Foot injury (Plantar Fasciitis) - How long till it heals and I can run again?

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KingstonU

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Dec 26, 2006
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UPDATE 2: X-Ray came back and showed no bone fractures. I'm just doing some light stretching of my foot when I think about it, and rolling it back and forth over a small can of mushrooms. I was told to use a ball but I think a can works better :p

UPDATE: Went to the doctor and they sent me for an x-ray to rule out it being a bone fracture or something. Also I have been told no running for several months

X-Ray results will come in in a couple of days.


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I think I have a “plantar fasciitis” injury in my foot. I went for a run on a very cold day and probably didn’t stretch enough. About 2 miles in I started getting pain in one of my feet. Before hitting 3 miles I had to turn around and limp back home.

The pain is on underneath my foot between my toes and my heel closer to the outside edge. The pain is fairly sharp but not completely unbearable. For a good 3-4 days afterwards I have not been able to walk even more than a couple hundred feet at a time. If it gets bad I can keep going for a bit if I only walk on the toes.

Fast forward 2 weeks. All seems well, no pain at all. So I try to go for another run, and stretch properly beforehand but 2 miles in and it came back very quickly and I couldn't continue.

Anyone know if this will heal on its own? If so how long till I go run again without re-aggravating it? I don’t believe I have any other foot issues or posture/stance issues.

Thanks
 
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ControlD

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Apr 25, 2005
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I'm not 100% sure you are describing plantar fasciitis (PF). PF is more of a chronic condition than an acute "injury". I have been through PF a few times and it took a long, long time to completely clear up (six months to a year). At the same time I was still able to run.

From your description it sounds more like an actual injury to your foot. I would go see a pod or doctor personally.
 
Mar 22, 2002
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No one here can give you an appropriate answer regarding timeline for healing. The problem is your injury is not likely an acute one, but one that came about over time. Especially with runners who don't have full ankle motion, you start to compensate through your midfoot, which can put excess stress on your ligaments in your foot, your posterior tibialis muscle, and your plantar fascia. You could also have something other than that. To me, it sounds like you need to see a healthcare professional about it. I'd suggest seeing the doctor and talking to them about physical therapy. I see people like you every day and we get people back to function at a steady, reliable pace most often. If it's not going away on its own, you gotta do something about it.
 

marmasatt

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Jan 30, 2003
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Plantar Fasciatis sucks. I hate to be so doom and gloom but if you have it you should resign yourself to "having it" and not trying to work through it if you know what I mean. It is truly an injury that you can continue to re-aggravate when you try to work through it. It's a vicious cycle. The problem is that you need to almost completely rest it, and you can't. What are you going to do, stop walking? So if you can give it a few weeks from completely running and switch to swimming or biking like most people do and continue to ice and pop IB's you can guage how bad it is in a few more weeks.

Like Dave said it takes a long time. Speaking from experience, I tried to run though it and it took me like 3-4 months.
 
Mar 22, 2002
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Plantar Fasciatis sucks. I hate to be so doom and gloom but if you have it you should resign yourself to "having it" and not trying to work through it if you know what I mean. It is truly an injury that you can continue to re-aggravate when you try to work through it. It's a vicious cycle. The problem is that you need to almost completely rest it, and you can't. What are you going to do, stop walking? So if you can give it a few weeks from completely running and switch to swimming or biking like most people do and continue to ice and pop IB's you can guage how bad it is in a few more weeks.

Like Dave said it takes a long time. Speaking from experience, I tried to run though it and it took me like 3-4 months.

This is the wrong view to have. There are a ton of problems that contribute to plantar fasciitis. If you alleviate those, some people heal very quickly and recover fully. If you have more a chronic thing with bone spurring and a lot of other issues, then yes it does become a problem. And rest is one of the worst things you can do. You need specifically guided stretching, strengthening, and ROM exercises. Granted, you do have to rest from running, but it's not like you just want to stop using your foot. I just wanted to chime in because I see plantar fasciitis pretty commonly and it is far from a "gloom and doom" diagnosis.
 

ControlD

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Apr 25, 2005
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Some good advice from SC above.

First things first, don't assume it is PF. I can only speak from the experience of having bouts of PF for most of my adult life, but it is usually something I can feel coming on. It starts as mildly annoying pain which gets worse as time goes along. If you went from feeling fine to all of the sudden having major pain to the point of cutting your run short I would want to rule out something else. Could be a rupture or a tear, stress fracture, etc. A good podiatrist or doctor will start with some type of imaging of your foot to rule those things out.

If it does turn out to be PF, then you need to treat it as a problem to be solved. Take care of the underlying reason that is causing the PF and you will have it defeated. Simply resting and getting over the pain without further corrective action will most likely mean you have to go through this again.

For me, it was a combination of a few things that have kept me PF free for some time now:

(1) Time off to get the swelling down (3-4 weeks)
(2) Determining my foot type (very high arches) and getting into the proper running shoes.
(3) Stretching exercises
(4) NEVER, EVER walking around barefoot or in socks. I bought a pair of Birkenstock sandals and they have been the best thing I ever did for my PF.
 
Sep 29, 2004
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I had the same exact pain on occasion. I read up on it and it turns out I was simply tieing my shoes to tight. I haven't had the problem since.
 

KingstonU

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Dec 26, 2006
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Thanks for the advice everyone.

UPDATE: Went to the doctor and they sent me for an x-ray to rule out it being a bone fracture or something. Also I have been told no running for several months :(

X-Ray results will come in in a couple of days.
 
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Mar 22, 2002
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Thanks for the advice everyone.

UPDATE: Went to the doctor and they sent me for an x-ray to rule out it being a bone fracture or something. Also I have been told no running for several months :(

X-Ray results will come in in a couple of days.

To be honest, if it's a fracture, no running for several months is an unreasonably conservative instruction. If you're concerned about returning to running without getting this again, talk to the doctor about physical therapy. I can practically guarantee that if you don't address other issues that have contributed to it, you will get this pain again eventually even after months of resting.
 

ControlD

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Apr 25, 2005
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Thanks for the advice everyone.

UPDATE: Went to the doctor and they sent me for an x-ray to rule out it being a bone fracture or something. Also I have been told no running for several months :(

X-Ray results will come in in a couple of days.

Doctors ALWAYS say that when they find out you are an injured runner. If it turns out to be less serious than a fracture (which I bet you don't have) then try to find a doctor or PT that works with injured runners. It can be hard to find these people, as most PT seems to be geared towards senior citizens, but they do exist.

I was having hip and leg problems. The doctor I saw had me get a bone scan ($$) and then told me to stop running. I told him to piss off and went to find someone that could actually help. I got on a IT band strengthening program and was back to running in a few weeks, plus I now feel like I have a real plan.

Not trying to be an internet doctor, but make sure you talk to people that deal with stuff on a regular basis.
 
Mar 22, 2002
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Doctors ALWAYS say that when they find out you are an injured runner. If it turns out to be less serious than a fracture (which I bet you don't have) then try to find a doctor or PT that works with injured runners. It can be hard to find these people, as most PT seems to be geared towards senior citizens, but they do exist.

I was having hip and leg problems. The doctor I saw had me get a bone scan ($$) and then told me to stop running. I told him to piss off and went to find someone that could actually help. I got on a IT band strengthening program and was back to running in a few weeks, plus I now feel like I have a real plan.

Not trying to be an internet doctor, but make sure you talk to people that deal with stuff on a regular basis.

At least here in CA, there are a fair amount of PTs who work regularly with runners/running injuries. I'm one of many so we aren't that hard to find around here.
 

KingstonU

Golden Member
Dec 26, 2006
1,405
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UPDATE: X-Ray came back and showed no bone fractures. I'm just doing some light stretching of my foot when I think about it, and rolling it back and forth over a small can of mushrooms. I was told to use a ball but I think a can works better :p
 

ControlD

Diamond Member
Apr 25, 2005
5,440
44
91
UPDATE: X-Ray came back and showed no bone fractures. I'm just doing some light stretching of my foot when I think about it, and rolling it back and forth over a small can of mushrooms. I was told to use a ball but I think a can works better :p

That's good news! One thing my podiatrist had me do was to roll my foot on a frozen pop bottle (filled with water) prior to rolling on a hard object. Get you foot nice and cold (wear a sock though) and then roll as hard as you can stand it. I used a tennis ball but a can will work too.
 
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