 Planter fasciitis Surgery Planter fasciitis surgery a runner's story a runners Story if you're watching this video right now There is a very high likelihood that you have in the past had pf or you are currently suffering from pf Planter fasciitis. I'm sorry. I get it. I feel the pain literally and I'm here to help I'm gonna tell my story that connects to planter fasciitis And I'm gonna talk to you about what I have had to do in the past and what I'm currently doing now to overcome and defeat Planter fasciitis and why I'm wearing this t-shirt right now is first of all because it's positive It kind of makes you laugh and smile And I want to make sure that you runners out there that are suffering that you don't give up Keep smiling keep a positive attitude you can defeat planter fasciitis And I know this kind of sounds intense to start the video But it's it's really serious and it hurts and the pf. You just want to kick it to the curb But there's hope there is hope hope lives. I promise I promise okay In sixth grade I was a soccer player, and then I decided wait a minute. I'm kind of a small guy I can't even kick a ball from the corner kick to the goal I can't I don't have the leg strength. Let's just eliminate the soccer ball I by the way This was up in Buna Vista, Colorado where I grew up and let's just start running. I love running boom Let's like no more soccer ball. Let's just run. Let's do what you really really love So I switched from soccer to cross-country and that was my first bout with with planter fasciitis in seventh grade My dad who is also a runner you see him there on the screen when my first bout of pf popped up He would sit on the couch and massage my foot night after night working out the pf This was in seventh grade fast forward a lot all the way to college at the University of Colorado Where I competed on the cross-country and track team my second bout of planter fasciitis this time in my right foot and Training at the collegiate level as a division one athlete is pretty intense You're putting in a lot of miles and it's not always easy and we pounded ground on Magnolia road And we pounded ground on the track and we worked out in these very light weight spikes this pair Actually, I still have them these Nike milers from the Bill Bowerman series like a very lightweight track spike that Gets you up on your toes and yes Possibly contributed to my planter fasciitis popping up in college this planter fasciitis in college would Not go away It was so so discouraging and I bet you can connect to this part of my story If you just get so down because you feel like you're doing everything correctly to get rid of it I took I even took three months off and this is maybe my first tip of the day Don't take time off unless your doctor tells you to by the way I'm not a doctor, but unless your doctor tells you to With pf. It's not necessarily and you got to make sure you diagnose it correctly So go to a you know podiatrist or your doctor and they will be able to help you figure out if you actually have pf But I took three months off four months off like it would not that didn't help as soon as I started back up again It was still there. We did the night splint. We did Injections cortisone injections which by the way to this day is still the most painful thing of my life Like it an injection to the bottom of my heel. Oh, we did shockwave therapy We did everything for over the course of 18 months Nothing would make my pf go away So what did I do? Ladies and gentlemen, what did I do and this is something that I have not shared with many of you longtime viewers of the blog Is that I flew to California and I had surgery on my pf. I know I know I Don't necessarily even regret that decision actually in fact it worked it worked Six weeks later after the surgery. I was able to start running again, and it was a little tender at first But it went it was not there the pain Was gone now listen. Is that the best option? No Surgery is by far not the best option But when you're a collegiate athlete, you've got only a small window to be competing at a high high level You have to get the at the end of the day You got to make a decision and I'm not afraid to make decisions like all right This is my decision and I'm going with it And you you never really fully will know if it was the right one But fast forward again, so that was in college at the University of Colorado fast forward again to 10 years later and I had a bout of pf. It went away quickly. This was three years ago from this date right now and then 2018 July so four months ago almost five months ago from right now It flared up again this past summer this time in my other foot, so my left foot I had the surgery in college in my right foot and so now in the present I am no longer a collegiate athlete But I'm trying to compete at a high level in ultra running and in marathon running and in Mountain running and I believe this current bout with pf was caused because I was running up Big mountains and not doing enough maintenance, so I love running big 14,000-foot peaks here in Colorado But I was not doing enough maintenance to take care of my body and not enough stretching and massaging and all that good Stuff we're gonna get into that in a second So this is my fourth bout with pf in my life right now Fast forward to two weeks ago just before Thanksgiving and that's where this t-shirt connects in where I got this t-shirt I was racing a 5k in city park in Denver, Colorado And I was leading the race. I was about to win the race about to win this 5k race I was trying to break 16 minutes as a 33 year old if I might add it and I was in first place Second place was about 10 feet behind me. I was digging digging digging. I knew like okay I got to go right now with a hundred meters to go in this race or else I'm gonna get kicked down because my speed is okay, but it's not amazing And so I'm sprinting sprinting sprinting turn a corner sprint plant tear Possible tear to my planter fasciitis What would be called the release a rupture a tear a stretch? I don't frankly even know what to call it But two weeks ago from right now December 8th 2018 I believe I ruptured my planter Tendon in my left foot. Okay. I know I just said a lot But I had to tell you that background as to my experience with planter fasciitis surgery Massaging as a kid and yes rupturing. I believe I ruptured my planter tendon two weeks ago in that race If it wasn't a full rupture, maybe a partial rupture partial release something definitely Overstretched and I could feel something go and so I did not win that race Because I had surgery because I believe I ruptured my planter two to three weeks ago. I am feeling better My pf is basically non-existent. I can very rarely does it hurt now for better or worse That's what happened and I did that race in the vapor fly 4% which has a carbon fiber plate in this shoe Did that contribute to the possible rupturing of my planter? I don't know but just wanted to let you know this is reality and this is what happened I was wearing this shoe But before I ruptured my pf two to three weeks ago I was in a lot a lot of pain probably a similar amount of pain to what you are suffering from if you have Pf in your foot or feet right now and here's just a few mistakes that I think I made over the last four to five months and even frankly Throughout my life with respect to not taking care of my feet and my pf here. It is the first mistake Stretching too hard at first and not stretching before getting out of bed in the morning Pf often is the worst in the morning when you before you get out of bed It can really be painful that first step when you get out of the bed, you know, you know what I'm talking about And so laying in bed Stretching before you get out of bed has helped so much second mistake Likely massaging my heel area too much with this little wooden toy that I have for my kids and not focusing on stretching and Massaging my arch enough. I was massaging my heel because it felt so good And it's like you're trying to just dig in and kind of break up a little bit of that scar tissue in there But in retrospect, I have learned through a lot of research through listening to a lot of you on YouTube that it's More effective to stretch and massage Slowly and gently your arch because your arch is what's actually You need to loosen that up so that you can basically take the tension The tension off of the tendon where it's connected to the calcaneus bone Which is your heel bone in the bottom of your foot? And so you don't actually want to massage your heel very much You want to miss at all actually you want to massage your arch and you want to stretch your arch as much as possible third mistake not strengthening my feet enough and my ankles enough with specific exercises one of them being Scrunching up a towel with your toes That is a very very effective way to basically stretch out your pf And then to strengthen all of those ligaments tendons muscles in the bottom of your foot. So that has been so Incredibly important for overcoming my pf before I ruptured my pf I was getting better, but I think I was fortunate to actually rupture or release it in this race I it's crazy. I know it's crazy and listen probably 99% of you will never do that. Okay, it just kind of happened like I was it just happened I don't even know I don't even know what else to say But before that what was working for me like what was I was making small teeny tiny steps forward with Overcoming and this is what I was doing and it was working But then it just happened the the pf release gentle stretching not too aggressive So just gently stretching my calf my soleus and because you don't you don't want to feel the pain right where that Tendon attaches to your heel like if you are over stretching too much You're actually gonna be Inflaming that tendon and it's just gonna bark at you. It's gonna be very very upset with you So don't over stretch just gentle stretching through the calf the soleus and yes the bottom of your foot Specifically your big toe Gently pulling your big toe back and that'll that'll just ever so slightly and go slow Stretch out the bottom of your foot and specifically the inside of that Tendon that the fascia tendon on the bottom of your foot. I cannot stress this enough Massaging your calf your soleus and yes your arch Don't massage your your heel too too much maybe a little bit Try and avoid the heel area as much as possible Focus a little more on that arch if you need to hire someone to do it for you if you have the money I would highly highly recommend it I was able to do that in the last six weeks and her name's Katie Thank You Katie and it's helped so so so much, but you can also do it on your own It's it's not gonna be as effective, but if you if you can't afford a physical therapist or a masseuse You could do it on your own just be careful if you're doing it on your own because you don't know You don't want to overdo it when it comes to that heel area specifically icing after runs is good I sing your your foot icing your heel icing your arch is good But I also to help if you're in the middle of your track season or your cross-country season or you're getting ready for a Marathon and you've got like two weeks to go and you need to get through this to get through those last workouts or to get through the race I have been soaking my foot in pretty hot water with epsom salt, which is a basically a Relate it relaxes your muscles and your tendons and it helps relax your body this epsom salt So I have been doing that a lot in the last eight weeks Before a training session or before a race just to help again take the edge off Two more things don't forget your plantar fasciitis Yes, it hurts in your foot, but it's really starts in your lower back I know that's crazy, but from your lower back through your glutes through your hamstrings through your calves Your soleus all the way down to that fascia tendon on the bottom of your foot. It's all connected It's a big rubber band basically so if that rubber band is too tight in your hamstrings Which is my scenario my hamstrings are so tight. I continue to work on them and stretch them You got a stretch not you don't want to just stretch the bottom of your foot It starts up frankly in your lower back and your glutes Don't be afraid to stretch all in fact. I shouldn't say it that way Stretch no matter what your glutes your hamstrings and your lower back that will slowly release the tension Which is then going to be it's like a chain reaction all the way down your legs Down eventually to your fascia tendon in the bottom of your foot and the last tip for overcoming your pf is this Foot log. It's designed for Massaging the bottom of your foot. It's designed by a doctor. I love it. And yes, it's available down below from Amazon Love this thing, but what I have found it to be almost just as effective for is Stretching the bottom of my foot. So what I'll do is I'll just stand on top of it Not with all of my weight just almost though I'll just ease into it where I'll put more and more weight onto my arch Slowly like a tortoise go slow, but just slowly Stretch those muscles and that big fascia tendon that big yellow piece of tape You see on the bottom on my foot that is your fascia tendon That's what it looks like inside of your foot And so you want to step onto that foot log and just put your weight onto that foot log and Slowly it'll stretch out that tendon and I would recommend doing this three times a day Holding it for three sets of two minutes for three times a day. So I know that's a lot So three times two that's six minutes six times three is 18 minutes a day if you can do this 18 minutes a day. I promise and ease into it Don't just do that in the first day ease into it, but I promise you're gonna slowly feel that fascia stretch out and Eventually it might take time and this is where the patience comes in But eventually the bottom of the where it's pulling away from your heel bone. That's gonna slowly Stretch out and it's not gonna be pulling on your calcaneus bone Which is where that pain comes from right most likely on the inside of your heel Oh, you're just one so that is my maybe my my number one tip with this foot log It's just stand on it and slowly stretch that fascia tendon now. I know I just talked to you for a long time This is a little bit of a unique daily vlog I get it But I just had to hit this topic because I know so many of you are suffering and you're letting me know that You're suffering down in the comments and by the way Let me know if you are suffering down in the comments, but I'm here for you I'm here to answer your questions. Make sure you ask your questions down in the comments I guess my top two tips are stretching and massage stretching and massage I think I could have overcome now that in retrospect right looking back I think I could have defeated my pf in college if I would have been a little more aggressive in my Massaging and stretching. I just I just didn't quite Attack it well enough and I'm telling you if you do the things every single day the stretching and massaging It's gonna take time, but I promised it's gonna go away And if it doesn't come back and tell me down in the comments. Oh, and yes, the keyword of the day is Release it will release it might take some and hopefully you don't have to release it how I did in the race Don't do that, but it will release slowly if you are consistent and patient in your maintenance of your body And the question of the day And they I know not everybody can answer this but have you ever suffered from plantar fasciitis? If so, what did you do specifically to help you overcome it? And I may have already asked a question similar to what I just asked I get it But again, I know there's a lot of new subscribers welcome by the way Let us know down in the comments if you've ever suffered and how you overcame it If you have not had plantar fasciitis Do you know someone who has had it or maybe you have had it in the past? And it's gone or maybe you're currently suffering, but all of us runners Probably know someone who has suffered so let's get the conversation going Thank you for answering the question of the day and for typing release down in the comments Thank you. We're gonna do it. I can I'm telling you there's light at the end of the tunnel Mmm. Mmm. Mmm. Come on YouTube. Come on. Help each other. Help each other All right, because I was aggressive in attacking my PF and I realize I'm a little bit of a unique situation Because my I believe my fascia released in that race But mine was getting better by doing everything that I just told you In the last, you know, 20 minutes and thank you for being here by the way for so long But I'm telling you guys you can overcome this I did not touch upon all the points that I would like to but I also want to respect your time All I'm saying is thank you for being here Thanks for watching and don't forget that we're here together on this journey of life and we're gonna we're gonna get through We're gonna get through. All right. All right. I'm out Night run. Love you and yes, let's seek beauty work hard work hard at defeating that PF. Mmm. Mmm And love each other