You may have heard of Plantar Fasciitis before, maybe you’ve suffered with it yourself. If not, you’ve likely heard your runner friends complaining about it. If you’re lucky, perhaps you’ve never heard of it before!
What is Plantar Fasciitis?
Plantar Fasciitis is a condition of the foot where the plantar fascia (a band of tissue that runs from the heel to your toes) becomes inflamed, often causing foot and arch pain. It can come on suddenly and last for many months, causing those who suffer with it extreme discomfort.
Here are the 3 basic steps to remedy Plantar Fasciitis:
Proper Support
When you have PF, the key is to find a shoe with a slightly raised heel to help support your arch. Most running shoes are built to offer this type of support. Taping or custom orthotics are also great ways to increase your support while healing. Make sure to replace your active footwear routinely, overworn footwear can make you more prone to developing PF.
Proper Stretching
There are a number of targeted stretches that help to alleviate the tension caused by PF. Toe curls, gentle calf stretches, golf ball rolls are a few great ways to take some of the pressure off of your feet, but go slowly, too aggressive of a stretch can actually make the condition worse.
Proper Strengthening
Specific strengthening exercises can help you treat the root of the problem, eliminating your PF for good. A few to try are: Foot Doming, Double Heel Raise and Single Eccentric Lowering.
The combination of these three should help you to lower your recovery time to a few weeks, if followed diligently.