Sudden Heal Pain ???? - Health + Injury

Bryan Bentley

02/03/2011 at 10:57

Hi Guy's
The day after doing a PB at my local parkrun last weekend I have had a severe pain in my heel and I can barely walk never mind run!

The pain is at the front of my right heel near the arch of my foot and is all the way across my foot. The best way to describe the pain is if you imagine standing on a marker pen with it placed at the front of the heel!
Iv'e never had any problems like this before and had no pain or discomfort during running.
The only thing that was different was that I ran in new Nike lunar eclipse trainers but they felt really comfortable and the pain only started the next day.
If anybody else knows what im talking about I would be very grateful if you could shed some light on this and maybe give me an idea how to repair/rectify my problem.
Thanks in advance.
Bryan

Edited: 02/03/2011 at 12:51

EDED

02/03/2011 at 17:45

Sounds like Plantar Fascitis, maybe spelled wrong. I suffered for about 8 months last year with it.

I think with me it was a bad fitting pair of trainers. I could only run once a week and could hardly walk for about 3 days. Tried everything, rest, ice, gels, doctor who basically advised the afore mentioned and finally refered me to physio

But don't let that scare you. I then saw the physio who gave me some exercises to do and after three weeks the pain was all but gone.

Thank god as the next option was a cortozone injection into the base of my foot........

Ouch.

Bryan Bentley

03/03/2011 at 10:51

Yeah after digging around the net I think you may be right.

Don't suppose you could elaborate on the exercises you did to fix the problem???

Thanks

Bryan

EDED

03/03/2011 at 13:14

Three exercises takin about 15 mins a day. Physio won't give any more as people are not likely to do them (Bright man)

Half squats feet shoulder width apart, concentrate on making sure knee passes foot above the same point both sides to ensure alignment, 50 Building to 100.

Single leg half squats.25 Building to 50.

Now for the other. Stand facing a wall with bare feet, put the bad foot against the wall at about 45 degrees and rotate the foot side to side. It will feel uncomfortable at first as i's not natural but it really stetches the plantar. Do this 15 times.

Bryan Bentley

03/03/2011 at 14:42

Many thanks EDED, I will defo give these a go as I have the Manchester 10k in may and the Great North Run in September.

Bryan

2hours57

03/03/2011 at 15:09

Did your physio mentioned the possibility of trying orthotics? PF is usually caused by the flattening of the arch of your foot and orthotics support this area and help the tendon pulling over the heel.

I used an off the shelf product - Orthaheel and was back running within a week.

EDED

03/03/2011 at 15:16

He mentioned it as a possibility if the exercises didn't work, it was the doctor who wanted to inject if neccesary. If the trouble flares up again I may very well try them. Hate needles me like..

Bryan Bentley

03/03/2011 at 15:18

The funny thing is that Last year I had really severe pain in both feet that happened over night but it was all over my foot rather than just at the front of my heel.
I went and had some orthotics made at a cost of £180 which cured my problem instantly BUT!!! after talking to some people on here they informed me that my problem could have been cured with simple calf stretches!!! I tried this and it worked so I havent worn my bespoke insoles for over a year with no pain what so ever. Until last weekend that is, so now I have them back in my shoes

2hours57

03/03/2011 at 15:23

The funny thing is that I have to do calf stretches anyway.........as my right calf causes me no end of bother! Will always stick my orthotics in my shoes.

Richard Worrall 4

03/03/2011 at 18:41

well ive been struggling with this for the past 2 months, done the stretches, done the ice, done the rolling.....and it still hurts!!!

Green Eyes

03/03/2011 at 19:13

Ah Richard - are you still suffering ? Mine is dying down a bit - heel more niggly than anything now - Did I tell you about my sock - been wearing a Strassburg sock overnight which helps especially first thing in the morning and I think it's working although have taken it off in the middle of the night a couple of times as I've probably done it up too tight. Not the most attractive of bedtime attire but if it helps

Richard Worrall 4

03/03/2011 at 20:03

was waiting to here your thoughts on the sock before i looked into it myself. Keep us posted.

Brian Joseph

08/03/2011 at 19:37

If the correct diagnosis is Plantar Fasciitis then this can be a very intractable problem.
Glad runners have had a good result for pain that may mimic PF but is one of other complex foot problems that is amenable to the treatments described.

Chris Green 2

08/03/2011 at 22:46

try massaging feet by rolling a golf ball......its a perverse pain/heaven!!!!!

Bryan Bentley

09/03/2011 at 11:25

Thing is ive had this for over a week now, not much better even with the exercises or bespoke orthotics. My thoughts are do I persevere with the stretching or is it rest thats needed?
Bryan

Slim J

09/03/2011 at 14:39

I had this last year. The problem for me was tightness in the calf and achilles (from racing on multiple consecutive weekends and not sufficient stretching) which manifested as pain in the plantar/heel.

I had 2 months off running, doing lots of stretches, calf dips etc, rolling tennis ball (better than golf) under the foot, raising legs when seated and rotating feet left to right and vice versa.

Orthotics will only mask the pain (i.e good for vital races but bad for cure). Having your heel raised will actually be detrimental as it puts extra pressure on achilles/calf.

It depends how quickly you can get back into shape/ are willing to cross train. You can run through PF but this can lead to much worse problems, some people suffer for years.

My advice is be careful, take a few weeks off running and just cross train (you have plenty of time before manc 10k and esp. GNR), get a good physio and stretch lots.

Bryan Bentley

09/03/2011 at 14:43

Cheers Slim j, sounds like good advice.

Green Eyes

09/03/2011 at 18:46

I've not run for about 6 weeks now and can see myself not running for at least another 6 weeks. It's only very slowly getting better and some days it feels worse but I'm doing all the right things and I can live without running for a bit - I know from previous injuries that running too soon or indeed running through them only makes it worse thus prolonging the agony so to speak. I love my running so a few weeks is better than a few months and also I know how painful it was to walk at first and I'm not going back there !! I cycle and do gym stuff now - not the same I know but better than nowt !!

2hours57

14/03/2011 at 09:00

The advice I was given by my physio is that orthotics that support the arch of your foot allow the tendons running over the heal (from under your foot to your achilles) to relax.

Orthotics certainly DON'T mask pain, as stated by Slim J, it allows the injured area to heal.

Green Eyes

14/03/2011 at 09:58

I've now been diagnosed with a heal spur - went to the physio last week and now my plantar fascia is totally stretched out but my heal is so lumpy and still tender. don't know when I'll be running again but with all the massaging and stretching it could be sooner than I hoped in the first place.