Pre-elk season foot/heel pain

[huntfishcamp]

Bit of a different topic...
Have a Co season 1 rifle tag and battling some heel pain for 2 weeks / sure its "Plantar Fasciitis", not looking like its going to heal anytime soon, its really sore in the AM. The profoot sole inserts do help alot. The worse thing is its keeping me from my workout schedule

My question is, anyone use those "Plantar Fasciitis" shoe sole / heel gel inserts in hunting boots, for elk hunting in high country? We plan to do 4 nights backcountry spike camping as high and as far as we can go from the roads. I bought some Kenne Terranes which will help w angle support, keep thinking a doc visit is a waste of $. Thanks

 

[Muskeez]

I'm wondering about the gel heel inserts as well. Thankfully I don't have your problems but heels get sore when I throw 45# pack on and go for long walk. Maybe for your workouts you could shift to a stair climber, bicycle, or other machines that have little or no impact. I tried swimming, and wish I would have stuck with it. None of my workouts are as demanding as that was in regards to cardio and breathing. Best wishes on your hunt! We have the same game plan for CO archery elk in 18 days.

 

[DBear]

I have battle this for a long time from running. Here is what I have found to help. Roll your foot over a frozen water bottle before bed or after a workout to get inflammation down. Get one of the small night braces to sleep with at night. Make sure you don't have a heavy blanket on top of your feet when you are sleeping. Before you take your first step out of bed, roll your foot over a golf ball to loosen up the facia. Last and most importantly do yoga. Especially down facing dog and forward folds ( do sun salutation without the push-up). I'm not shitting you on this. I have had several ailments over my years and was a college athlete. Yoga is the key. With plantar facitis you need to loosen everything from your hamstring downt to your Achilles. Yoga did it for me and I haven't had to get a steroid injection in 6 years. Now....que the down dog jokes...... Good luck!

 

[MinnesotaHunter]

I had PF a couple years ago, and I ended up just running through it over the course of several months. I saw an army doc about it and he told me I could stop running for a few months and it would go away, but also said with good stretching and icing I could just keep running through it. I think dbear gave good advice. I am not sure here is a direct tie here, but when I got through it I switched to barefoot running, and haven't had a reoccurrence in 3 years.

 

[Elkmagnet]

Try a cortisone injection and the frozen water bottle idea.

 

[Deleted member 20812]

Dbear is right on the money. I battled PF for about six months one year. It was largely a result of tight calves and hamstrings. Roll your foot on the frozen water bottle. Do some foot circles in the morning before you hop out of bed to loosen up the fascia without tearing it again.

Get a foam roller and start rolling out your calves and your hammies and then do your yoga. l was able to work through mine by cutting out running (swam instead) until it was healed. No cortisone or anything else.

I haven't had a reoccurence in seven years, and I still run quite a bit.

 

[huntfishcamp]

Frozen water bottle is working wonders, thanks all!

 

[npaden]

Also, don't walk around the house barefoot. When I had a bout with it this summer I kept an old pair of running shoes beside the bed in the morning.

You might try to figure out the cause, mine turned out to be a new pair of casual shoes that I bought for work. I quit wearing the new pair and bought some more supportive shoes to wear to work and that has pretty much solved my problem.

Rolling the frozen water bottle is a big help in the meantime though.

 

[fwagner]

Go see a physical therapist. It would be a little pricey but they could give you exercises that would help as well a night foot splint and maybe some custom orthotics for your boot. You enough time that if you get on it now you could see some good results. Good luck.

 

[gregbpeyton]

Sounds goofy but with your foot on the floor roll a tennis ball in the arch of your foot back and forth. It wroks.

 

[Deleted member 20812]

Sounds goofy but with your foot on the floor roll a tennis ball in the arch of your foot back and forth. It wroks.

Yes, it does work. I used a rolling pin, but it has the same affect. Basically you need to massage out the adhesions (mini scars) that develop in the fascia band on the bottom of your foot.

When you jump out of bed in the AM without warming up your foot, and you have PF, you instantly create micro tears. This creates the adhesions, which perpetuates the nasty PF.

It also helps you stretch out the fascia band. Most of the tightness though, originates in the hamstrings and/or calves. That's why hitting these good with a foam roller and lots of stretching is so important in getting your PF healed AND cured.

 

[huntfishcamp]

all good info thanks, I'll try a tennis ball tonight. I have a podiatry appmnt tues, its improved w the ice water bottle/AM stretching, but still pretty sore and I want to know about cortizone shots, maybe even an MRI as it's not healing well - I WILL be doing my CO backcountry hunt, on one leg if I have to~!

 

[WindedBowhunter]

Being someone that suffers from "Plantar Fasciitis", I have found the best results by using custom footbeds created by my foot doctor.

I wear them in all my hunting, hiking, running and work footwear. Since, I started this regimen, no foot or heel pain. That's been over 3 years now.

 

[huntbux]

The frozen water bottle is what I am currently using and works great. My aunt is a physical trainer and that is her go to for it.