Low or High Arches? Don’t Let Plantar Fasciitis Slow You Down
Waking up in the morning and feeling a sharp pain in your heel or arch is never something you want to get in the way of your Great Run training. But if you suffer from plantar fasciitis, there are proven methods to speed up your recovery. And there are actions you can take to prevent the condition, keeping your feet in top form.
Getting back on your feet
Like shin splints but on the bottom of your feet, the cause of plantar fasciitis is the strain on connective muscle tissue. It is inflammation of the fascia, the ligament tissue that connects your heel to your toes, passing along the arch of your foot. The pain that can be located in the arch or the heel is particularly noticeable early in the morning. It has a number of causes from your feet pronating inward when you run, to a tight Achilles tendon, to just working out hard or merely having low or high arches. I’d always recommend getting a good soft tissue massage on your feet and calf muscles.
An active way to end the pain
If you can manage it, avoid taking pain reliever. The pain is there to alert you to the damage in your ligaments, and it can be easy to re-injure healing tissue or deepen the problem if you apply too much pressure to your feet. Medication dulls the pain signals that would otherwise alert you slow down. Finding the point where you can gently stretch your feet, just before the pain arrives, and slowly increasing the range of motion and activity is key to helping your body recover. Walk properly and be sure to stretch beforehand and not shying away from icing afterwards or compressing the affected area with athletic tape or elastic bandages.
Minutes of prevention is worth weeks of cure
If you are recovering from the condition or you just want to keep your ligaments healthy, prevention of plantar fasciitis is crucial. Especially if your arches are higher or lower than average, be sure to have shoes that support you properly and that fit well. Stretching your calves and arches on stairs, curbs or against a wall afterwards and especially before you run is key to maintaining top form. Rest is important for healing, but taking the right actions while you heal and paying close attention to what your body is telling you will speed your road to recovery.
