By Danny Dreyer, Creator and Founder of Chi Running

There are a few things in this world I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. Plantar fasciitis is one of them. This debilitating and annoyingly persistent injury can happen to anyone, and is particularly common among runners. I’ve had my bouts with it, and while home remedies can provide some relief, improving your running technique is your best defense. Practicing the Chi Running Form Focuses will put you on the path to injury prevention and recovery.

Where is the Plantar tendon and what does it do?

The plantar tendon runs the length of the bottom of your foot, spanning the area from the base of the toes to the front of your heel. The two ends of the tendon attach at the base of the toes and at the front of the heel bone by means of fascia, a strong fibrous membrane. The plantar tendon keeps the arch of the foot from flattening completely when the foot bears weight, thus providing cushioning and shock absorption when you’re walking, running or standing. This tendon also allows you to point your toes.

What is Plantar Fasciitis and what causes it?

Plantar fasciitis is an inflammation of the plantar fascia caused by any motion of the legs that creates a pull on the Plantar tendon. Walking or running up or down hills, climbing stairs, walking or running on your toes (including wearing high heels), or dorsiflexing (pointing your toes up as your heel comes down with each stride) all pull the plantar tendon.

Plantar fasciitis can also be caused by heel striking, which is usually a result of over-striding. If you reach forward with your legs with each stride, you’re very likely to land on your heels. Landing in this way can create a force on your heels of up to six times your body weight with each footstep.

Tight calves and an inflexible Achilles tendon can also pull the plantar tendon and weaken the attachment of the fascia to the bone. If the plantar tendon is stretched beyond what the fascia is capable of holding, the fascia forms micro-tears and begins to pull away from the bone, causing inflammation.

When the plantar tendon is consistently over-stretched, the body begins to add calcium where the attachment between the tendon and the heel bone takes place. Over time, enough calcium is added to build more bone mass in that particular spot, creating a heel spur that can be even more painful than plantar fasciitis.

Other common causes of plantar fasciitis include:

• Wearing inflexible or worn out shoes
• Very low or high arches
• Being overweight
• Spending long hours on your feet
• Tight calf muscles or tight/stiff ankle muscles
• Walking barefoot in soft sand for long distances

What does plantar fasciitis feel like?

It varies for everyone, but plantar fasciitis usually follows this progression. When it first appears, you may feel like you’ve got a lump in the heel of your sock. Not pain, just an uncomfortable “thick” feeling right under your heel.

In the early stages, your heel may feel tender when you first get up from sitting or when getting out of bed in the morning, but the discomfort subsides once you’re up and about on your feet. As the injury advances, tenderness lingers and begins to feel like needles sticking you in the bottom of your heel with each step. In the very advanced stages, you find yourself searching the Internet for books on levitation. It aches all day, not only when you’re on your feet.

How do I get rid of it?

Like most injuries, there’s no instant cure. When you feel the first symptoms of plantar fasciitis, immediately decide that you will be more persistent than it. The best way to rid yourself of plantar fasciitis is to make sure you never get it, and you can do that by practicing these Chi Running Form Focuses.

Prevention and Early Treatment Tips

• Relax, relax, relax. Learn to relax your lower legs, especially your ankles and calves, whenever you’re walking, running, sitting or standing. Tension held anywhere in your legs or glutes will pull on the Plantar tendon when you move.
• Land with a midfoot strike. Land evenly on the middle of your foot instead of heel striking. This keeps your Plantar tendon relaxed and reduces the impact to your heels.
• Don’t pull yourself forward with your legs when walking or running. Engage gravity by letting your upper body lead and your legs follow. Throughout your runs, lean slightly from the ankles, keep your stride short, and land with your feet directly under your center of mass.

Relaxation and Flexibility Stretches

• Stand facing a wall an arm’s length away. Keeping your lower legs and ankles completely relaxed, lean into the wall by putting your hands on the wall directly in front of your shoulders and lowering yourself toward the wall. Hold this stretch for 30 seconds and repeat at least three times.
• Stand on a curb facing away from the street. Rest the middle of the affected foot on the edge of the curb with your heel extending out beyond the curb. Keep the healthy foot completely on the sidewalk for stability. Slowly lower your heel enough to give your Achilles tendon and calf muscle a good stretch. Hold this for 20 to 30 seconds and repeat three times.
• If you’re sitting for an extended period of time, dorsiflex the affected foot (point your toes toward your knee) as often as you can remember to do so. This stretches your calf and Achilles tendon and will ease foot tenderness.

Other tips to combat plantar fasciitis include:

• Walk and run on flat surfaces as much as possible.
• Avoid hills, trails and uneven surfaces.
• Avoid stairs. Treat yourself to an elevator.
• Get a foot massage – the deeper the better.

Treatments for Acute Pain

• Soak your heel in a bowl of ice water (five to 10 minutes) twice daily until the pain subsides. It’s excruciating, but well worth it.
• Scrunch towels or pick up marbles with your toes.
• Walk barefoot (or in your stocking feet) across a coarse gravel surface. This somewhat painful “therapy” vastly accelerates the healing process, as it helps keep the Plantar tendon supple.
• Orthotics can help reduce the pain on the bottom of the heel but aren’t necessarily a long-term solution. If you don’t want to be tied to orthotics for months or years, you’ll need to change the movement habits that are causing the problem.

With this all-too-common-but-avoidable injury, there’s an old saying that absolutely pertains: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”