Another mediacl one - cycling causing plantar fasciitis?

[rafletcher]

First occurred last year, after a (hard for me) 70 mile charity ride about a year ago. Loaded up the car and drove home, felt some pain in my foot.  And after that I have suffered intermittently from pain, often quite sharp, in my heel (one foot only), especially after standing for a while or walking on hard surfaces (like visiting London). Not the classically painful first thing in the morning symptom, but I can't think what else it could be.  Seems to be relieved by proper calf stretches after rides, something I'd been neglecting. Oh, and not sitting at my desk with my knee bent back and the weight of my leg on my toes.

[hellymedic]

Plantar fasciitis was sometimes known as 'policeman's heel' in the days when bobbies pounded the beat.  <Insert grump about police street absence here>

The problem often has a cause which is unrelated to mechanical provocation so that some people with atypical arthris may suffer. Those with psoriatic arthritis or Reiter's syndrome may get it.

Cycling seldom causes much heel pressure so rarely causes PF.

Sorbothane insoles may be helpful and avoiding provocative action is always wise.

[Lady Cavendish]

I have a severe case of chronic PF which has now caused several other problems in that foot. Its a total car crash of a foot. The PF in fact eventually ruptured in October

I cannot walk without limping, and its been going on nearly 2 years.

However, I have no pain whatsoever on the bike, cycling seems to be the only thing that does not cause the PF any pain.

Whereabouts in the heel does it hurt?

[hellymedic]

The spot for true PF is about 1½ cm forward of the forward edge of the heelbone...

[rafletcher]

I get no pain when cycling, but sometimes after, and the first instance was after that ride - but it's my left foot (dominant in me) and in the car isn't used - it's an automatic. Maybe I held it awkwardly for too long? Who knows.

[Jakob]

I had issues with it a couple of years back and it turned out it was related to an old calf-injury.

[BrianI]

I have had bad issues with PF, in my case caused by very very flat feet.
(cheers for passing your flat feet genes on mum....)

Fixed by orthotics for my shoes!   

[RW]

+1 for orthotics.  £150 seemed very very steep at the time, but it's one of the best £150s I've ever spent.  Wearing shoes with really hard heels seems to bring it back, so I try to avoid proper shoes as much as possible.

[LEE]

Resurrection (on account of me having this).

I think I may have had slight symptoms for a while but, last summer, I drove across Italy and could hardly put my right foot on the floor when I got out of the car. Since that moment I've had PF.

It's classic PF, feels like you're walking on Lego when you get out of bed or have been sat for a while.  I can feel the arch of my foot burning when I honk out of saddle and I resort to hobbling after walking for more than about an hour.  Sometimes I walk about and think "It's a miracle..I've been cured" then, a few hours later the pain returns.

I've started stretching out my calf/achilles and using a tennis ball as a foot rest/roller (to stretch everything out in my foot).  I think it's getting slightly better but almost every prognosis tells me it will take between 1-2 years to clear up, even with my tennis ball.  Not good.

I know CROCS ain't stylish but they sure are comfy if you have PF.

[Jakob]

Try to get deep-tissue/sports  massage on your calf. Also use the tennis ball as a trigger-point style massage ball.
http://www.tptherapy.com/unlock-your-body-anatomy-calf.html
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/YVYch0Ah7xM&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/YVYch0Ah7xM&rel=1</a>
Given that it started after sitting static, I can almost guarantee you that it's originating from your calf and any attempts fixing the plantar itself are in vain.
(You may still have to do both as the plantar is inflamed/irritated)
Took me less than a month to clear up once I realized the source was the calf muscle. That was after 6 months of taping, stretching, rolling, etc the foot itself, with very slow progress.

[LEE]

Cheers Jakob.

I agree with you, I expect it is more my leg than foot.  My family are cursed with the shortest Hamstrings in history I think, nobody on my mother's side has ever been able to touch their toes with straight legs (actuallyI eneded up being able to after several years of Tae Kwon Do training...but that is a distant memory) .  Cycling never helps stretch Hamstrings, quite the reverse, so I expect it could well be down to tightness all the way through my Hamstring, calf and "achilles".

I'll give that a go as well as endeavouring to do calf/hamstring stretches.

I'm fairly sure the tennis ball rolling, under my foot, is helping though.

I think the message to any sufferers is "don't give up".

I'll let you know how the "Trigger point" massage works out.


As a side issue, I never realised how common this complain was until I mentioned it.  I don't think I've yet mentioned it to anyone who either hasn't had it, got it, or whose relation has had it.

It's extremely debilitating though.

Note.  To avoid any embarrassment at the Podiatrist's, it's pronounced - "Plantar Fah-see-eye-tis".  If your heels are bloody tender when you take your first steps of a morning then you most likely have it.

[Gannet Keith]

I started getting many of the aforementioned symptoms in October last year so after a few weeks went to GPs. After trying some gel heel arches it didn't really shift and now looks more like tendonitis so I've been prescribed Naproxen to deal with the inflamation. If it continues I am looking to try Podiatry and custom-made insoles. Are there any recommended cycling fitness books which deal with such injuries and to recover from them?

I'm not too sure whether it was new shoes that caused this or spin classes where I'm not keen on the rapid switch from "steady state" to sprinting at little/no resistance. This is very different to how one changes pace on a road bike and combined with the lower saddle height on spin bikes cannot help the achilles. Particularly if like me you suffer from tight calves. When on a road bike I ride spds with max float which should not really be a problem?

Keen to get cleared up as i've been laying off the spin classes (and piling on the pounds) which I've used in the past to maintain some fitness over the winter when the bike stays in the garage.  Usually Spring marks my "get back on the bike and get in shape" with the Wiggy 100 in May and hopefully a (first) 200km later in the year.     

[T42]

I have a buggered cartilage in one ankle which manifests itself as foot pain on and off the bike.  It isn't constant or systematic: it appears that the cartilage is torn, and that pain occurs when the torn bit moves slightly and allows bone-on-bone contact.  Sometimes I can go for months without pain, but a walk through town in the wrong shoes is a pretty good way of starting it.

Once a year I go to the rheumatologist for a shot of hyaluronic acid into the joint. The rheumatologist is a 100-cols freak about 10 years younger than me. Last time I was there he'd just done the Pyrenees end to end, with 17 cols, and he tells me that I overdo the wear & tear.