[Yak] RE: Plantar Fasciitis and bicycling!

[Bradford Miter]

J M said, in part:

"I'm 48 and have developed plantar fasciitis in left foot.  Basically
the muscle fibers in my arch have lost ability to stretch like they
did and have microscopic tears in them.
Just curious if any has PF here and has found bicycling to be a good
therapy for it?   Or if it just aggravates it."

Well, I'm 73 and have just gone through a year of trying to cure PF.
Finally, after months of stretching and wearing a boot at night I underwent
a course of steroid treatments in my heel.  The treatments seem to have
fixed the underneath of my heel but now the side of my ankle is still giving
problems.  I also have a set of orthotics I wear and they are a big help.

Anyway, I have cycled throughout the year with no apparent ill effect.  Like
another responder, I do not wear the orthotics while on the bike.  I try not
to walk too much in my bike sandals but they have some arch support and
allow some limited walkabouts.  I'll probably put the orthotics in my winter
bike shoes when I am using them starting in Oct/Nov.

Brad Miter