Plantar fasciitis and spontaneous joint fusion

[Scott P]

I’m not looking for sympathy, only advice and those with personal experience. I’m looking for people who have had some personal experience with these issues (and will post this in several groups).
I have spontaneous joint fusion at the knees and Plantar fasciitis on my feet.

Visiting the doctors doesn’t seem to have done me any good and I’ve only been told to do various exercises and stretches, which I do all the time, wear a night splint, which I also do, and to take pain killers, but I’m allergic to most of those. I also spent a lot of money at Good Feet and it seems to help some, but the problem is still there and not getting better.

It has been affecting my hiking and climbing a lot and my abilities have taken a nose dive. Last spring is when I really noticed it. I did OK over the winter and my son and I did a lot of hard (for me) climbs in Patagonia.

To show how fast things have changed, this was in December. By May the problem accelerated and a four day technical backpack through West Canyon was painful. By July, the Grand Teton was painful and I thought the GT was right at my limit. Late August/early September I climbed a few mountains in the Alps and did the Tour du Mont Blanc, and felt that was at my limit. It has been getting worse and worse and by yesterday I could barely do Huron Peak and don’t think I can climb anything harder than that (it’s not the technical aspect, but the length and elevation gain/descent). It took my 8.5 hours to do Huron and I was at my pain limit by the time I reached the trailhead.

In other words in just a matter of 9 months, I’ve gone from being able to climb in Patagonia to barely being able to do Huron Peak

I’ve already cut back to doing much shorter and easier hikes and haven’t even done anything else as hard as Huron Peak in several weeks. In fact all of my hikes since early September minus Huron were only an hour or two.

I’m going to try and find some other activities to get some exercise (biking or swimming maybe) and give my knees and feet a rest, but I don’t know what yet (I’m working in Granby so options are somewhat limited).

I assume several other people have dealt with this issues. Doctor visits don’t seem to be helping so for anyone else who is dealing with or dealt with this issues, what helped you and besides what has already been mentioned, what helped you cope with it and get better? Or did you never get better.

Perhaps this is a minor first world issue, but it has really made me frustrated and irritable lately, especially in the last month and given that I’m used to hiking a lot. Staying home and taking it easy is hard (for me), especially if it is going to be long term.

[seannunn]

I had plantar fasciitis about 20 years ago. I finally had to take about 2 months off of running to allow it to heal (at that time I wasn't really hiking on a regular basis).
After that I started back very gradually, and did barefoot calf raises on a stair religiously every morning for several years (still do them 3x/week).
ot sure whether that helps you or not. Sometimes complete rest for a period of time is the only solution.

Sean Nunn
Peculiar, MO

[mtree]

I have not had the same issues you're experiencing, but similar effects. I had recurring tendonitis in IT band and nerve pain in feet. It was so bad that I couldn't even drive at times! I thought it was plantar fasciitis, but docs said nope. A different nerve issue between bones. Forgot what they called it.

I had steroid shots, pain/anti-inflammatory pills, stretches, sole inserts, and everything short of surgery. One hike like Huron could put me out for 2 weeks plus. I had all kinds of advice including quitting hiking, but the consistent advice I received was this:

1) STOP hiking. For months. Give it a rest.
2) Change footwear until you find something that works. This took a long time. Years.
3) Evaluate triggers. (It wasn't just hiking that caused it.) Again, took a long time.
4) Don't overdo it!

Well, after years of switching hiking boots (and running shoes) I finally settled on some that work and why. Some triggers were VERY surprising. Golf, throwing a baseball for extended sessions, sprinting, and driving a car without a solid sole on my feet... especially if using a clutch. And get this - sleeping in a position that bothers IT band or foot. After slowly making changes things improved gradually over a few years. And now I haven't had an episode in over 2 years. I also haven't golfed or run sprints. Oh well. But I'm still hiking!

One other thing that was always mentioned. If you're beating the crap out of your body its going to break down eventually. Its possible your limitations are changing and you need to adjust accordingly. I gladly gave up golf for hiking. I sucked at golf anyway.

[Pcypher]

It’s interesting having PF for as long as I had it and now barely notice it (knock on wood!!!)

I heard all the things. Wear your shoes all the time, even in the shower. Also heard go barefoot. Totally frustrated with conflicting information.

For me it was actually extreme activity that helped resolve it. I had it for about 5 years constant. Tons of PT. Dry needling made it way worse! I then signed up for a challenge; 2022 miles in 2022. I did my best but was inconsistent. By December I still needed approx 620 miles. I really can’t run anymore and at that time was running occasionally but mostly just walked. I set out to complete at least 20 miles a day and was successful in my challenge but the best thing was it resolved my PF. I did not stretch after every walk or if I did it was light. I separated most days out to 5-10 miles twice or three times a day, etc. The consistency was the game changer in my opinion. I considered myself a bit of a weekend warrior prior.

Good luck to you! I know how frustrating it is and hope you figure out what works!

[randalmartin]

I had Plantar Fascitis, and one simple thing healed it permanently. Do a runners stretch a HOLD IT FOR 2 FULL MINUTES. Repeat at least once a day

The underlying issue is tightness in Calf/Achilles. FYI, I went to a foot doctor and they never told me about this and frankly were worthless.

In about 1-2 weeks my plantar fascitis was gone and anytime I start to feel it come back I just repeat that stretch for several days. Has worked 100% of the time.

Here is the original video on YouTube

[Istoodupthere]

I’ve dealt with it in my left foot about 4 years now. Started after doing a 24 mile day hike in the Smokies. It was so bad a couple years ago that I thought my hiking could be over. It’s worse for me on flat hard areas like frozen dirt roads in Michigan when I’m trying to stay in shape for the spring (mostly on the North Country “Trail” which is the worst “trail” ever created). The steep inclines in CO actually seem to help stretch it out and I take time off when it starts getting bad. I’m never in perfect condition because I can’t push myself as much as I’d like to.

Finding the right shoes is huge. I’ve figured out which shoes/boots cause the least amount of pain. Soaking in an ice bucket on bad days really seems to help. You have to take time off to let it heal. Figuring out how much I can push myself has allowed me to do close to as much as I was able to do before I hurt my foot. I did the close to 40 miles from purgatory to the Eolus’s and back a couple months ago and my foot surprisingly held up pretty well.

[docinco]

hi scott, have not posted here but once in several years after getting flamed by justin for attempting to support him re: inappropriate comments that might harm grieving survivors, and not having the courtesy of a response from bill, but it's you so here i am. feel free to call me for details 970 626 4000; in short, try any of the otc nsaid creams available on (ugh) amazon. aspercream has always been my go-to but what i always suggested to patients, buy one of each, try b.i.d. for 2 weeks and on to the next as ymmv. don't disagree w any of the above but adding a topical can make any of those less painful. study +/- 2 y ago in the nejm demonstrated these to be as effective as pt and more effective than surgery for torn meniscus! whereas i had really only recommended it for small joint overuse injuries. happy healing, and thanks for all your sage contributions over the years. doc.

[pbakwin]

For PF, stretching is contraindicated for most people. Some will get benefit, but you stress the PF by doing that so it's more likely to cause problems. You do want to loosen your calves, but massage is better. Deeply massage the PF as well. I have found Voltaren topical anti-inflammatory (OTC) to be very effective for PF. Since the inflamed tissue is close to the skin surface it gets right in there. Doesn't work very well for deep injuries. One other thing is to get more cushion under your heels in particular. Spenco Polysorb insoles ($25) work well. Good luck!

[Scott P]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I have been reading it all very carefully.

[Istoodupthere]

Just wanted to post an update to this topic. I’m a college tennis coach and I made the mistake of pushing myself too much during a fun event with the men’s and women’s teams back in early October. My foot was so bad that I came close to finally pulling the trigger and seeing a doctor (which I only do when completely necessary). I decided to hold off. I wasn’t able to spend as much time in CO this fall due to bad luck with the weather. After taking a break, I did a 17 mile hike, mostly on concrete and frozen roads/trails here in Michigan in early December. Usually I can barely walk when I get back home after a hike like this. Hardly had any pain or swelling. Then I did some winter hikes in CO and UT around Christmas. Felt pretty good. 3 weeks into our season now and my foot is completely pain free and the constant swelling I’ve had for a number of years is basically completely gone. The point is to not give up hope. For me, taking an unwanted break from hiking and finding the right shoes was key. Now if I can find a cure for my ingrown toenail…

[nyker]

Sorry to hear this Scott. Injuries can be a real pain in the neck.

I can't speak to the joint fusion at the knees, but for plantar fasciitis, I developed PF during the extended COVID lockdown and it got to the point I barely could walk after never having PF in my life. How did this happen? Basically as all the branches to my normal gym were closed that I had regularly gone to for 20+ years, like most others, I was forced to do modified workout at home with no equipment and often what this meant was toned down exercises and many body parts were "missed" in my home workout or at least not hit to the degree I hit them in the gym, which included quite a lot of warm up and cool down, stretching etc; Due to space of a tiny NY apartment, workouts were much shorter also.

Not doing my normal "gym" exercises which included ellipticals, longer warmups, a lot of stairmaster, and lot of lower extremity weight training on machines/free weights, I lost flexibility and dynamic strength in my legs but really in my calves. I also had been due for new orthotics for while then, but both podiatrists I had gone to for years both retired over COVID and nobody locally as taking in person appointments back then, so I was on old basically worn out orthotics exacerbating any imbalance or flexibility issue. The PF that ensued was very bad and took the rest of that year to get better only after getting back into a gym once opened again, doing dedicated calf stretching and re-strengthening and experimenting with a few shoe/insole combinations and as importantly resting (as you discovered, its pretty hard to rest from walking). To the point raised by others, I stopped hiking altogether for several months and even reduced walking to work opting for Uber/taxis when possible to avoid stress on my lower legs until healed. Ample stretching, but not overstretching, regular weight training for my legs and keeping shoe/insole combinations fresh/updated has helped since then.

Good luck my friend.