Plantar Fasciitis is a horrible condition for runners to develop. It often starts mild and then progresses. In the early stages, I’ve discovered the Strassburg Sock that helps to ease the pain and  begin the recovery process.

Transcript
Today I want to talk about a painful topic: plantar fasciitis. It is a word that brings fear to a lot of runners because it's not good. Basically it is an inflammation of the plantar fasciitis which is a tissue or ligament that connects from your toes down to your heel bone. You'll know when you have it because you get sort of that pain in the bottom of your foot that's especially bad when you wake up in the morning or at you've been sitting down for a while and over time as you warm up or the beginning of a run. And as you warm up over time, it kind of loosens up feels a little bit better. But it's definitely not great.

It's an overuse injury. And it happens. Now if you do happen to come down with it and I right now am I believe I'm battling a minor case of it. There's a bunch of things you can do to to help alleviate it.

But there's something that I stumbled across that I wanted to talk about. I came across this when I was at the running store the other day. I saw this sock in the corner. And I said "What is this thing" and I looked at it and it's called the Strassburg sock. It's named after the doctor who invented it. And what the sock claims is that it will help you heal from plantar fasciitis.

In fact here here's what it says it says: "For optimal results the socks should be worn for a minimum six hours per night until the sufferers had seven pain free mornings." 98% of patients recovering within eight weeks. That's incredible! 

If you're suffering plantar fasciitis, I want you check it out. And basically what this sock isa compression sock like the ones that you wear that go up to your knee so up over the calf. It is not a compression sock in the sense that doesn't put that tight compression on your leg, but it is a little bit tight. It's like a dress sock. And so it is goes all the way up to your knee and it has enough tension that it stays in place. Then at the toe end, there's a strap. You can take this strap and you pull it up and there's a loop at the very top of the sock that sits right below the knee and you kind of take this strap you put into the loop and you tie it with velcro and what this does is is that it holds your foot flexed while you sleep at night. And so instead of your foot kind of laying flat like it does relaxed, the socks holds it up and slightly pulls your toes back, kind of like you have when you're standing.

And so what this does is that when you're sleeping, your foot is in the active position and so the stance that you're typically walking in or standing in, that's the position that holds your foot in while you're sleep. And so it enables your foot to heal the plantar fasciitis to heal overnight in this active stress position compared to a relaxed position because when it's in a relaxed position and you wake up in the morning and you immediately activate it, when you stand, it rips, the faster the plantar fasciitis all over again and you're in pain and you start all over again. And so it never gets a chance to heal in the active position that you are spending most of your day in walking and standing and so that's what the sock does, it keeps your foot in that active position.

I've worn mine for a couple nights now and I am liking the benefit. I don't get the pain in the morning like I used to. I'm still getting pain when I run and so there's more work to be done.

If you find yourself suffering from a minor case of plantar fasciitis, check out the Strassburg sock. It is an early intervention method that can help ward off the early signs of inflammation for plantar fasciitis and keep you on your feet running healthy, stronger, and longer.