I had pf (and still mildly do) for about 4 years. I would wake up first thing and use a belt , rope or towel looped around the forefoot and stretch my calf for 30 sec then bend knee about 45deg and stretch 30 more secs. repeat on other leg. I would do this thruout the day (up against a wall, curb , step or truck tire) 15-30x per day just constant. now my arch only gets tight after running hills. I wouldn’t use a golf ball as my orhto who helped me with this said it just further inflames the fascia use a tennis ball also roll your calves give it 2 months if no improvement I would look at orthotics.
[quote]knuckledragger74 wrote:
I had pf (and still mildly do) for about 4 years. I would wake up first thing and use a belt , rope or towel looped around the forefoot and stretch my calf for 30 sec then bend knee about 45deg and stretch 30 more secs. repeat on other leg. I would do this thruout the day (up against a wall, curb , step or truck tire) 15-30x per day just constant. now my arch only gets tight after running hills. I wouldn’t use a golf ball as my orhto who helped me with this said it just further inflames the fascia use a tennis ball also roll your calves give it 2 months if no improvement I would look at orthotics.[/quote]
Ditto with the tennis ball rolling for the fascia and calves. Also, as part of my lower body warm-up routine, I do wall ankle mobs which stretch the ankle/calves. And finally, as stupid as this sounds, when I sleep on my stomach, I allow my feet to dangle off the bed rather than force them into a toe pointed position.
The pain I initially felt gradually reduced to an annoyance and now is barely noticeable anymore. No cortisone shot required!
Another vote for barefoot lifting. I also do hindi squats as as a warmup or as needed during the day, and that has been a huge help over the years.
You have gotten a lot of good advice. I had PF in both feet two years ago and I iced my feet when they ached. I bought insoles to help with the pain. In addition, I slept in plantar fascitis night splints and I think they made a huge difference because my feet were in the correct position when I slept. I bought them on Amazon. Good luck, bro!
Wanted to say thank you to all those who replied to my post! I did indeed get a lot of good advice which I will follow.
Sincerely, Robert
I’ve been dealing with some PT issues on and off for about a year. It’s never affected my lifting, it’s always been walking/running longer distances (especially trying to walk fast). The whole arch of my foot hurts instead of just where the plantar fascia attaches to the heel which means cortisone shots are out as even a short term solution since they’d have to put the shot into the middle of my arch which would work for the pain but also mess with some nerves in the area that would make it nearly impossible for me to walk.
Here are the things that helped. Really good inserts for my shoes. I use Superfeet green which, my podiatrist tells me, are as good as they get before going to a custom insert which are REALLY expensive. Superfeet inserts are only $35. When I first started having issues I was in constant pain even sitting down. I put the inserts in and the moment I stepped on them, the pain stopped. Then it was just when walking, then only when walking quickly.
After a visit to a podiatrist, we tried a couple of things that didn’t really help. He advised me to get shoes with a stiffer toe so that I wouldn’t put as much stress on the plantar fascia when I push off. We were about to try custom inserts and when I balked at the cost, he suggested trying physical therapy instead. The physical therapist thought that my problem was a combination of a lack of flexibility and endurance rather than just strength.
So, for stretches he had me:
- Face the wall, place one foot back, toes pointed out just off of straight, with the foot flat on the floor, lean forward with a straight leg. You should feel it stretching your upper Achilles tendon/calf
- Keep one foot flat, pick the other up or just use it for balance, squat down keeping your foot flat. You should feel it stretch your lower Achilles tendon
For strength:
- One legged calf raises, use a table/wall/chair for balance, keep your leg mostly straight and just straight up and down on your foot as high as you can. Do it at about the rhythm you walk at for as many as you can do.
- Toe crunches. Try to make a fist with your toes as tight as you can then spread them back out. Again, about the same rhythm as your normal walk
- Balance on one leg. Lift one leg up slightly and balance on one foot for as long as you can. Once you get up to a minute or two, close your eyes for an extra layer of difficulty.
I did the stretching twice every day for two sets on each leg and the strength work once every other day, two sets on each leg. They were all easy to fit in to my day and things got noticeably better after about two weeks. The one-legged balance made the biggest impact for me but your mileage may vary.