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I have been a long distance runner for about 10 years. Recently I increased my mileage and developed heel pain. I am thinking that it is plantar fasciitis since the morning pain is the worst, but then after I run it also hurts. Is anyone else experiencing morning pain and pain after exercising?

I thought that plantar fasciitis was supposed to get better after the ligament warmed up so I guess thats why I am little bit confused. I have self-diagnosed for plantar fasciitis, but does anyone else out there have any ideas?

Thanks for any replies, I am going to keep researching, if I figure out my own question I will post back!

John

John~

I have the same problem, I think it is two different causes. I think that we may both have plantar fasciitis from the repetitive motion of running and then the impact due to the running, we might have general heel pain from not enough shock absorption. But this is just my thinking, I bet I am right though. The morning pain is caused by the plantar fascia ligament tightening up overnight from small tears, then I think the pain after running is us developing those small tears in the PF ligament.

What I try to do is when I am running to keep a soft gel heel cup in my shoes because this seems to alleviate the pain after running. As for the morning pain, I have been trying to be really diligent in stretching my calves and feet out, it seems to be helping.

I hope this helps! JennyBean

I hope it's okay I'm piggy-backing onto this post, but I too started experiencing heel pain at the bottom of my left foot. I laid off running (based on an orthopedic specialist's advice) for two months because I was experiencing severe shin splints and tigtening of my calf-area in my left leg (not my gastroc, moreso in my soleus. I also think there was tightening in my plantaris tendon. Doesn't it connect/tie-in to the calf?). I also periodically felt tension at the top of my left foot, but never on the bottom. I figured the problem was due to overtraining. XRAYS did not reveal any fracture. So I recently started easing back into running, consciously keeping it slow, only running short distances, and implementing what I thought to be perfect form. Three weeks into my rebound--I started to feel a burning sensation at the bottom of my left foot. It doesn't bother me during my run, but it does afterward and also in the morning. Since this pain in my foot has arrived, I'm also noticing a hint of the same pains as before--shin splints, calf-tightening. Now my runs are suffering and I've had to scale back an already abbreviated running schedule.

Years ago I was fitted for stability-type shoes because I was told I over-pronated. Then, I was no longer being fitted for that type of shoe because I was told I ran with a neutral gait and was no longer over-pronating. Since I started experiencing problems again, I was told I was back to over-pronating, moreso in my right leg. All the pain has been in my left. I'm curious if the stability shoes are the problem? I mean, it's my right leg that's overpronating, not my left. And my left foot feels better when I consciously over pronate my left foot. (Most of the pain is on the outside of foot, not inside, almost as if I suppinate with my left leg). I have zero arches! Very flat feet! And I think it's unlikely I suppinate with flat-arches but I read somewhere that suppination is a result of PF. Any thoughts?

PS--I live in a very athlete-filled city (Olympic HQ is here!), yet I cannot seem to find any therapist/specialist that has given me customized assistance. I run for livelihood--ten marathons under my belt--and I've seen three people now who put me on this very bland, generic stretching program which I diligently execute. Any thoughts on a more detailed-therapy session that can take a look at my specific running stance and analyse my biomechanics for tailored help?

You may be one of those runners who is striking too hard on the heel. Shift weight, and get good massage to release fascial adhesions through the ankle and all the way up the calf, especially flexor digitorum, and tibialis posterior. It is critically important for you do see someone who uses MET (Muscle Energy Technique) it's a form of neuromuscular re-education that re-progams the muscle to accept and retain the longer length, reducing the pulling and preventing injury.
Kaelyn