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Kelly H.
Kelly H. Sendmail

Can you run through plantar fasciitis?

asked 4 months ago | Report

I've been battling plantar fasciitis for about six months now. I've been to several doctors and read about all kinds of ways of treating it. I'm doing just about everything you can to treat it at home. I learned quite by accident a couple weeks ago, that if I swim for a half hour or longer after my runs, my foot is almost completely pain free till my next run. This has given me a big boost and I've started training harder than ever. My question is, has anyone that has had PF gotten it to heal while continuing to run? Or do you really have to take months off of running to get it to go away completely?

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  • Branson S.
    Branson S. Sendmail

    I have battled PF multiple times. Most treatments try to treat the tightness in the foot, not the root of the problem. The tightness is coming from your lower calf mucles. What I do is role your foot on a frozen bottle for a while, really roll it. You will find angles and ways that hit the right area. After a few minutes stretch your lower calf. Do this 2 or 3 times a night. Something else I do is walk barefoot atleast 3 times a week. This helps keep the foot loose, and strengthens the lower underdeveloped calf mucles. While racking up high miles in shoes that dont allow your foor to properly flex, barefoot walking will help. Wear the New Balance minibus or 5 finger shoes if you cant do bearfoot

    answered 4 months ago |Report

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  • John D.
    John D. Sendmail

    Not sure if you should run through the pain, but my feet usually stop hurting once I stretch and get warmed up. I think the pool my be having the ice effect if it is cool enough. For the PF I have dealt with, I focussed on calf stretching and foot strength. I usually stand on one foot on the wobble board for a few minutes each foot. When you get the strength, you can stand on the ball side on one foot. This is the only thing that ever helped me and is great for overall balance and lower leg strength.

    answered 4 months ago |Report

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  • Kevan T.
    Kevan T. Sendmail

    Ask a woman runner!! Women have a much higher tolerance for pain then men....sorry men you know it is true!! I have known many top women runners and they normally run injured much more often than a man would.

    answered 4 months ago |Report

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  • David P.
    David P. Sendmail

    I had it in my left foot, in 2009. I tried not running but that only seemed to help so much. It really did not start betting better till I started running again. I currently have it in my right foot, and am getting better, while still running.

    answered 4 months ago |Report

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  • Nick C.
    Nick C. Sendmail

    To second much of what has been said here, treat the foot but also pay strong attention to stretching your calves. I had PF for a total of 2 years, running through it the whole time. The first 6 months I ignored it and it got worse. Then I started treating the foot with rolling on a golf ball, massage, icing, Strassburg sock, etc and it would get better for a while but flare up occasionally. After another year I saw a podiatrist who pointed out I had really tight calves. I started stretching them 3 times a day, only took a minute or two each time, and it went away in short order. Kept up the stretching for a few months and it hasn't come back.

    answered 4 months ago |Report

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  • Morey B.
    Morey B. Sendmail

    If there's anything I've learned about PF is that each person is different, and likely the problem that each person is suffering from may be from a different cause- even though it's in the same place.

    In general- if I stopped running every time I had a pain, I'd never run. So, I try to listen to my body. Run through some pain, rest through other. I'm a firm believer that in more cases than not- movement (and blood flow) aides healing. As long as your body is telling you that you're not doing more damage to it. Your swimming experience is a good example of this.

    answered 4 months ago |Report

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