Plantar Fasciitis: How To Spot, Treat And Prevent This Runner’s Nightmare Few things will derail your marathon training quicker than this cursed heel pain A couple of months into your marathon training plan the chances are you’re doing more running than you’ve ever done before in your life. This brings with it all manner of benefits – you’ll be fitter, leaner, likely a bit smugger – but also the risk of injury. One of the worst injuries a runner can pick up is plantar fasciitis, which can cost you weeks of training time or ruin your race entirely. To help ensure that doesn’t happen, we enlisted Tim Wright, sports physiotherapist and the creator of Virgin Active’s new Beyond Movement service, for advice on diagnosing, treating and preventing plantar fasciitis. What is plantar fasciitis?
“Plantar fasciitis is an overuse injury caused by repetitive over-stretching of the plantar fascia – the thick band of tissue that runs under the foot, forming the arch,” says Wright. “This leads to possible inflammation and thickening of this tissue. Plantar fasciitis is the most common cause of heel pain but can be commonly confused with a diagnosis of achilles tendinitis.” What are the symptoms of plantar fasciitis?
Pain. Horrible, horrible pain that makes you gasp when you step out of bed in the morning, as Wright explains. “Symptoms of plantar fasciitis consist of a gradual onset of pain under the heel which may radiate forwards into the foot’s arch. There may be tenderness in the sole of your foot and on the inside of your heel when pressing in. It can make it difficult to fully bear your weight or walk. “This can range from slightly uncomfortable to very painful, depending on how badly it is damaged.” The pain tends to be particularly bad in the morning, easing slightly throughout the day. “It’s usually worse first thing in the morning because the foot has been in a relaxed position all night and the plantar fascia temporarily shortens. Walking around usually helps ease the pain as