Long Term Solution for Plantar Fasciitis

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Heel Pain when you wake up?  Here’s a 3 step approach to treating Plantar Fasciitis

Do you have heel pain when you first wake up in the morning?  Is that first step just a killer?  Plantar Fasciitis is a common running injury and is also common among people who spend a lot of time on their feet in shoes.  Where it isn’t common is among habitual barefoot populations…in fact, it doesn’t exist among people that don’t wear shoes.  In 18 years of working with people with Plantar Fasciitis, I’ve seen a good deal of what works and what doesn’t.  There doesn’t seem to be any magic bullet.  Sure, getting arch supports or wearing a night splint may provide some immediate relief, but they often don’t end up being a long term solution.   Despite what many believe, it can be cured long term, it just takes a bit of commitment…

Plantar Fasciitis Treatment

Step 1) Reduce Inflammation

-          Ice (Rolling a frozen Dixie cup works well)

-          Topical Anti-Inflammatory, preferably Myomed

-          Anti-Inflammatory

-          Soft Arch Supports (When not strengthening)

Step 2) Break Up Scar Tissue/Stretch

-          Deep tissue massage every 3^rd day

-          Roll a Foot Rubz ball (preferable) or Golf/Tennis Ball regularly

-          Stretch Calves & Feet (Especially before getting out of bed-Lots of stretches on the internet)

Step 3) Strengthen (Most Important Part)

-          Start with 30 seconds of barefoot running/walking on soft/natural surfaces and add 30 seconds every day or 2 (Probably the single most effective way to eradicate PF; subtract this time from your regular workout, i.e. 30 Minute Regular Workout = 29 minutes in shoes, 1 minute barefoot)

-          Pull in a towel w/toes and repeat

-          Pick up marbles w/toes and spell alphabet

-          Stand on one foot (affected foot):  1) Waiting in line, standing at work, whenever, wherever   2) As an exercise: barefoot eyes closed on carpet

Notes: The goal is to inversely fade out the need for support while slowly fading in foot strengthening, thus making the foot strong and independent.

Stay away from being barefoot on hard, flat, surfaces, etc. until feet are strong enough to handle it.

Feet have been weakened by years of shoes and arch support, it will take some time to get feet strong enough to reverse those effects.

In many people, devices like the Strassburg Sock drastically   reduce the “first step in the morning” pain.

Continue strengthening/barefoot running once or twice a week

In my experience, the closest thing to a magic bullet for curing this thing is the one thing my customers tell me the doctor or podiatrist never told them: strengthen your feet.  In conjunction with reducing the inflammation and reducing the scar tissue that is built up as a result, making the feet strong seems to be the long term solution to curing Plantar Fasciitis.  It stands to reason that if habitually barefoot people don’t experience Plantar Fasciitis while those of us with shoes and arch supports do, there has to be a reason.  That reason is likely that their feet are strong while ours are weak.

In theory, wearing shoes and arch supports do for our feet what our feet should be doing for themselves, which ultimately ends up weakening our feet.  As our feet become weaker, we need more and more support, and a cycle of dependence is in place.   This is the reason people may feel some relief when getting arch supports or orthotics, but a few months to a few years later, the pain comes back worse than ever.  I rarely meet customers who love their orthotics, and even those that say they like them admit that they are dependent on them and wish they didn’t “have to” wear them.  In essence, they don’t.  Even dependence on arch support can be reduced by returning the feet to their natural state by making them strong.  To say that we “need” support is to argue that we weren’t created right or that evolution didn’t work.

Keep in mind that Plantar Fasciitis is virtually non-existent in barefoot populations…Returning our feet to a more natural state by reducing the inflammation that has built up, breaking up the scar tissue, and then strengthening the feet will have very positive effects with arch and heel pain and throughout the body.

K. Golden Harper, Runner’s Corner  www.Runners-Corner.com

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010 at 11:51 am and is filed under Injuries & Treatment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. Edit this entry.