Plantar Fasciitis

Top Contributors
someblokecalleddave

someblokecalleddave

Well-Known Member
Plantar Fasciitis

Liz I reckon I've got Plantar Fasciitis, any suggestions? I had a look around you tube and noted that one of the doctors on there was saying that having stiff calf muscles doesn't help and I think in the summer you mentioned this as well. Is there any benefit from doing exercises such as touching your toes? I know in the morning (again your suggestion) wiggling, stretching and rotating the foot helps. It seems to have got a lot worse recently and this seems to be associated with still playing cricket with my kids indoors and not warming up beforehand ...... this is another one of those entries where as I write I'm realising I'm answering my own questions again - doh! Your comments will be greatly appreciated though as you do offer encouragement and have massive psycological affect on me with these things!!!!!

Dave
 
Re: Plantar Fasciitis

If you have pain on getting out of bed and can barely place your heel on the floor due to excruciating pain that tends to improve slightly on walking, but gets worse again after resting then you probably have plantar fascitis. It can be nasty and take a long time to clear. The way to go is stretches both of the calf and foot. Possibly massaging the bottom of the foot with a small bottle full of ice. I would also take advice from a podiatrist/physio as you may need some custom made insoles. Tends to occur more with pes planus/flat feet/low arches, but mine occurred even though i have a highish arch. I spent about 4 months with it and it occured when I was training for a half marathon when i kicked up the miles. I did the wrong thing and continued through the pain mile after mile. Try the above as if becomes chronic it will become tougher to heal. If it persists the podiatrist may advice extracoporeal shockwave therapy:eek: But I do not know how freely available that is. I would start with calf and plantar stretches, and advice re footwear and isoles first. Good luck
I am sure Liz will give you more tips on how to get a new plantar fascia. But first be sure that it is what you are suffering from.
 
Re: Plantar Fasciitis

sadspinner;382708 said:
If you have pain on getting out of bed and can barely place your heel on the floor due to excruciating pain that tends to improve slightly on walking, but gets worse again after resting then you probably have plantar fascitis. It can be nasty and take a long time to clear. The way to go is stretches both of the calf and foot. Possibly massaging the bottom of the foot with a small bottle full of ice. I would also take advice from a podiatrist/physio as you may need some custom made insoles. Tends to occur more with pes planus/flat feet/low arches, but mine occurred even though i have a highish arch. I spent about 4 months with it and it occured when I was training for a half marathon when i kicked up the miles. I did the wrong thing and continued through the pain mile after mile. Try the above as if becomes chronic it will become tougher to heal. If it persists the podiatrist may advice extracoporeal shockwave therapy:eek: But I do not know how freely available that is. I would start with calf and plantar stretches, and advice re footwear and isoles first. Good luck
I am sure Liz will give you more tips on how to get a new plantar fascia. But first be sure that it is what you are suffering from.
Click to expand...


That sounds like the boy....... First thing in the morning when I get up it hurts, wouldn't say it was excruciating but then I have trodden on weaver fish before so may have a different perception of pain to some people? Eases up as you say once you start walking around, but have noticed then when I sit down and relax it stiffens up again. Recently it seems to have been aggravated by playing cricket with the kids on concrete surfaces and I thought it was as simple as a bruised heel, but looking on youtube last night it looks to be far more complex and to do with muscle tears that are re-occuring and possibly heading as you say towards becoming more serious?

From the little I've read it sounds as though it's the lack of exercise recently and then the sudden physical exertion with no warming up that seems to have exacerbated the situation. What i'll do is look at some of the advice I've been given by you and the what I've seen on the internet, put it into practice and see if there's any improvement? I've had this now for about 18 months and did think it was improving but it suddenly seems to have got a lot worse with the decrease in exercise generally. Being at home the last 2 weeks and not walking around at work up and down stairs seems to have had an adverse affect - does that sound right?

If none of this works I'll go and see a doctor and see what he/she reckons because I'd like it to be managable or gone by the start of the season. I'm also slightly over-weight -do you think that has any bearing on the matter? One last thing is it beneficial to be walking with more of an emphasis of the weight on the balls of your feet rather than on the heel while I've got this?
 
Re: Plantar Fasciitis

It really does sound like a case of chronic plantar fasciitis Dave, although you could not be 100% sure without an x-ray/mri scan to eliminate a couple of other conditions.

Tight calf muscles are the main cause of this condition. As you say, the scales are also weighted by being overweight but I would not worry too much unless you were obese.

Sadspinner is quite right, although high arches are as much a factor as low arches.

I am surprised to hear that you are still failing to perform a thorough warm up but I guess, I don't need to nag you about this... other than to say... WHAT SORT OF A ROLE MODEL ARE YOU? :D

You need to look at your shoes first. Are they correctly fitted? Do they have sufficient support? Check your trainers are right for the job and that they are not fashion types. Wear running shoes for running and good cross trainers for bowling. Throw out old trainers; it might sound wasteful but with the amount of work you give them, it will be costly, money, fitness and health, to keep using them.

If possible, you should get somebody to check your gait and biomechanics.

Night splints plantar fasciitis night splint are excellent. They are worn overnight and gently stretches the calf muscles and plantar fascia preventing it from tightening up overnight.

If possible, go and see somebody like me :D we can make a world of difference. If not, rest, rest and then some more rest!
 
Re: Plantar Fasciitis

Yesterday and the day before it had been bad probably exacerbated by the fact that I practiced indoors with the kids and did no warm ups. Today though it's been okay with no pain. I've started to do some exercises that I've seen on sports injury websites and this may have already had a positive effect. I've also done all the foot wiggling exercises before getting out of bed and voila pain free exit from bed!!

I'll take it easy over the next couple of weeks and continue the exercises. Not this Monday but the next I've got our first net session with my club, I'll ensure I do proper warm ups and see how it goes from their. I'm quite positive about the outcome as I reckon if I warm up it'll make a massive difference, I'll keep you posted.
 
Re: Plantar Fasciitis

I've just been out for an hour playing cricket on a ashphalt tennis court (3 degress centigrade) with the kids usually a recipe for pain. But I warmed up before I went out and warmed down when I got back in, so far so good, no pain or sign of any pain. I'll let you know how it goes over the next 24 hours.

24 hours later - Yeah it's not too bad, a different sensation today, not pain but a feeling of slightly strained or pulled muscle rather than pain, so that seems promising. The likelyhood is that I'll not do any running around at all now till the 11th so I'll keep doing the exercises and that coupled with the fact that I'm back at work tomorrow will hopefully mean I'll be using my leg more in a non-impact kind of way. So I'm optimistic about the coming weeks, it does seem the warm up and the warm down made a vast difference. I have noticed though with the exercises that I'm doing that my calf muscle on my left leg is extraordinarily tight in comparison with my right leg. But my left leg has suffered injuries over the years 1980 I massively twisted my left ankle in a skateboarding accident and it's always been weak. The in 2002 I tore my achilles and then re-tore it again badly a week later when I thought it was okay again (Skateboarding again). So I'm thinking maybe because of the ankle and the achilles I subconciously use that leg in a lesser manner - hence the condition of the calf muscle compared to the RH one?
 
Re: Plantar Fasciitis

48 hours later similar to yesterday, not pain just a sensation of soreness and sense that part of my foot is vulnerable and therefore I'm kind of limping and keeping my weight off it. It's looking more like I will need to get the brace thing for the night, but I'll leave it for a few days and go and see a Dr if there's no real change.
 
Re: Plantar Fasciitis

Pleased you are better Dave. It might be better seeing a podiatrist or physio I think. I come from a medical background and some of my kindred may not be so up to date with management. Liz might direct you better, as the allied professions there might be different from here.
 
Re: Plantar Fasciitis

Hmmm, a couple of things here Dave:

Firstly, there appears to be a lot of compensation going on with the muscles so it would be good to get this sorted.

Secondly, it sounds possible that the amount of scar tissue present is jeopardising the function of the muscles.

With these soft tissue issues in mind, I would recommend a sports and remedial massage therapist; Level 4 or 5.
 
Re: Plantar Fasciitis

Liz Ward;383152 said:
Hmmm, a couple of things here Dave:

Firstly, there appears to be a lot of compensation going on with the muscles so it would be good to get this sorted.

Secondly, it sounds possible that the amount of scar tissue present is jeopardising the function of the muscles.

With these soft tissue issues in mind, I would recommend a sports and remedial massage therapist; Level 4 or 5.
Click to expand...


Liz any you can recommend in my neck of the woods if I go down that route?
 
Re: Plantar Fasciitis

If you are interested, PM or email me dave.

Have you thought about students? They are always on the look out for bodies to 'practise' on. ;)
 
Re: Plantar Fasciitis

Liz Ward;383215 said:
If you are interested, PM or email me dave.

Have you thought about students? They are always on the look out for bodies to 'practise' on. ;)
Click to expand...

I'm still contemplating your offer, but in the meantime the warming up and down and additional exercise seems to be helping along with wearing 'Crocs' when I'm at home! I've been wondering whether there's any benefit to be gained by walking and running with more of the weight emphasis on the ball and front of my foot rather than the heel? There was an interesting story in the news last week where they were saying that there was no need to use ultral - expensive running shoes and that like Zola Budd there might be benefits from running barefoot. It seems that if I walk with the weight transfered to the front of my feet I'm then using the deficient calf muscles more which I think you said may be at the root of the problem.

Dave
 
Re: Plantar Fasciitis

I spend most of my time bare foot; I am fortunate to be able to work so. However, you really do need to know how to use your feet properly. If there are no underlying issues, walking barefoot from very young strengthens the muscles that need to be strengthened. Quite often, it is the incorrect and incorrect fitted shoes that cause many issues.

As for transferring your weight to the front of your feet, this is poor walking mechanics and can cause other issues. This will also shorten your calf muscles; the very muscles you need to lengthen. you would be better off walking on your heels [don't try this at home :D].
 
Re: Plantar Fasciitis

Hi Dave... hope you're not too sore :)

I have not a problem with the 'stopping' but with a bit of luck we can correct the over rotation and the little dance.

Take a look at Fast Bowling and Spin Programmes - National Cricket Performance Centre - ECB - ECB

Play the second video and watch the spin bowlers in the background. Hopefully you will be able to see what we were talking about earlier today.

On that subject; do you remember the conversation we had about the help given at Loughborough? Take a look at the first video... nothing is left to chance :)
 
Re: Plantar Fasciitis

Liz Ward;389093 said:
Hi Dave... hope you're not too sore :)

I have not a problem with the 'stopping' but with a bit of luck we can correct the over rotation and the little dance.

Take a look at Fast Bowling and Spin Programmes - National Cricket Performance Centre - ECB - ECB

Play the second video and watch the spin bowlers in the background. Hopefully you will be able to see what we were talking about earlier today.

On that subject; do you remember the conversation we had about the help given at Loughborough? Take a look at the first video... nothing is left to chance :)
Click to expand...


Just had a look all those blokes as far as I could see were rotating 180 degrees, so that's something I'll definitely start to work on. The little dance hmmm that may be trickier, but maybe I'll try. I know that when my son was jumping off the wrong foot he couldn't grasp what I was trying to explain to him and I remembered a mate of mine 'Badger' who was a pretty accurate medium pace bowler used to have a kind of over exaggerated leap into his delivery, but because it was over -exaggerated the principle was obvious. So while I was trying to get Ben to change feet I more or less learned how to leap off the right foot onto the left pivot foot in order that I could demonstrate the technique to Ben and he picked it up. While I was learning it I recall I could sense the value in the technique and it wasn't that inaccurate. My only reservation is that landing on that left foot I'm all to aware of the fact that this is my weak ankle and I have the fear that it's going to give way?

The muscle is fine, going by your pain scale earlier it's a lot less than 1 out of 10.
 
Re: Plantar Fasciitis

TBH, I am not that worried about the little dance; although it would be better if you did not have it, it is not as bad as it would be had you been a pace bowler.

Once you have lengthened and strengthened the muscles, especially the peroneus longus, you really do not need to worry too much about your ankle.

I guess the one goal, from a technical point of view is to make sure you keep your chest, particularly the sternum, facing the batsman and your head along with it, eliminating that neck wrench... keep the power and energy going straight after the ball.
 
Re: Plantar Fasciitis

Liz Ward;389121 said:
TBH, I am not that worried about the little dance; although it would be better if you did not have it, it is not as bad as it would be had you been a pace bowler.

Once you have lengthened and strengthened the muscles, especially the peroneus longus, you really do not need to worry too much about your ankle.

I guess the one goal, from a technical point of view is to make sure you keep your chest, particularly the sternum, facing the batsman and your head along with it, eliminating that neck wrench... keep the power and energy going straight after the ball.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it looks like the reduction in the rotation will help to eliminate that to some extent?
 
Re: Plantar Fasciitis

I meant to say that John Childs, who was coaching on the spin programme, is a fantastic coach and an extremely generous one. He works out of the County Ground and has been the Accademy Director there for some years now.
 
Re: Plantar Fasciitis

Liz I've got up this morning and the muscle that you've worked on is tender to touch if I try and massage it myself, but only feels slightly sore walking around but is hardly noticeable. But the amazing thing is my foot this morning suffered only about 15% of the pain I normally suffer when I first get up and stand on it, so you clearly made an amazing difference just through massaging that muscle in my calf so that's brilliant! Thanks! So I need to do the same as well as alll the stretching exercises and it seems that will make all the difference and the pain will go?

As I said the muscle at the minute is sore if I nead it, so should I give it a day or so to recover and maybe just stretch it carry on neading/massaging it and live through the pain?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top