PF and running

Hi, sorry to hear you are also suffering with this painful complaint. My PF came on whilst I was training for the London Moonwalk, 26.2 miles! I have suffered ever since. I signed up again and I'm currently training for this years event. I'm trying to stretch my foot and calf more this time, and I have some wonderful trainers, but today I am suffering after my 10 mile training walk yesterday. You'll see there is lots of advise on here, and all I can say is to try some if it. I don't intend going down the surgery route as I've heard mixed responses. 

This works for me: (hope it helps!)

1) Start by sitting on the ground, legs flat out in front of you.

2) Loop a strap around the ball (at the front pad) of the foot and gently pull the strap tight towards you, keeping the legs straight.

3) Only pull until you feel a gentle stretch, then hold the position for roughly thirty seconds. Breathe gently throughout.

4)Relax for 30 seconds and repeat 3-5 times.

Source and more exercises: happyfeet4ever .com (without spaces)

Hi, i was diagnosed with this hateful condition at Christmas , had to stop walking my daily 12k which has been so incredibly hard and depressing! only had one physio session where i was told to just rest it, no walking, riding etc.

 Well 10 weeks rest and no better it just the same despite stretching daily, wont take painkillers or the antiinflammatories..

 Any how i have been to two sessions of yoga and dare i say it but the extreme stretching seems to be having an effect, painfree two days.. dare'nt start serious walking again yet but who knows/ give it a try and also taping up is good , there is a demo on Utube by a physio- how to tape foot for PF, OH YES and the gel heel thingys are fab- get them on *bay much cheaper than B***s

Hi all,  I have ad PF for four weeks,  not as long as some of you, I was training for Manchester Marathon,  and did nothing to stupid,  I am a seasoned runner,  so this can obviously effect anyone,  I did a 10 mile run,  no pain at all,  but on stopping  I couldn't walk, rested for 3 days,  on the 4th day I ran 13 miles,  very little pain until again when I stopped.  Booked  in for massage which was now 8 days after it started hurting,  told to rest,  so I rested for another week,  went and had some accupuncture,  told it would cure it,  ran 2 days after and it killed me when I stopped, so again I rested,  however, a friend of mine told me about the FS6 compression sock (£12.99 of net) very dubious but willing to try anything.  been wearing it for 6 days,  even did an off road run of 5 miles,  with very little pain,  today I got up expecting pain as soon as I put my put on the floor,  BUT non !!! been in very little pain all day !!! won't say I am cured or if the sock has helped,  but I am now very hopefull,  that my PF is not going to be long term.

Things that might help: sleep with ankle high shoes on. This keeps your ankles at an ankle and helps to keep them streched during the night. This you can try if you do not get the strecthing supports from the doctor.

Check if you are keeping your knees bent when you walk. If you do you have too tight muscles at the back of your legs.

Get silicone heel pads for your everyday shoes. Also make sure your shoes have a cup for your heel where the "fatty pad" that is underneath your heel are sit in nice and snug so it does not extend to the sides or break. This helps cushion the heel area naturally. Also for me what helped is that the insoles have a support for the arch area of the foot. That supports the foot but also at the same time streches the plantar faschia.

What you can also try to do is what is called ballet pointe excerises. Please check youtube videos about it. Especially vid made by Kathryn Morgan might be very helpful. No need to go to the very extremes but gently do the excercices. Even couple of times might help.

My pf problms started after having knee problems due to tightness of the "band" that runs on the outer side of thight from hip to knee. I started walking knees bent. And that I got from too much sitting in the office and cycling. So too much one kind of stuff. And then the next thing was pf pain. One should be more versatile in ones use of body and that is the real root of the problem I think.

I have suffered three years maybe, but now getting better because had a three month break from cycling. Before that I did not do much about the problem but thinking that it would be something I would suffer the rest of my life. But getting my knees straight and doing those ballet pointe excersices helped straight away as well as proper insoles with a cup at the heel and arch support. Btw my insoles are also quite stiff so the feet do not get streched longitudally when taking a step that might be something that has helped too come to think of it now...

I used to have very painful soles in whole of the feet because of this, so kind of total PF and not just the heel.

If your feet ache at night or otherwise it might help to rub some painkiller ointment at the inside of the anke. However, it is worth noting that that might affect your sense of balance because there is a lot of balance sensory nerves at the ankles. So be careful moving then less you might trip and hurt yourself. This is at least what I have experienced.

Stay on the positive about it, it will get better. Leaving runnig for a bit might help, and doing something more versatile instead. In the end that might help your running even. Especially if you do something that helps with the core stability and helps you keep better running position and balance. That will mean less stress for the poor little feet. They are quite small in the relation of the task they need to do so no wonder they sometimes say they want to quit. Good luck with your feet, I hope they get better soon!

The reason to rub the painkiller ointment at the inside of the anke is because all the nerves travel on that side. But have to keep an eye on if that has an effect on one's balance then, so maybe keep best to put the ointment on only when going to bed.