“The Miracle isn’t that I Finished, The Miracle is that I had the Courage to Start”

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Plantar Fasciitis

Wow, I have 25 followers... I am so humbled.  Thank you for stopping by and reading about my journey. 

Well as you all know from the last post I have been having an issue with my heel. Thank you all for the diagnosis which was confirmed during my annual physical Friday. 

PLANTAR FASCIITIS! 

Definition:
Plantar fasciitis (PLAN-tur fas-e-I-tis) is one of the most common causes of heel pain. It involves pain and inflammation of a thick band of tissue, called the plantar fascia, which runs across the bottom of your foot — connecting your heel bone to your toes.
Plantar fasciitis causes stabbing pain that usually occurs with your very first steps in the morning. Once your foot limbers up, the pain of plantar fasciitis normally decreases, but it may return after long periods of standing or after getting up from a seated position.
Plantar fasciitis is particularly common in runners.

 
This is where you feel pain


Causes:
Under normal circumstances, your plantar fascia acts like a shock-absorbing bowstring, supporting the arch in your foot. But, if tension on that bowstring becomes too great, it can create small tears in the fascia. Repetitive stretching and tearing can cause the fascia to become irritated or inflamed.
Illustration showing plantar fascia and location of heel pain



I was pretty bummed, thinking I would have to stop running for a few weeks.  My Doctor is a fellow runner and gave me a night splint to wear.  He also told me that my shoes probably where a contributing factor.  So back to my Asic Gel Nimbus.  Asic's are the shoes  a running store fitted me in.


I did not run on Friday, Doc said to rest.  He told me to wear the night splint, ice as needed, and walk on Saturday. I could determine whether I should do my long run or head to the pool after the walk.  

The night splint was a little awkward but hey if it will keep me running I will try anything.  I woke up and took the splint off.  No pain when I went to walk!  No way it can't be that easy.

I headed out to walk later in the day.  Can you say slushy... I came home and my feet were soaking wet. My heel was sore after I sat for awhile but not too bad.  I will wear the splint again tonight and I will be running my long run of 8 miles tomorrow.

I would highly suggest the night splint if you ever get Plantar Fasciitis.  And make sure you have a good pair of running shoes. 


My Night Splint



Have you ever worn a night splint?

Would you wear a night splint for plantar fasciitis?




I hope you enjoyed the Medical Lesson!

7 comments:

Unknown said...

I did enjoy my medical lesson. Thanks for showing pictures of where the pain is exactly located. I've thought I had PF before, but was wrong (thank goodness). Take care of yourself--and get past this injury!

RunToTheFinish said...

ahh bummer! i had a bit of this, but was able to really continuously use a tennis ball and frozen water bottle to roll my foot over and keep workign on those muscles. Hope you are able to recovery quickly since it looks like you are being smart!

Anonymous said...

Sorry to hear. I pray for a quick recovery.

ashley said...

setbacks are so annoying! I didn't see a doc but pretty sure I had this at end of summer... ole self diagnosis lol. and I hadn't replaced my shoes in 8 months at the time... so bad just walking was miserable! hope u heal fast!! that's great that doc didn't ban running.

Anonymous said...

OH NO!!! I'm glad you caught it early. Heal quickly!

Penny said...

Hope you get better soon. Thanks for the info.

coach dion said...

I should be working, but the boss isn't watching, and I enjoyed your story. I would love one of those night splints. I don't have plantar, but I've got 'stiff' achilles in the morning, and I'm sure that would help. What else to they say, ice and role your foot on a golf ball!!! good luck and I'll keep reading to see you knock of the halfs off...