Achilles Tendonitus AND Plantars Fasciitis

So I had my Drs apt today. I was really nervous about going in because this Dr is not on the list for barefoot friendly Drs here. He didn't say anything bad about it and didn't act like I was crazy when I said I ran barefoot. He also didn't say anything good about it either. He kind of seems like he was neutral and just trying to treat me as a patient.

Anyhow, he diagnosed me as having a slight PF and then also having achilles tendonitus(this being the worst of the two). He told me I needed to rest my foot and sleep with this night splint thingy. Dorsal something or other. He then prescribed seeing the physical therapist, but the soonest I can get in is not until Feb 1st. Is there anything that I can be doing on my own for these two conditions? Oh ya and he did say I have collapsed arches and extremely tight calves. He seemed very surprised when I told him I had stopped static stretching a while back when I had a calf injury and healed a two month injury inside of a week of non stretching. Anyhow, if you all need anymore information please feel free to ask, otherwise I will look forward to your helpful tips. Thanks!
 
Ok since nobody is responding

Ok since nobody is responding I started doing my own poking around on the internet. Looks like I may have went overboard on the no stretching thing and inadvertantly caused myself to have these two problems that I've never had before in my life, so I may start doing some light yoga again like I used to do after runs. Any suggestions would be appreciated, thanks.
 
What I've seen as far as

What I've seen as far as stretching goes, is that it's static stretching that is bad. Yoga falls under dynamic stretching and is OK.
 
Something that has been

Something that has been helping my self diagnosed Achilles tendonitis is actively massaging the tendon. I'm not sure why this works but it makes it feel better immediately. It almost feels like I am popping bubbles in the tendon when I press on it, maybe scar tissue, who knows.

There is a reason all professional athletes stretch regularly. Ask any serious running or strength and conditioning coach and they will think you are nuts for never stretching.
 
Abide, I have been an athlete

Abide, I have been an athlete my whole life (football, wrestling, boxing, mma) and have always stretched. It wasn't until I pulled my calf muscle 3-4 months into barefooting and then it not healing for 2 months, did I stop stetching and doing yoga. The calf injury healed inside of a week and that convinced me stretching was bad. I never did a lot of yoga prior to the injury because I find some of it very unnatural and painful, but I did/do enjoy doing some of it.

I have noticed that my ankles of all things seem to have gotten really tight as well these last 5-6 months of non stretching. I'm wondering if that has something to do with not stretching or just a side effect of barefoot running? Thanks again for the advice everyone!
 
Who knows, bad things seem to

Who knows, bad things seem to happen to me when I skip yoga and do not stretch daily. I don't have a crazy stretching routine but between sets in the gym I will stretch out and a couple of hours after a run I will do so as well. Especially my backside and calves.
 
NickW: Stretching a pulled

NickW: Stretching a pulled muscle isn't the best thing to do since it's already stretched beyond what it should be so stretching it should only undo what little healing it has done since you last stretched it, I think. Any of the Docs want to back me up on this, or anyone else for that matter? Stretching a normal, healthy, warm, muscle is another thing entirely.
 
Yes, BB, the docs here all

Yes, BB, the docs here all agree that stretching an injury is bad. I think some of them think static stretching is a bad thing for runners to do, while dynamic stretching, like Yoga is good for you. Also, Sock Doc says static stretching for gymnasts and dancers is okay.

So, Nick, do some yoga and massage, massage, massage.
 
So have been doing great

So have been doing great yesterday and this morning but this evening I can barely walk again. Ugh. Maybe I did too much with the yoga this afternoon, and I didn't do very much.
 
Settle down Mr.

Settle down Mr. Impatient give yourself some time.
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Don't forget you can hurt yourself doing anything, if you aren't PATIENT. Lol.

Static vs. Dynamic: dynamic was the word I was looking for the other day when I was talking to you about yoga. Yoga is active stretching. Review youtube videos of the yoga poses and double-check to make sure you are doing them correctly and dynamically. I have been doing yoga for a couple of years and I periodically review my poses and I ALWAYS find something I forgot to do over time.

You REALLY need to do the rolling pin too, a couple times a day. Is the ankle you are having problems with the same side as your achilles/pf/calf/etc. problems? If so, it's just a nasty chain-reaction.

I ditched static stretching when I started running barefoot and with great results.
 
I barely did any yoga Jen. 

I barely did any yoga Jen. In fact, like two poses. Prayer pose or whatever its called and I forget the other. The prayer one I didn't do for very long because it hurt and I didn't want to hurt myself. I do use my stick to roll out my legs. It's both ankles that are stiff and tight, not just one.
 
Something is wrong, and you

Something is wrong, and you need to figure it out. I wish you could find the right doctor/PT, whomever, to help you figure out what your imbalances are. Too bad you can't get to one of our docs. Perhaps you are in need of some serious, long-term rest, then start over. Give yourself time to fully heal first. I hope you can work this out, Nick.
 
no, he won't do that. he

no, he won't do that. he signed up for the shamrock run 15k. he wants the free beer at the end.
 
migangelo wrote:no, he won't

migangelo said:
no, he won't do that. he signed up for the shamrock run 15k. he wants the free beer at the end.

Ya Mike, I can be pretty stubborn, but just because I'm signed up for a race with beer waiting for me at the end doesn't mean I want to delay the healing by hurting myself. I've got two months till the race so if it takes me a few weeks now to heel thats fine. I'm actually almost to the point of pulling out my boot to immobilize my foot and ankle. I sit on my butt all day long and barely walk through out the day, it shouldn't be getting worse with all this inactivity. I saw someone else's post about some stress reaction in their heel and am starting to wonder if this is my problem.
 
you've gotta dial down the

you've gotta dial down the mileage and build up slower or things like this happen. the warning signs are suttle, the stop sign is loud.

you up late, early? 3:14am?
 
Ben woke up in middle of

Ben woke up in middle of night and went back to sleep. I on the other hand could not get back to sleep and have been up since 2 something. I haven't run in over a week and a half now Mike. The week before that I ran 1 run of 4.5 miles. I'm not exactly over doing it Mike.
 
it was those 8 and 9 mile

it was those 8 and 9 mile runs, not the recent ones. did you take days off between your runs? you also did a lot of 4/5 milers. stress adds up. you have to give the bones time to adapt. thats the biggest problem for most, not the aerobic base. i'm toying with my mileage now, trying to find the right amount. a few days of running for 2 hours and my feet hurt so here i've been sitting for a few days and i want to go run in this rain.
 
Mike, we've talked about this

Mike, we've talked about this before. What part of I hurt before those two 8 and 9 milers do you not get? When I did those two runs, I had thought I had healed already because the pain had stopped due to the week off prior to these runs. I did several days rest between each run. My feet didn't hurt, didn't blister, nothing on those runs. The last 4.5 miler is when my heel flared back up so bad. I'm not saying that those runs aren't too long, but don't ignore the fact that I had this for 2 months prior to this latest bout where it flared up. Yes I'm stubborn but I'm also trying to take care of myself too Mike. Those two big runs I did based on feel, and I didn't hurt at all. I was perfectly willing to stop if the pain started up again.