[pct-l] Arch pain

[Sir Mixalot]

I had problems before, but that's because my feet were out of shape and I
put too many miles on my feet instead of slowly building them up.

I suppose you're hiking this year?  That doesn't give you enough time to
strengthen your feet.  If it's just your plantar fascia being tight, that's
not so bad.  If it's hurting in its insertion points in your heel or the
ball of your foot, then that's bad.

If it's just soreness and tightness in the length of the plantar fascia,
you'll get some relief by massaging it under the arch of your foot and
pulling up on your toes.  That's not enough though.  It's connected to a
whole range of muscles all the way to your butt, so stretching your glutes,
hamstrings and calves can provide relief that lasts longer than just
stretching and massaging your plantar fascia.  You can also wear a
strassburg sock, but my concern about those is that is stretches the
plantar fascia a lot while leaving the other posterior muscles unstretched.
 A big dose of ibuprofen or fish oil at the end of the day will help reduce
the pain.

On Fri, Mar 22, 2013 at 6:56 AM, Casey Mangnall <mangler06 at yahoo.com> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I'm wondering if anyone has had problems with their arches due to wearing
> trail runners and carrying a pack. I've always hiked in heavy boots, but
> I've never been too concerned with consistently covering 20+ miles/day, so
> I'm preparing to make the transition to a more lightweight option. I'm
> worried about the stress of carrying a pack on fairly unsupported shoes. I
> do use Superfeet inserts, but I'm worried that this may not be enough.
> While training for my hike, I developed some pain in my arches (perhaps
> plantar fasciitis?), from carrying a pack and wearing lightweight shoes. I
> will try out other lightweight shoes, but I'm curious if anyone has had
> this problem and/or has recommendations. I really don't want to get a few
> weeks into my hike and have to stop due to foot pain, or worse, a stress
> fracture.
>
> Thanks!
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