Got Heel Pain?
Does the heel of your foot hurt? especially first thing in the morning when you set foot on the ground?
You most likely are developing or already have developed Plantar Fascitis.
One of the most common foot injuries in runners is Plantar Fascitis. If you experience pain in your heel or bottom of your foot with walking, prolonged standing, or when first getting out of bed in the morning, you may be suffering from plantar fascitis.
There are a number of muscles located on the bottom of the foot. The vast majority of these muscles attach into the bottom of the heel. Located just under the skin and over the top of the foot muscles is the “plantar fascia”
This is a very tough and dense connective tissue that runs from the bottom of the heel all the way to the toes. The fascia works to support the arch of the foot and helps to stabilize the joints of the foot when bearing weight.
As we stand, walk, and run we place a tremendous amount of pressure on the foot. This creates a tension on the plantar fascia causing muscles of the foot to contract to help support the arch and stabilize the joints of the foot.
Over time the muscles and the fascia will become strained and fatigued, and can develop small amounts of injury known as micro-trauma. This is where the injury can lead into something more serious if you do not tune in to any sign of pain.
The initial micro-trauma is usually not painful. You probably feel a mild ache or tightness in the heel area. THIS IS THE CRUCIAL TIME WHEN THE DAMAGE NEEDS TO BE REPAIRED.
The biggest prevention to further injury is addressing the first sign of pain.
So, when you start feeling any kind of pain or discomfort in your heel area do something about it. Do not ignore the pain or it will lead to more injury.
What to do? Stretch, Strengthen, and Massage the bottom of your foot. I show you in this video:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQIDFDjFOhU[/youtube]
Something I forgot to mention in the video is you can use a frozen water bottle to massage the bottom of your foot. This way you have the coldness to help keep swelling down.
You can avoid this problem in the first place by:
1) Buying a good pair of running shoes
2) Stretch regularly, especially the calf muscles
3) Strengthen your feet.
If anyone reading this has dealt with this injury and would like to add something that worked for you, please leave a comment below.
thanks. Happy Wednesday Everyone.
Posted by admin | in Marathon, Run Training | 6 Comments
what convenient timing. i know someone suffering from heel pain (cause unknown) who is very frustrated about it! i am sharing this post with her in hopes that it will help.
I prefer the golfball..2-3 mins of rolling it around the entire foot, increases blood flow while breaking up the adhesions.
Some have tried freezing a small bottle of water and rolling that around to use ice / cold for the pain…
Wearing a boot / or PF splint at night helps as well!
Great advice. If it flares up, take ibuprofen for a few days to help reduce the swelling.
Take 3-4 (600-800mgs) around the clock every 6 hrs.
Be religious about stretching it morning and night.
Ice after workouts and roll your foot on something with texture.
I like the foot roller w rubber “nubbies”. It comes w a book
Describing how to use it to massage your foot.
Lastly, rest it. Take a few days off and stretch when you feel good!
Just went to the podiatrist yesterday just for this reason, he told me to do everything you mentioned in the blog, it doesn’t hurt when I run, only when I am not running, go figure! I will be stretching/icing everyday!!
good luck Amy. Most runners make the condition worse because they can run with no pain and therefore keep running. get on some ice and stretch and hopefullly it won’t be too long before you are back running again
@Amy–sounds like you might have dealt with this injury at one time. thanks for the additional tips, very helpful.