Plantar Fascitis?

[evansprater]

Well, I'm in Damascus and can't tell if I have plantar fascitis or not. Everything I've read on WhiteBlaze says morning pain is usual with the condition, though I really only get arch pain a few miles in to my hike and it persists mildly throughout the rest of the day, though I walked 22 miles yesterday and it seemed fine from miles 19-22...? I am wearing SOLE soles that corrected a sharper, more persistent arch pain I had on mile 50 which they literally cured that day. I have Brooks Cascadia 9's that are starting to develop some holes, could it be the lack of shoe support now? The pain is only about 5/10 or 6/10 at most and I have been using icy hot/ankle brace to help support it, to little avail. I'm just not sure if I should treat it like a strain or a case of PF, any help is greatly appreciated!

[psyon27]

If it is plantar fascitis then ice helps more than heat. Ibuprofen, stretching, and arch support help the most.
Ken

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[map man]

A replacement pair of shoes is worth a try (the same model or different model -- it's your call) and so is dialing down your daily miles for a bit. Both might help.

[nastynate]

Struggled for 2 years with this while running. Cut my miles way back and put Powerstep insoles in my work boots. I know this doesn't help a ton while on the trail though.

[Marta]

I've been battling this since last summer. The pf-specific exercises were too little to be effective. What finally finished it off was practicing yoga. (I subscribed to gaiamtv.com for the yoga videos, rather than buying a dvd or two.) When I first started a daily practice, I could feel the sore area of my foot stretch. Within a month the pain was completely gone, for the first time in 10 months.

[July]

Here is an interesting read for you, http://www.somastruct.com/cause-of-plantar-fasciitis/

[johnnybgood]

First off I would buy a new pair of shoes with good arch support insoles to help relax the plantar fascia ligament which runs along the heel , forward across the arch toward the front of the foot.
Stretching the ligament out every chance you get by using a solid surface to press against ,i.e (tree)also helps as does putting ice on the heel once in camp. Take Ibuprofen in the morning to help with breaking the cycle of inflammation

[evansprater]

Here is an interesting read for you, http://www.somastruct.com/cause-of-plantar-fasciitis/

Wow. Very interesting read. Seems to corroborate what I've always believed and discovered over the last few days of research. I think I will be weening myself into a pair of Vibram Spyridon LS's starting next Saturday.

[July]

If this is PF, and you are switching footwear, it will still take some time for the foot to heal. Reducing your miles AND rest should help alot. Good Hiking!

[Sarcasm the elf]

Wow. Very interesting read. Seems to corroborate what I've always believed and discovered over the last few days of research. I think I will be weening myself into a pair of Vibram Spyridon LS's starting next Saturday.

I would caution that barefoot running shoes are for people who know how to properly run barefoot and aren't meant for you to simply switch from traditonal shoes into them. If you switch directly from regular shoes into barefoot shoes, you will still walk and run the wrong way and set yourself up for potential injury, (I learned this the hard way)

Take a read through this link and get some practice before switching to minimalist shoes.

http://barefootrunning.com/?page_id=109#begin-here

[hilltackler]

I'd have to agree "the elf" the barefoot running type shoes are not the answere for PF, in my opinion. A couple of years ago I had a very bad case of PF from over training for a race and it took quite some time for the pain to go away. The things that worked over time were calf and hamstring stretching 2x daily, especially before going to bed, wearing inserts in my shoes and always wearing good footwear. And the biggest thing was cutting way, way back on time spent on my feet - this may not be what thru hiker wants to hear obviously...this is something that you've planned for and rearranged your life to complete in a certain amount of time. But I will say that if the PF gets bad enough you may not be able to walk that much at all on the trail. So maybe stretch, ice, anti-imflammatory, new shoes, and take a couple EASY days and with any luck it will go away very quickly. Also doing 20plus mile days for your whole journey is a recipe for injury anyway - I'm sure I many will disagree but I've trained for a lot of races of varying lenghths and every good training plan cuts mileage and intensity every 3 or 4 weeks to allow the muscles to repair, etc. since following this concept I have been injury free so I guess I'm a believer!
I wish you a speedy recovery!

[Don H]

Yes, buy new shoes! I wore Brooks Adrenaline trail runners on my thru and replaced them at least every 500 miles.
I've had PF twice and it takes a long time (months not weeks) to get over it, even with therapy.
Some people don't like 'em but I swear by Superfeet insoles. You gotta get the right ones that work for your feet though and it takes a while to get use to them.

Good Luck!

[MuddyWaters]

Arch support works to stop PF pain in my experience. When I was in college I only got PF pain when wearing some sperry topsiders with no arch support in them, never when wearing athletic shoes.

Eventually my PF got really bad from heavy weightlifting. My feet were flat. I could feel it in my skiboots that had had custom molded footbeds, as well as my cowboy boots. They now hurt to wear.

I started wearing orthotics that put arch back into my foot. Very uncomfortable at first, like walking on golf balls. Have not had a PF pain since that day. 23 yrs later, still wear them in my shoes every day. My feet have arch, havent had a pain since.

YMMV.