Nicole and Sarah have given me a lot of advice over the last week. The best piece of advice that I received from Nicole is to wear my Birks in the house. I wish that I could work in these because I can't even feel my PF in them! (Work is the worst for me right now, Sunday and Monday were brutal with the discomfort) Thankfully I bought a brand new pair of Birkenstocks on Boxing Day (50% off!!) so my husband can stop dropping comments about me dirtying up the floors with my runners. Sarah suggested that because insurance runs out so quickly we should get together and take physio courses and treat one another. She has volunteered to do the graston. Who wants to be first?
A girl at work who had issues with her ankles this past year (still unknown as to what the problem was and she saw multiple doctors) suggested that I soak in as hot as I can handle epsom salt foot baths where there is so much epsom salt in there it no longer dissolves. I guess I'm going to have to hit Costco for their jug of epsom salts, I'm thinking the 2KG one that I get from Shoppers isn't going to cut it anymore. Another girl at work suffered from PF a few years ago. She's a bit of a doomsday girl so obviously I braced myself for when she found out the I had it. "You're going to have it forever!!" "The only thing that worked for me was shock wave therapy". My physio guy will be so happy to hear me asking about this tomorrow. Every day that I've gone in there I've bombarded him with things that people have told me about. Apparently it's a little early for me to be thinking about dropping the money on a Strassburg sock. Also apparently most of his clients have found that it doesn't help. Sarah said the same thing. Of course I'm sure that I'll still go out and buy one. Also I read that I'm supposed to really be digging into the arch of my foot with a ball. Um yeah, apparently I'm NOT supposed to be really digging into the arch of my foot with the ball. I learned that lesson the hard way because graston frickin suuuuuucked yesterday from the tenderness that I had created. I've never been so happy to hear the words "last one" as I was yesterday.
Trolling around the internet has taught me that I may as well give all of my running stuff away to someone who can use it. It has also taught me that if I stretch I can get rid of PF in one week. It has shown me 5000 different ways to tape up my foot, 50,000 stretches to do, and 50,001 reasons not to do stretches. It has let me know that I should take 500mg of magnesium at bedtime and that I should not take more than 350mg of magnesium a day. Barefoot shoes are best for people with PF and barefoot shoes cause PF....
So what have I learned through all this? Not a lot other than Plantar Faciitis sucks and nobody's got time for that!
Don't forget the platelet rich plasma injections! Science says they work lol. Hope your foot gets with the program soon - my one bout of PF lasted 2 weeks and was resolved mostly by rest and stretching, just to add another data point. Because I'm sure what you want right now is more information.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great post. It's true, you'll get 1000 pieces of advice from people. I think you have to try a bunch of different things and see what works for you. I had it in July 2012 and thankfully it didn't last too long. Had my chiropractor working on it. I never had to stop running with it either. I found the rolling on the golf ball hard, does help me and I still do that whenever I feel a tightness starting. Acupuncture did the trick for me finally. That's me adding to your already long list of advice :). Good luck and hopefully it clears up quickly!!
ReplyDeleteI had PF for over a year before I went to see a dr. Really I had to plan the trip between races..so it took some time lol..I would want to cry when I got up..at work standing...at work sitting..basically all day long. I went and got a few shots..the first one did nothing..and the second work much better then I would stretch multiple times a day (drop your heal down from the step and wall pushes) I was told never to walk barefoot. I always wore sneakers with an insert in them. That was more than five years ago and I have had no problems since. I now rarely do the stretches and I love being barefoot! oh the dr. also prescribe a motrin type ointment/lotion that I rubbed into my foot daily to stop the inflammation. Hang in there..stretch, stretch, stretch and it will get better. No need to throw out all of your running stuff yet. :)
ReplyDeleteGeez, girlfriend, you just can't catch a break right now. I had PF many years ago and the only good thing I can tell you is that it shouldn't take long to heal since you're doing something about it right away. Hope it heals quickly.
ReplyDeleteI found "shock wave therapy" works really well actually... PF is annoying, no doubt, but I think you can beat it!
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