Plantar Fasciitis, Anyone??

[Pbarrow]

Originally Posted by Mike Hodge

I recommend good insoles and a good stretching program --- not just the feet and calves, but the hamstrings low back and hips.

The more flexible you are, the more efficient you'll move...

I have semi custom insoles too, what an epiphany not only for this condition but for improved footwork. Also, I am surprised that the recommendation for yoga does not come up more often on threads like this. Modern day "power yoga" is no longer hippies chanting and meditating, it is for serious and older athletes doing active heated stretch routines and intense cardio which is perfect for tennis conditioning and injury prevention. If you have (almost) any of the ache and pain conditions discussed here regularly I highly recommend a visit to your local hot yoga studio and ask about power yoga and yoga for athletes (using small dumbbell weights). Namaste.

[user92626]

Awesome info. Thanks everyone for your contribution.

I've been trying to follow as many of your advices as possible. Amazingly, after knowing the term, the stuffs I researched and your info, things seem to be better. I got two new pairs of shoes with laces, put away all my laceless shoes, and been stretching and skipping tennis (the hardest part). The morning pain has reduced substantially.

Walking barefoot, which someone suggests, on cold tile floor is uncomfortable though. I walk around the house in a soft flip flop. But I think the suggestion to walk on a beach or grass makes a lot of sense.

Povl Carstensen, how do you make "homemade J-shaped heel insert"?

[Povl Carstensen]

Flipflops might not be at all good. Specially if they are old and worn out. Plus they do not have laces at all. Why not just use socks?
I read about the insert in a danish article (I am from Denmark). Basically I use the heel part of an normal insole I had lying around. Then cut out 1/4 of it, the front, outside 1/4, to reduce stress/press here under the foot. Then it looks sort of like an J (depending on whether it is right or left shoe). It seemed to fit in the way that this was where I was most sore. Might not work for everybody.

[heninfan99]

I"ve had this and it's a b!tich but I healed up 100%. When I had it the first steps in the morning were very painful. I believe Ihad caused it by playing in ill fitting worn sneakers for a whole season.
Here's what I did:
1. I bought shoes designed for this issue by Brooks just so I could walk without too much pain.
2. I stopped playing tennis for months --I had little tears in the bottom of my foot and I had to let them heal.
3. Massaged the bottom of my foot on a tennis ball while sitting down --kinda rolling it around.
4. When the pain subsided a bit I started to stretch the whole leg. You don't have to become a yoga guru but being flexible is paramount in tennis. I wish I were more so.

Also, seeing a physical therapist can be good esp. if they use ultrasound.
Anywho, I wear Nikes now and it hasn't been an issue for years.

[r2473]

Originally Posted by user92626

Walking barefoot, which someone suggests, on cold tile floor is uncomfortable though. I walk around the house in a soft flip flop.

Originally Posted by Povl Carstensen

Flipflops might not be at all good. Specially if they are old and worn out. Plus they do not have laces at all. Why not just use socks?

I have had pain in my feet from running, tennis, etc. I don't know if it was really PF, but it was and still is uncomfortable to walk around barefoot on cold, hard tile flooring as you suggest. For me, flip flops with cheap soles are just as bad if not worse and socks or slippers aren't any good either.

I had to find a pair of really good flip flops. Bite Mako's. Crocs bought Bite a few years ago and ran their products into the ground, so these are no longer sold, but I did see some on Fbay. That's where I got mine. These have a really comfy and sturdy footbead and a draw strap so you can tighten them to fit your foot. These are the best I've ever found. I bought several pair when they were still available.

[rufus_smith]

I've had PF of varying severity for 20 years and have tested just about every approach. Some people have it real severe, some have it mild. Some have it mainly in the heel area and some it over the entire sole of the foot. I doubt that it 100% curable for someone that stresses their feet often, like avid tennis players on a hardcourt. The goal is to keep it under control.

Some brief tips from my experience:

-ice pack the soles of your feet often especially after tennis or any walking.
-stretch the achilles tendon often especially after and before sleeping
-you definitely need a special insole or heel support in the tennis shoe that is more shock absorbent than what the shoe company provides. Inflasoles are the most extreme solution.
-a tight taping of the sole of the foot can help but it can get too time consuming on a daily basis.
-night splints help but can be annoying

good luck

[WildVolley]

Originally Posted by user92626

Awesome info. Thanks everyone for your contribution.

Walking barefoot, which someone suggests, on cold tile floor is uncomfortable though. I walk around the house in a soft flip flop. But I think the suggestion to walk on a beach or grass makes a lot of sense.

Since I believe I was the one advocating walking barefoot, let me explain what I did. I did not walk barefoot much on hard surfaces when I was still getting a lot of heal pain - I mostly wore Crocs. Once I wasn't feeling the heel ache in the mornings, I started going barefoot more and doing the foot exercises, calve raises on stairs, picking things up with rolling towels with toes, etc. Then I progressed to walking barefoot as much as possible.

Once your feet are healthy and strong, it does not hurt to walk on cold hard tile or concrete floors. That is if you learn how to properly walk barefoot, which means not slamming your heel into the ground (you may need to make stride adjustments) you will not feel pain and your very sensitive feet will desensitize to some extent. For instance, I go barefoot a lot, but not that often on really rough surfaces like crushed rock or very rough asphalt. It is quite comfortable to walk on tile or concrete.

My feet started getting sore as I walked more barefoot. But it was definitely a muscles soreness and as my feet have strengthened I feel it much less often. Walking barefoot allows you to use feet muscles more, and you'll adopt a softer walking style, which I feel is more akin to the way a cat moves than a clomping motion you can do in shoes.

I still play tennis in tennis shoes, but I've adopted much softer minimalist shoes for wearing out and about when being barefoot or in flat flip-flops would be inappropriate. It helps to live in a beach town. I can walk thru a grocery store without wearing shoes and not get hassled.

[JoelDali]

I used to date a girl named Plantar.

She was East Indian.

GPOAT worthy.

[yemenmocha]

Yes I have it off and on.

Best form of help was high quality custom made orthodics from a podiatrist. I found a sports focused office too. The guy is/was the podiatrist for the Phoenix Suns.

I did therapy with them as well (massage and some other stuff) plus a regimen of stretches and activities involving a ball.

Ibuprofen.

Weight loss.

Night splint.


But by far the best thing was the custom orthodics. Night splints were maybe 2nd.

[heninfan99]

Yes "weight loss" that was key for me too.

Originally Posted by yemenmocha

Yes I have it off and on.

Best form of help was high quality custom made orthodics from a podiatrist. I found a sports focused office too. The guy is/was the podiatrist for the Phoenix Suns.

I did therapy with them as well (massage and some other stuff) plus a regimen of stretches and activities involving a ball.

Ibuprofen.

Weight loss.

Night splint.


But by far the best thing was the custom orthodics. Night splints were maybe 2nd.

[Povl Carstensen]

By the way, the stretches I did were the exercises for feet problems in Peter Egoscues book. They involve a little more than regúlar stretches, but can be done in 10 minutes in the morning.
http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showthread.php?t=446105

[Frank Silbermann]

HTP Heel Seats worked for me.

[ericsson]

A lot of bad info here IMHO, first of all, it should be called Plantar Fasciosis instead of Fasciitis cos it is rarely inflamed so ice, ibu's etc... is a waste of use.
What you should do is walk barefoot most of the time, if not possible, wear minimalistic shoes with zero drop, wide toe box, no toe spring. (Altra, Vivobarefoot, Leming etc..)
Get rid of the orthotics, only weaken your feet more and more.
Massage lightly with a bal under the foot. Never stretch very tight cos you will only make it worse. Instead do it lightly and stretch your toes cos these can play a big role in PF.
Last but not least look for any triggerpoints in the calf muscle inside the tibia bone, massage your calves with a roller or foam roller.


Plantar fasciosis is the degeneration (deterioration) of the plantar fascia as a result of repetitive stress. This is proven by Dr. Lemont (Temple University) in a study bye the Journal of the American Podiatric Medical Association.
Lemont had looked at tissue samples from 50 patients undergoing heel-spur surgery for chronic plantar fascitis. Like many, Lemont had been taught that plantar fascitis was the result of inflammation of the plantar fascia. "In fact," he wrote, "the suffix '-itis' inherently implies an inflammatory disease."

But that wasn't what he and his colleagues saw under the microscope. Not a single sample showed signs of inflammation. Rather, the tissues appeared to have been damaged from repeated micro-tears and associated cell death. Lemont concluded that this called into question the widespread treatment of plantar fascitis with cortisone shots and anti-inflamatories. If there's no inflammation, such treatments won't work.

[TCF]

========================================

[WildVolley]

Originally Posted by ericsson

A lot of bad info here IMHO, first of all, it should be called Plantar Fasciosis instead of Fasciitis cos it is rarely inflamed so ice, ibu's etc... is a waste of use.
What you should do is walk barefoot most of the time, if not possible, wear minimalistic shoes with zero drop, wide toe box, no toe spring. (Altra, Vivobarefoot, Leming etc..)
Get rid of the orthotics, only weaken your feet more and more.
Massage lightly with a ball under the foot. Never stretch very tight cos you will only make it worse. Instead do it lightly and stretch your toes cos these can play a big role in PF.
Last but not least look for any triggerpoints in the calf muscle inside the tibia bone, massage your calves with a roller or foam roller.

I tend to agree with you, but we're definitely on the fringe on this issue at the moment. I got a cure by strengthening my feet and have not had any further troubles.

I wear Leming shoes around casually when I can't go barefoot and I use Yonex tennis shoes when I play because they don't pinch my toes. It made a huge difference for me, but one case is just an anecdote, and I doubt there will be any studies on this soon.

I still read articles claiming that being barefoot or wearing flip-flops causes PF. So the podiatry industry does not accept this sort of "treatment" or exercise. Most people will not ignore the podiatrist's advice.

[woodrow1029]

Nostradamus started a thread quite a while ago. Check this one out. You may ask him more questions.

http://tt.tennis-warehouse.com/showt...hlight=plantar

[Povl Carstensen]

Originally Posted by WildVolley

I still read articles claiming that being barefoot or wearing flip-flops causes PF.

To me wearing flip flops and going barefoot have very little to do with each other. On the contrary actually.

[user92626]

Oh wow...the info coming in is starting to be ....overloading and confusing. Now I can't decide whether to go barefoot or with flip flop or tightly laced shoes or comfortable laceless shoes.

My injured foot has never been swollen. I could definitely feel that there was tearing in the heel. Since applying some advices from this thread (stretching, strung shoes, skipping tennis) my foot is getting much better. It fits for walking as much as I want, but definitely not ready for tennis running.

Wearing shoes that hug the sole of your foot kinda makes sense because don't you get more support that way? Instead of just the heel and ball parts of the foot?

My flip flop feels soft and provides cushioning for the injured part, no?

I've been doing this exercise where I stand on a stairway step with half of my feet and rise up and down!

[purple-n-gold]

Years ago a colleague gave me a great explaination of PF pain. The tear in the fascia heals, "scabs" over during sleep/rest and when you get up and bear weight, those first ginger like and painful steps are the tears reopening. He had a severe case and had to get a pair of some special shoes as well as some custom orthotics that were built up in the arch. I had a mild case 10 yrs ago that I believe originated from trauma to the heel from running down steps to a code. I spent alot of time on my feet on hard floors and was overweight. I invested in better shoes and insoles, did the calf stretching that you mentioned and it gradually went away but it took some time. The advice of going barefoot might be of some benefit eventually, but I would not expect it to during the initial, acute phase. Flip flops though are probably the worst thing one can wear with any foot issue.

[WildVolley]

Originally Posted by Povl Carstensen

To me wearing flip flops and going barefoot have very little to do with each other. On the contrary actually.

In both cases, the podiatrists tend to argue that the foot is not "supported." I will agree with you that some flip-flops are really like shoes and some people change gate when wearing them.

However, some of the cheap flip flops aren't too much different than going barefoot if you're just walking around - in my experience. These are flips with flat soles and little cushioning. I don't have to do any gripping with my toes to keep them on. It is a little harder to do the normal barefoot stride.