Reddit reviews WARRIOR Lacrosse Ball (Orange)

tl;dr - be smart, gets lots of opinions, read up, listen to your body, don't let the problems compound, don't let silly small issues distract you.

Honestly, I find that plantar fasciitis is a rather mysterious injury. So many people have all this authoritive sounding advice, but from what I've gathered, causes and solutions vary quite a bit.

What seems universally applicable, though, is that you need to stretch. All the time. I use a Foot Rocker that I stand on at work all day long. I have a standing desk (well, I and three other coworkers each have this thing on top of a regular desk and use it for my monitors, keyboard and mouse), and I stand on the foot rocker as much as possible, one foot on top of it, the other underneath pulling up to stretch until I can really feel it.

I keep a Lacrosse ball in the freezer, then stand on it to break up any knotted tissue or whatever the heck it does.

I've used KT tape, but I'm not entirely convinced that it's effective (the tape isn't all too cheap, if you get into it, you'd want to buy in bulk somewhere). However, I do feel that when I run without it, the pain flares up quite a bit. Not while running, afterwards (or next day).

The foot specialist I saw got me a night splint, but I found it to be utter crap. It's cumbersome, it's not effective, and half the time I wake up in the morning without wearing, because I likely tore it off in my sleep (because it's really uncomfortable).

I'd imagine (I haven't used it) that this thing works better, because it actually pulls your toes up in the front and really stretches your plantar fascia.

One of the girls I run with said they make a sock to wear at night, so I bought it. It's called the Strassburg Sock, and I actually really like it. I've used it on and off for the last 2 or so months, and it does help.

The last month I've run in custom orthotics (they scan in your feet and create custom moulds), and they seem to help as well. I tried reading up on how and why, and although I can't find the link right now, interestingly enough, an article mentioned that in a high percentage of cases it works, but we don't exactly know why. I'm a software engineer. I want to know and address root causes, not applying band-aid after band-aid down the pipeline that incorrectly and often less effectively patches or just masks the problem. But I guess "we just don't really know", which explains all those elusively vague answers that I'm getting in my own research.

Do plenty of research, read up on stuff. You'll see all kinds of advice. Some is good, some is irrelevant. You'll hear everything from "just dont run for a while" to "you might need surgery for bone spurs and/or months of recovery."

I've had plantar fasciitis twice:

1. I only started running last year. Religiously. Kicked it off with a 5K race at 28:00 min and was quite unhappy with that. Ran my ass off, battled finding the right shoe so I could run more than 4 miles without blistering up, but eventually my wide, high arch, pronounced heel found something that worked. Discovered forefoot running (it's amazing, like running on springs!), overdid it on the first go, and bam, plantar fasciitis, right foot. It was insanely bad. Super swollen, I thought I shattered my heel. I took two weeks off, and continued to take small breaks, but essentially ran through it after that. It was gone after 2-1/2 months. Mostly because it was just a simple inflammation; I overdid it, the plantar fascia was damaged from overstressing it, I let it heal, done. case closed. I ran the same 5K event a year later and had a time of 20:43 min.
   
2. I added P90X and weights this year (January). In mid-March or so, I got plantar fasciitis in my left foot. But it didn't just hit me. It slowly faded in over a week or three. I've been battling it ever since and actually run very little compared to what I normally put in. The doctor mentioned it's (in part) because I have a high arch, and my foot doesn't 'roll off' as easily. Kind of makes sense I guess, I'm not very flexible anyway, my muscles and ligaments are like piano strings. Anyway, so after that consultation with the recommendation that I don't run I did the only logical thing: I ran a half marathon and made a conscious effort to roll off more on the outside of my feet. It worked kind of, because it didn't flare up nearly as much as I thought it would/should (I ran 13.8 miles, normally I can feel it after a 5K), on the other hand, the next day my patella tendon hurt. Runner's knee, maybe? FML. The pain slowly faded away. Stretching and putting weight on my foot no longer hurts, but pushing right into the hot spot with my thumb is still noticable. I do, however, have a Spartan Beast coming up in October, and I needed to step it up. So, last ditch effort (ha) and i'm just running through all these silly ailments.
   
   The main thing is to listen to your body. Don't just blindly ignore problems, but don't feel like you can't do anything either. Plantar fasciitis is an inflammation. Generally that also means that you've probably torn some kind of tissue, there, so that needs to heal, but the question is still why you did that? There are all kinds of schools of thought on that out there. From tight calf muscles to neck problems (yes, really, similar to how a tail bone injury could affect shoulder pain, seems weird, but the body does seem to want to balance things out one way or another).

This is a much cheaper alternative: http://www.amazon.com/Warrior-Lacrosse-Ball-Orange/dp/B0001NX9R2/ref=pd_sim_sg_ef_3

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance_repair/feel_better_for_10_bucks;jsessionid=B5B16BE927F6FB958B1CC2FE27BE3495-mcd02.hydra

The same exercises can be done, just in a circular motion, with the lacrosse ball. Foam rolling wont help with shin splints, but I think really you need myofascial release (deep tissue massage).

Haven't seen anyone say this here yet and it's been a life-saver for me: Lacrosse Balls. They are a hard rubbery material that they can't destroy. Mine love theirs. She was always a tennis ball freak, but tore them apart in seconds. Also, Elk Antler is expensive but lasts a long time and is healthier for your dog than bones.


Edit: I've also had good luck with Jolly Balls for a good soccer/basketball sized toy. They are made of a real tough material, but are also kind of bouncy. I've had the same one for about 3 years now with no holes.