Ouchy-Wa-Wa!!!! (aka Plantar Fasciitis)

So it seems like my body is just falling apart these days. For about 2 weeks before the mile, I was battling my old knee pain that likes to come back and visit me once every few months. It's gone now, but because I just declared that it was gone, it will probably come back tomorrow. That's how it usually works.

Then, the day of the mile, I stepped out of bed and felt a pain in my heel. It was very mild, and did not affect my race in anyway. Later that night when I ran back to my car, I really started to feel it. I felt it the next day right when I got out of bed and on my four mile run, too.

I was pretty sure it was plantar fasciitis. Everyone has probably experienced this ailment, if even to a small degree. Have you ever woke up in the morning, and as soon as you stepped out of bed you felt a sharp pain in your heel? That's your plantar fascia, and if it hurts, there's probably a strain on it or it is inflamed. This has happened to me before, but the pain has gone away quite quickly- before I even thought anything was wrong.

Source

However, this time, the pain did NOT go away. I couldn't even walk on it! So I did some Googling, and learned a lot about PF just from this one video:

I also learned that the best ways to heal PF quickly is to:

1. Nip it in the bud right away. Whatever activity you're doing that's causing the pain (for me it was running) STOP IT! The sooner you stop, it's more likely to be a less severe injury.
   
   
2. Stretch multiple times a day- especially before getting out of bed in the morning. When you rest your feet for awhile (like sleeping) the plantar fascia is mending itself from the wear and tear of the day. Then with the first few steps in the morning, the plantar fascia becomes torn again. So stretch before getting out of bed!
   
   
3. Ice multiple times a day.
   
   
4. Go see the amazing Dr. Olivetti at Olivetti Chiropractic.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   I am so thankful Dr. Olivetti can help me through all my sports injuries! He performs Active Release Technique on me from time to time when I'm feeling knee pain, Luckily, ART also helps plantar fasciitis. But OH MY WORD IT HURT SO BAD!!!! My heel hurt to begin with, and then he started chipping away at it with this terrible sort of new age-y tool. (My description, not his.) HOWEVER, IT WORKS. All the pain is WORTH IT because guess what? In a two days I didn't have anymore pain on my plantar fascia! 
   
   
   He attributed this to two reasons:
   
   
   1. I stopped running right away and didn't further damage my foot. (Don't be a hero, people!)
   2. He performed ART on my foot and calf. Calf tightness can cause PF, and that's probably my root cause.
   
   
   I went to see Dr. Olivetti again yesterday. He performed ART and it hurt a lot less this time. He said it is a really good sign that it's feeling better. I'm supposed to ease back into running, so we'll see what happens! I'll see him again next week, and hopefully my healing has continued and running short distances doesn't aggravate it.
   
   
   If not, I'll just have to get more JACKED at Planet Fitness!!!
   
   
   
   
   Have you ever suffered from plantar fasciitis?