life pain-free.

In reply to buzby:


Do you mean a problem? Sorry to hijack but I bet until last year you'd have said problem rather than issue.

In reply to wbo:

not had it before but ive been aware of it for about the last year when getting up in the morning or standing for long periods, however I could walk it off after a few minutes so hadn't worried to much.
However since returning to hillwalking its been getting worse and today after a trip up Ben Vorlich I seriously thought I wasn't going to make it back to the car along the main road, walking on the flat after doing a long decent seems to be the worst part.

In reply to buzby:
I had a bout of this about 3 years ago. Came on really fast and quickly became quite debilitating if I needed to walk over a mile or so. My breakthrough came from using a golf ball rolled under the foot in the mornings when I got up (when it was at its most painful) and last thing at night, this hurt like hell but pretty much cleared it up in a month. I, like you, suffer from flat feet.

In reply to The Lemming:

yep I think a podiatrist is the next step, do you wear the prosthetic insoles in your walking boots as well ?

In reply to buzby:
I have had it for 3 years ,insoles a priority I tried all sorts of exercises and read all sites I tried resting it never improved kept walking painful but eventually was manageable everyone tries different things I only had it on one foot some less fortunate get it on both, it takes time dont think anythings perfect cure ,torture but it does get better ,stretches and insoles worked for me for something very common theres not a lot you can do. I now have insoles in all my footwear never go barefoot .

In reply to aln:


Hi aln, yes I suppose problem would be a better description ? cant figure out the reference to "last year" ?

In reply to buzby:


I wear them in everything, except my slippers and rock shoes.

In reply to buzby:

I'd suggest getting a sock designed to strech the fascia overnight. (google plantar fasciitis sock)

I made one out of a sock and some velcro - wore it for a week, ran a half... no problem.

Cheers
LD

In reply to buzby:

Mine was connected to tight calf muscles.

In reply to buzby: this is rather extreme, but for those who've had it for years, check that you haven't development a bone spur. If you have this rather than purely soft issue, then a simple fix is surgical removal. I used to train with two people who every few years would get this done, as 2 weeks rest was a better solution than continually bodging that didn't work.

In this case though into the sudden increase in workload, so , as stated earlier

In reply to buzby:

I've had it and its grim, unfortunately. For me inserts were counter productive. The best thing I did is buy some green superfeet and use them in everything, and to use really comfortable approach style shoes all the time.

I didn't have that much luck with the golf ball/tennis ball massages but some do.

I also started on so serious stretching exercises before and after exercise (toe on a slight step, heel on floor, gentle push into the stretch ) and ice after exercise which did eventually help.

I feel your pain !

In reply to buzby:

I had it so painfully that I couldn't walk along the street for more than half an hour without wanting to get the weight off my feet. I was thinking I'd have to stop going in the hills at all, which was rather depressing. Fortunately when I went to our GP who is in the local MRT and whose wife had suffered the same problem sent me straight to a ski shop in Kendal where they make insoles to treat foot problems - he said quite a lot of fell runners use their service and it had caused immediate relief for his wife and I'd get an instant cure.

Of course I didn't believe him and took his second option of the local NHS service in the meantime and their inserts for PF did me no good at all. When I finally went to Kendal and paid my £70 (Not superfeet, tried them and they didn't work at all) it really was instant relief - wear them in all footwear including shoes and I can go out and have decently long days on the hill. Helped my knees a fair bit as well. I think wearing footwear when it is past its sellby date and perhaps not of the best quality didn't help and I could probably lose some weight.

In reply to buzby:

Calf raises, ball massage, moulded insoles. I never walk around bare foot on a hard floor - Crocs for indoors. Loads of stuff on youtube

In reply to buzby:

Is it worse when you get out of bed in the morning? If so a night splint or as Lurking Dave suggests, a DIY sock, may well help. I bought a night splint - lots available - and it fixed the problem very quickly.

In reply to buzby:

do you tend to wear the same shoes quite a lot? I get this occasionally, all three times so far have been in summer when I get addicted to just wearing converse type trainers day in day out, when its happened I'v found that stopping wearing the same shoes all the time has sorted it out for me quite quickly (ie in a few weeks)

In reply to buzby:

I suffer from acute flare ups periodically and general heel pain much of the time. You have my sympathy but I have no really good advice, I just live with it and try to avoid causing flare ups. Insoles help with thin or hard soled shoes.

Stretching calf muscles is supposed to help, that, painkillers and cortisone were the GP's only suggestions when I asked.

jk

In reply to buzby:

For me the solution in the mountains has been stiff soles. When the sole is stiff (ie B2) it doesn't let my arch stretch and doesn't let the boot sag between rocks.

For lighter terrain I've found Teva sandals to be pretty much a bra for the fasci. So supportive I was wearing them until the end of autumn.

In reply to purplemonkeyelephant:

thanks for all the info folks, encouraging to see people finding solutions as I was worried there would be nothing that could be done.
podiatrist booked.
interesting info about the stiff boots as I felt using my b0 summer boots made it worse than when I used a b1 stiffer boot.
might look out the old scarpa plastic double boots, lol.