L Foot, Plantar Fasciitis
2005-08-10 – 2006-03-24
Grade: 2
started hurting later in the day after a long interval run.
I'd been on strong antibiotics (one of the quinolone types linked to cases of weakened/ruptured) tendons for around 4 days, which may have helped cause the problem.
this case has been tougher to resolve than my previous ones, maybe because I initially tried to run through it, but it also seemed to be in a slightly different place (more like the inside of my foot) and it initially hurt more.
tried the usual stuff like stretching, ice, golf-ball massage, which weren't as effective as for previous cases.
started more stretching (hamstring especially) in late december, and that seems to have helped.
some notes from my first PT visit (1/24):
- in addition to the standard "does this hurt" type stuff, the lady measured my flexibility in various directions.
- besides tight gastrocs and hamstrings, I also have inflexible feet. (I think it was Dr Lanzo from Towson who told me that back in the day also)
- I have high arches (knew that)
- I tend to stand supinated, but more so with the left foot. not sure if it's always been that way, or if this is due to the injury.
- my left leg felt slightly weaker when I was doing calf raises.
(1/26)
saw the orthopedic guy this morning. he looked at the xrays of my feet, but didn't really see much except that some of my ankle bones didn't have a lot of space between them, which I assume is related to the inflexibility (it's never felt to me like my foot stiffness was a muscular thing). so he's having me get an MRI, which will be in 2 weeks. I'm guessing we won't find anything surprizing, but it's always fun to see pictures of your insides.
(1/30)
saw the orthotics lady (ann), who is actually just another of the physical therapists that is a foot guru / orthotics specialist. she agreed with the first trainer (lora, who was also there) and additionally found that my big-toes don't dorsiflex (bend upward) as much as they're supposed to (45degrees vs standard 65-75+degrees), which she thought seemed caused by a combination of shortness in the PF, and also stiffness in the joint. she thought that was probably the primary factor, and recommended we start doing ultrasound and stretching to get some more mobility. after a little bit of that, she measured it again at more like 60 degrees. we never actually talked about orthotics, but I feel like we might be on the right track with the big toe thing, because my arches hurt more after running in certain types of snow, which bends my toes up.
bad shoes, hard surfaces. soft ground and stretching helped in the end, I think