Hi folks, welcome!
My friend Warren turns out to have a chronic case of plantar fasciitis that is exacerbated by running, and is probably related to an old, but serious, knee injury. Can we give Warren happy feet? Bet we can?
In order to get over and stay over sports injuries, or the negative impact of aging on your activity level, you have to be constantly vigilant in order to fix your issues and keep them fixed.
I’m amazed by the number of people with plantar fasciitis, and they seem to come in one of several main types, (1) runners, (2) people on their feet a lot, (3) people who have suffered serious injuries, especially knee injuries, (4) those with poor posture, and (5) others, a really mixed bag. I was in groups ‘1 and 4’ until I fixed it, and now I enjoy working with my dance and Continuum teacher, Rebecca, to unravel this problem for other people, and to keep my plantar fasciitis at bay.
Our mantra, “We won’t give up on you, if you don’t give up on you.”
View of my running trail (rest stop in Ohio), from my favorite TriggerPoint Performance roller, as I work on my zigzag problem before it turns into plantar fasciitis again.
This puzzle goes beyond our business of selling e-books and videos, which include a plantar fasciitis treatment. Each new case we take on can add something to the next edition of this product. In fact, this has become so frequent a request that we decided to create the FitOldDog Plantar Fasciitis Newsletter in order to stay in touch with customers, and be sure they are making progress. If they are not cured we are not finished with the work – unraveling their heel pain puzzle.
I’m 70 years old and still undertaking Ironman races, but it doesn’t just happen – I have to constantly address physical difficulties. Take my zigzag issue – if I stop running for a while, which I was forced to do recently due to my abdominal aortic aneurysm stent graft displacement, back comes my tight calf in my right leg.
Working with Karl to fix his chronic plantar fasciitis.
To eliminate this problem, it takes me (a) several weeks of targeted rolling of my lateral right calf before and after running, (b) stretching and lengthening of my medial hamstring on the same leg, (c) stretching of deep hip muscles in my lateral right hip, and (d) limbering of my left, previously dislocated, shoulder.
It would appear that the problem in my right calf really starts in my left shoulder.
If I don’t follow this routine to loosen up the entire ‘zigzag’ pathway, it is impossible for me to run – my left soleus muscle just totally cramps up, stopping me in my tracks.
It took us a while to work this out, and now I have the cure, but I have to apply constant vigilance to this issue, which would certainly turn into plantar fasciitis again if I attempted to ‘run through the problem.’ Been there, done that!
So, what are your issues, I wonder, Karl and Warren? Give us time and we’ll fix them, as long as you do the prescribed work that we can’t do for you.
-k @FitOldDog
Hello FitOldDog! Thanks very much for taking the time to discuss my plantar fasciitis issues. I have purchased and read your book and have started to develop a program of stretching, rolling, and self-diagnosis! After only two days I can say that I am more mindful of my feet and how they fall when I am running, and that in itself has helped identify and correct at least one bad habit (landing on the outside of my right heel, most likely to help buffer the impending shock to my knee). I will keep you posted – keep up the good work!! Warren
Hi Warren, think of it like one of those metal puzzles, where you have to separate two weird shapes, and they’ll come apart easily in one direction but not at all in another. You have to find that easy path for your body. Make changes slowly and carefully, as you don’t want to exchange knee problems for plantar fasciitis, but I bet there is a best way for you to run without foot pain or risking your knees. Your challenge is to find that way. Let us know if we can help, and send a video if you want further input. Cheers, Kevin