Plantar faciitis

[eagle-ace]

Is anyone suffering or have suffered with plantar faciitis? I injured my achilis tendon where it branches off at the heel, which I believe is causing the plantar faciitis in my whole foot. I've been in terrible pain for 8+ years. I've received a lot of different types of treatment, including injections, but the only things that seem to help a little are stretching, icing the area, and wearing a foot splint at night. Running and standing barefoot on a hard surface is very painful for me.

This injury has held me back from a lot of things, including participating in martial arts. I am fairly young, 35, and in great shape otherwise. I would love to get back into MA training. The dojo that I would like to go back to involves a lot of running, box work, and training barefoot on a hard floor, all of which aggravate the injury. I was just wondering if anyone else has experienced this type of injury, and if so, how they dealt with it in continuing their training.

I'd appreciate any of your thoughts.

[Traymond]

I have not suffered from that but I have ripped two out of three tendons in my ankles...and please dont ask me what the names are cause I have no clue it was two years ago.

But.

I took Accu pressure and wore an ankle brass and within four months I could stand on it fully and kick fully with it.

its just something to try...accupressure will be extremely painful the first four sessions but its worth it...especially if you been thorugh it for eight years...and ankle braces are like under fifteen dollars at any sports stores such as Dunhams or anything like that.

[Tiger1962]

I never had plantar fascitis but another condition in that area has brought me similar great pain to what you describe. I too, could not train for a long time because it was too painful. To make up for not training, you can try walking through your kata or self defense steps at home. It is very frustrating so I know what you mean. Unfortunately, rest and staying off the affected foot/ankle is one of the main ways to heal it.

I would ask your instructor if he would permit you wearing martial arts shoes (sneakers) in class and tell him why, if he needs a doctor's note or proof, you can always get that from your doctor.

Steroid injections in the foot or leg help the pain some but I have heard that too many can cause the bones to weaken. I found that injections only last a week or two on me. Have you tried any physical therapy?

Someone recently told me of some new laser procedure (non-invasive) that helps speed the healing in the foot (ligaments, tendons, etc.) and I meant to look into it but forgot all about it.

[tallgeese]

Some times an orthotic in the shoe will help by raising the arch of the foot to tension the facia band less. Of course, this means wearing shoes. I'd explain the situation and ask in ma shoes or wrestling shoes (my perferance) would be ok.

If someone in your school can tape, there is also a pretty efective taipe jpb for the condition which might help. Make sure your guys knows what he's doing, it can actually cut you up pretty good if he dosen't.

Good luck.

[eagle-ace]

Thanks for the input. Here is a list of everything I've tried in dealing with the injury:

1. Wearing a cast on 3 separate occassions

2. Physical therapy

3. 3 different types of anti-inflammatories

4. Topical creams

5. Shoe inserts

6. 2 injections of cortizone

7. 1 injection of some nerve numbing solution

8. Prolotherapy (several injections of "natural" solution that purposely

inflames the area to initiate the natural healing process in the body)

9. Foot splint at night

10. Icing

11. Stretching

12. Taping

My foot hurts all the time, but actually feels the best when I'm exercising. However, once the adrenaline wears off, the soreness and acheness sets back in. The last time I trained in MA, which was a couple of years ago, I did wear wrestling shoes on one occassion. That didn't really help all that much because of the lack of cushion provided in the shoes. Plus, I felt really ackward wearing shoes when no one else was.

I've done a lot of research on this condition, and to me it seems that surgery is not the best option, as there is no guarantee that it will work and there is a good chance that it can worsen the condition.

[tallgeese]

Did you try the inserts in the wrestling shoes? Might be something. Other than that it sounds like a pretty severe case. This is one of those times that having tried everything, you might want to consider a second opnion followd by surgery.

Sounds like you've given everything else a try.

[Tiger1962]

If you've tried all these things and it still hurts, I would go for a second or third opinion from a specialist in that area. When I injured myself I wasn't satisfied with the explanation the first doctor gave me and I saw another one. He made a lot more sense and was more helpful to me in dealing with the injury. Good luck!

[eagle-ace]

I've seen 5 different doctors, 1 general doctor, 1 orthopedic surgeon, 2 podiatrists, and 1 doctor that specializes in prolotherapy. The conclusion that they all pretty much made was that I need to rest it, and I agree that staying off my foot does make it feel better. The problem is, I can wear a cast for several weeks, but shortly after taking it off and walking around normally, the pain returns. I'm no doctor, but this tells me that there is permanent damage that isn't going to heal. I've learned to live with the pain, as do most athletes that want to stay active. I'm just torn as to whether I should give into my desire to do MA, at the risk of making it worse.

[hx35543]

I kind of know what you mean. I started having the same issues with my feet before I started training. It got worse. After resting for a period of time, whether sleeping or a long trip, that first step is always the most painful. It always got better after walking a while. I ended up using arch support inserts in my shoes and stretching my feet really well. It seems to be getting better. I also wear a neoprene foot brace in class to help support the arch of the foot that has the worst problem. That also seems to help me. Just remeber that it will take longer for that area to heal because the tissue is more dense.

[Scott_LIFE180]

Eagle, you may want to consider acupressure or acupuncture... sometimes those um less used practices help out.