PF the Most Annoying Injury Ever (Ok ITB might be more annoying)

One of the readers asked if I would talk about Plantar Fasciitis so, here goes:  Tara's Take on PF.  I am sure I don't need to say this but I will anyway.  I am by no means an expert, I just run a lot, lol.  So take my advice for what it is worth. 

I have ended up with a super common over use injury a bunch of times now.  Yes folks I get Plantar Faciitis.  It is super annoying.  If you have never had it consider yourself lucky.  I have had bouts with it lately due to that stupid Metatarsal Head that is banged up.  Because it is a tendon issue it really only bothers me in the morning when I wake up, after a few steps I am ready to rock and roll.  But, just because it doesn't annoy me all day doesn't mean I can ignore it.  Right now I have been big on icing my foot (specifically the MH1 region) and then using the ball pictured below to roll out all the stiffness in the bottom of my foot.  The ball ROCKS!!!!!!!!!! My brother gave it to me for Christmas and day have I been in love ever since.  I keep the ball at my desk so I can massage my feet whenever I like (yes I am massaging now, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, the simple joys in life).  I find that when my PF is really flaring up  I need to stand up and apply my full body weight to the massage.  Oh man does that feel good.  So if I were to recommend one thing to buy for PF it would be this ball which I bet a golf ball would replicate nicely.  Also a frozen water bottle is miracle worker.  As soon as you get home from running pop that sucker out of the freezer and get massaging.  You just roll it back and forth under your foot, it massages and ices at the same time.  You can also try a sling like I have shown below.  I got one a few years back and really liked it for my PF then but haven't been using it much lately (I left it at my sisters for a while).  No mater how you treat your PF, DO NOT forget to stretch that Achilles Tendon.  The PF attaches and wraps all the way up and you need to make sure to keep the Achilles stretched.  You can stretch however you prefer but I wouldn't leave that part out of the plan.  It is nuts.  

The wonder ball of PF

Just roll your foot over a frozen bottle of water, you get the massage and icing action all at once.  Every mom likes a multi tasker.

This is the sling that I have and use



 Bottom line is if you have PF, you need to ice your foot, massage it and stretch your Achilles.  Those are the basics.  Let up on the miles if you have to but many people once they start up with icing and massage can truck on through and it goes away.  If it gets worse or remains the same I would lay off for a week, that doesn't mean not run I would just back off a bunch work hard on the icing and massage and then try and gradually put the miles back on. 

I hope this helped. 

Happy Running All!