I believe running and walking are the most natural forms of exercise. God blessed us with legs, so I believe that he intends for us to use them. Unfortunately, there are a few things you must be careful of and watch out for when you do run.

A few years ago, I had plantar fasciitis for the first time. Then it affected my heel, hurting every time I stood on or put pressure on it. Running wasn’t part of my life then, but I wasn’t completely inactive. I remember that it took several months for my heel to quit hurting every time I stood up or walked.

A few months ago, I found out that not only can plantar fasciitis occur in your heel, it can also affect the ball of your foot. Just think how much pressure you put on your entire foot each time your feet hit the pavement. That pressure is intensified when you run. For me, it intensifies even more when I run up hill.

What exactly is plantar fasciitis? Each of us has a thick band of connective tissue that runs from the heel to the ball of the foot. This band of tissue also helps to maintain your foot's arch. When this tissue is irritated, it swells up and causes pain. Running puts you at risk for this condition, as does having flat feet. I am lucky enough to be a runner with flat feet!

When affected by this condition, you will pay almost any amount of money to get rid of it! So how do you treat this annoying condition? When it affected my heel, about the only thing I did was to stretch my feet out really well before I stood up. That didn’t relieve the pain completely, but it did help. Now that I am a runner, I did a bit more research about how to relieve the pain.

If you run, the first thing you need to buy are some good athletic arches to put inside your running shoes. This will help a lot in the long run by discouraging this condition from reoccurring. For immediate pain relief, you can take aspirin or some other anti-inflammatory medication. I take 3 immediately before I go out to run. This will help a great deal. Only a few weeks after I began doing this, my foot was almost completely pain free.

Stretching your feet before standing on them or exercising helps to relieve the pain. Once you are done exercising, ice packs can be placed on the affected area. This will help any swelling to go down. If ice packs are not available, a bag of frozen peas works great.

According to my research, once you have plantar fasciitis you need to stop running. It also said that most people who are affected with this annoying condition gain weight. My guess is that they gain weight because they quit exercising. Whether or not you exercise while you are treating this condition is up to you, but it can be done. You just need to slow down a bit. Once you have it under control, the intensity of your exercise can be increased.

Archxerciser Foot Strengthening Device : Great for Plantar Fasciitis and Heel Spur Syndrome

The 5-Minute Plantar Fasciitis Solution