Foot/Heel Pain
3 watchers
Mar 2012
7:18am, 14 Mar 2012
1,418 posts
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SusiesueH
I went out for a run on Monday and when I got back, the soft pad under my heel felt tender and bruised. I then spent the next 4 hours in the car, and I when I tried to walk, I had a achey sort of pain that seemed to be centred around the outside of my foot, a bit under the heel and up to the ankle bone. Yesterday the pain/ache was just the same and I couldn't pin point where the problem was. It feels sore while I stand but the most painful part is when I walk and my weight is on that leg with my knee bent. It's a if my foot doesn't want to bend to allow me to roll through the foot as I walk. I had hoped it might start to feel better today. But no. Today at least I can feel where the pain really is. On the outside of my foot, about halfway towards my toes, there's a sticky out bony bit (sorry for the technical description). Moving backwards from there, about halfway between that bone any my heel, it's sore on the outside of my foot, and it radiates through the sole of my foot back toward the heel. I've googled foot anatomy and I can't find anything that looks like a bone, muscle or tendon where I'm tryng to describe. Anyone had anything similar and have any idea what it is and whether I should be worried about it? |
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Mar 2012
9:00am, 14 Mar 2012
673 posts
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Ian M
Probably best to post a photo of your foot with the areas of pain marked etc. It could be a number of places on your foot where the Plantar Fascia inserts or the calf and shin muscles insert into the bones of the foot. When you get very fatigued muscle, it goes into spasm and tightens up so tight that it pulls very hard on the anchor points of its tendon to the bone and you get pain in various places where the foot is concerned. Check your calf muscle, massage it and make sure its nice and loose, 'rub out" any lumpy, hurty bits you find (trigger points). Then your PF (sole of foot). Start with thumbs under heel bone, pressing quite hard and stroking out towards the toes, keep doing this until you feel the sole of foot become nice and flexible (it might feel very very tight to start with). You can also do the golf ball rolling trick or roll your foot on a frozen bottle of water (after you massage it). After you do all of the above see if you can walk any better - is the pain reduced or relieved? Ask Cabletow on here to look at a photo of your foot. |
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Mar 2012
9:26am, 14 Mar 2012
674 posts
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Ian M
Oh, forgot to mention, get qualified advice first naturally. Cabletow is the one. Don't rub on the hurty bits on your heel or foot. That won't help the pain on the insertion points. You need to force the muscles in your leg and feet to relax by massaging them. |
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Mar 2012
9:35am, 14 Mar 2012
1,421 posts
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SusiesueH
thanks Ian for a comprehensive response  I've taken a photo so I just need to put an arrow on to the hurty bit. Strangely, I can't find the sore spot when I press on my foot. I've had a prod about with my calf muscle and the only sore spot I can find is on the inner side of the bigger muscle at the top so I've had a bit of a rub to try to ease it
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Mar 2012
9:39am, 14 Mar 2012
1,422 posts
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SusiesueH
[IMAGE]
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Mar 2012
10:50am, 14 Mar 2012
6,335 posts
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KatieB
Ian's advice is excellent and quite right, in terms of soft tissue it could be PF or where a calf muscle attaches. Have a google of Tibialis Posterior, the tendon of that one runs behind your inner ankle bone and down and under your foot, attaching into several foot bones. How old are your trainers? Is the pain worse first thing? |
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Mar 2012
4:30pm, 14 Mar 2012
1,427 posts
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SusiesueH
The term PF has scared me half to death - I've read some of the injury stories here on Fetch :O So much so that I've booked a fizz appointment for Friday morning (what a way to spend a day off work ;)) My trainers are new-ish with 140 miles on them. I was going to say no Katie, the pain is the same through the day but I do seem to get more flexible as the day goes on (but it hurts just the same). I wonder if it is a calf thing because when I did a HM a couple of weeks ago, I had an achey achilles the day after. Never had that before and it went off within 24 hours. Maybe there was more to that than I thought So, thanks for your advice, I'll let you know how I get on with the physio on friday
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Mar 2012
4:48pm, 14 Mar 2012
1,449 posts
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Kimbles67
Glad you've got a fizz appointment booked Take it easy and rest until then.
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Mar 2012
4:52pm, 14 Mar 2012
1,428 posts
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SusiesueH
oh and thanks for your fmail Kimbles - I'm going to reply tonight when I get in from work :O
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Mar 2012
6:08pm, 14 Mar 2012
675 posts
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Ian M
Thanks Katie, you are too kind! Susie, glad you have an appointment booked. The photo looks like it could be what Katie describes where it inserts on the fifth toe. The muscle is sort of half way up the posterior calf but right against the shin bone. Do you have any calf pain either in the belly of the muscle or round towards the shin bone, about half way up your tibia. I'd bet on that bit being really tight and feeling possibly quite painful to touch. You could also have shooting pains at times down towards your toes - especially the little one and the pain at the side of the foot going underneath and across. The problem with this sort of thing is that the PF tightens, pulls on its insertions and then the calf joins in. Once that happens it sets up a negative feedback loop really between calf and plantar so you end up with pain at different places, hard to pinpoint and it doesn't even seem to respond too much to not running. This is because if you don't get the muscles and tendons to stop pulling so tight you are unlikely to get relief and the injury won't heal. The biggest problem is that we are always using our feet and lower legs so even walking can keep it boiling away. Then the brain gets involved and makes you tighten up as a way of protecting the injury so all of that tightens up so when you run you don't get any shock absorbing how it should work if the muscles and tendons worked properly. Every time you run the subconscious tightens them up etc. and it just keeps doing it. I'm sure the physio will be able to get your muscles to relax and you should have some relief there. Then do the exercises, massage it every day - as many times as the physio says - it may be several! You could also look into whether you may be pushing off hard with your toes or standing on your toes when you run. Makes me thing as you mention achy achilles which is another symptom of this. Another cause is weak glut medius muscles that allow your knee to collapse inwards as you run, twisting the tibia and foot slightly which twists the plantar fascia which it doesn't like. There are many views on stretching too. I used to be dead against it but now stretch after every run. Only very gently but it does seem to help me to stretch out after I run. Calves, quads, hamstrings etc but gently remember and ONLY after a run. Anyway, good luck, don't despair - even if it is PF, you have to be diligent and keep at it with the massage and rehab exercises. |
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