Jogger's heel / plantar fasciitis and pool

WildWing

Super Gun Mod
Silver Member
Sometimes you get lucky and those otc inserts work. Not me. I went the podiatrist route. Kinda pricey but they work.

This is the right answer. Being a lifelong runner, I got plantar fasciitis and heel spurs back in 1995 It takes a podiatrist to get it right. He or she will take a cast of your feet and order custom orthotics to put into your shoes to keep the arches from collapsing. The collapsing arches is what rubs the heel tendon to death.

There are plain orthotics, and what's called a flange orthotic, which has extensions up the sides a bit. I use the flange orthotics, no more pain in the feet. Hope that helps.

All the best,
WW
 

skogstokig

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
never thought this forum would be such a well of knowledge. some of those shoe brands i hadn't even heard of. i'll look into them + that night-stretch thingy

will be getting custom inserts made from cast monday. hopefully that will do the trick together with stretches and ibuprofen.
 

worktheknight

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I done about everything you can think of, so darn bad, every shoe, every insert,
some relief in getting a wrap at a walgreens that ends up in a X behind and above
your heel, then a sock and then a slip on foot and ankle support, Thirteen months
of pain, luckily, it was my lead foot in pool as if it was the back foot, I am not sure
if I could have done it. Darn thing left me worn out everyday, night time, rolled foot
on a frozen water bottle. Thirteen months later, woke up, all gone and threw the
all the stuff away. Good since.
Good Luck.
 

ChrisinNC

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
got this crap last sunday after a day of workout and pool playing. i've had pain all week. anyone experienced in this?

is playing pool off the table?

:sorry:
Go to a foot doctor and get a steroid shot right in the heel. Most pain I’ve ever felt, but it worked!
 

sixpack

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Ok. So I really struggled with this about 7 or 8 years ago and seemed to have solved it.

I AM NOT A DR. PLEASE USE WHAT I SAY AS A STARTING POINT TO DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH.

I just wanted to add this because I haven't seen anyone else talk about it.

I work on my feet on concrete 7 days a week seasonally and much of the time I am carrying heavy weight. So a lot of punishment on my feet.

My heel really started hurting and after doing research I decided that it was Plantar Fasciitis. Fit every symptom and consistent with everything I could find about it.

The pain was so bad in the mornings that I would wake up, take an advil and then wait until I tolerate putting my foot on the floor before getting up.

I got Dr. Scholl's heel inserts that say "Works on PF" and they definitely helped.

What I did that was different from everybody is that I got Vibram 5-finger shoes. The ones that have no padding and your toes are separated.

PLEASE DO YOUR RESEARCH AND DON'T JUST BUY THESE AND START WORKING IN THEM OR RUNNING IN THEM. YOU WILL INJURE YOURSELF.

I read a lot of barefoot running forums and paleo forums and followed the recommendations. I wore them when I wasn't working and started out by wearing them less than 1 hour per day.

It was hideously painful. Because my heel was damaged wearing these shoes and walking normally was painful to the point of tears. So I watched more videos.

What I figured out was that because we wear padded shoes and generally don't give a crap about how we move, we rely on the padding in our shoes to protect our feet from the trauma of heel strikes. Really, we walk and move like crippled animals (no offense to real crippled animals).

We are dumb. We have no functional strength and no functional movement knowledge. We work behind a desk and clomp around in generally poor-fitting shoes and don't even know how to walk properly.

So I re-trained myself how to walk. Instead of bashing my heel into the ground every step I started trying to land my footfalls correctly and while wearing the 5-fingers, it was the only way I could walk without pain. By correctly I mean balanced between the pads of the feet and the heel coming down immediately afterwards.

I wore my 5-fingers more and more as I built up the muscles in my feet to the point where eventually I was working in them on pavement and playing golf in them as well as working out in them.

I don't wear them much anymore as the lack of padding does get annoying but I haven't had a return of the PF ever since and I still work on pavement.

ETA: The point of the 5 fingers was that if I walked normally I was in pain but if I walked correctly it would minimize the pain. Avoiding the pain helped me learn how to walk properly along with watching videos on how to walk properly.
 
Last edited:

fiftyyardline

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I done about everything you can think of, so darn bad, every shoe, every insert,
some relief in getting a wrap at a walgreens that ends up in a X behind and above
your heel, then a sock and then a slip on foot and ankle support, Thirteen months
of pain, luckily, it was my lead foot in pool as if it was the back foot, I am not sure
if I could have done it. Darn thing left me worn out everyday, night time, rolled foot
on a frozen water bottle. Thirteen months later, woke up, all gone and threw the
all the stuff away. Good since.
Good Luck.
Lots of good advice in this thread. Once you get healed up - don’t get complacent - the best method I have found to keep PF from re-visiting is to roll on a tennis ball for a couple of minutes every night. When you find a tender spot, concentrate on that spot each day until it is no longer tender. You will find that you can eventually roll pretty hard on the ball with no discomfort.
 

Poolmanis

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Ok. So I really struggled with this about 7 or 8 years ago and seemed to have solved it.

I AM NOT A DR. PLEASE USE WHAT I SAY AS A STARTING POINT TO DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH.

I just wanted to add this because I haven't seen anyone else talk about it.

I work on my feet on concrete 7 days a week seasonally and much of the time I am carrying heavy weight. So a lot of punishment on my feet.

My heel really started hurting and after doing research I decided that it was Plantar Fasciitis. Fit every symptom and consistent with everything I could find about it.

The pain was so bad in the mornings that I would wake up, take an advil and then wait until I tolerate putting my foot on the floor before getting up.

I got Dr. Scholl's heel inserts that say "Works on PF" and they definitely helped.

What I did that was different from everybody is that I got Vibram 5-finger shoes. The ones that have no padding and your toes are separated.

PLEASE DO YOUR RESEARCH AND DON'T JUST BUY THESE AND START WORKING IN THEM OR RUNNING IN THEM. YOU WILL INJURE YOURSELF.

I read a lot of barefoot running forums and paleo forums and followed the recommendations. I wore them when I wasn't working and started out by wearing them less than 1 hour per day.

It was hideously painful. Because my heel was damaged wearing these shoes and walking normally was painful to the point of tears. So I watched more videos.

What I figured out was that because we wear padded shoes and generally don't give a crap about how we move, we rely on the padding in our shoes to protect our feet from the trauma of heel strikes. Really, we walk and move like crippled animals (no offense to real crippled animals).

We are dumb. We have no functional strength and no functional movement knowledge. We work behind a desk and clomp around in generally poor-fitting shoes and don't even know how to walk properly.

So I re-trained myself how to walk. Instead of bashing my heel into the ground every step I started trying to land my footfalls correctly and while wearing the 5-fingers, it was the only way I could walk without pain. By correctly I mean balanced between the pads of the feet and the heel coming down immediately afterwards.

I wore my 5-fingers more and more as I built up the muscles in my feet to the point where eventually I was working in them on pavement and playing golf in them as well as working out in them.

I don't wear them much anymore as the lack of padding does get annoying but I haven't had a return of the PF ever since and I still work on pavement.

ETA: The point of the 5 fingers was that if I walked normally I was in pain but if I walked correctly it would minimize the pain. Avoiding the pain helped me learn how to walk properly along with watching videos on how to walk properly.

This is spot on. That video link i posted is just one really good source for a lot of info about. There they also recommend Vibrams. I started to do research about topic because my girlfriend have Plantar. So I did a lot of digging about Plantar through internet. That video basically have all info u need in one place.
 

Thunder Thighs

I'm your Huckleberry
Silver Member
I had plantar fasciitis for many months until I finally saw a doctor. Shoe inserts and 6 weeks of Naproxen worked for me.
 

Bic D

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I've been dealing with plantar for months. I live on the beach and can't remember the last time I wore shoes.

For those that wear flip flops.....I wear the Olukai Ohana flip flops. They are a little expensive about $80.00 but they are very nice with good heel support and great arch
 

ChrisinNC

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
A steroid only masks the problem for a while. Get the right orthotics under your feet for the cure.
I’m just sharing what worked well for me. I had a an acute case of plantar faciitis like 10 years ago. The shot gave me immediate relief. Of course he prescribed the sleeping boot and the exercises as well, which I never really stuck with. Luckily I haven’t had a reoccurrence since, but I’m probably about due!
 

ceebee

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Pool & Plantar Facitis

My doctor pointed me to a good shoe store & the rest is a happy ending. I went to an SAS Store & got a pair of TRIPADs & then bought some ECCO Seawalkers, that was the end of that.
 

Johnson

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Hoke one one The Gaviota model works great for me.

I sell a lot of shoes and people with foot problems will wear Hoka one's and there's a newer brand called Kuru that's specifically for plantar fasciitis but both are expensive. A guy I play pool with has bad neuropathy and switched from a boot to Skechers memory foam shoes, the yoga/goga mat shoes are also very padded/comfortable. Some people only wear the skechers shape ups which have thick midsoles like Hoka One's do. The shape ups are very prone to dry rotting though.

I had some bad foot issues and new insoles fixed them for me so I would try that first.
 
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