Plantar fasciitis … We’ve been talking about it a lot lately, but what is it?
Well, according to WebMD, it’s “the most common cause of heel pain,” stemming from from a strain or tear in the plantar fascia, the ligament that connects your heel bone to your toes. It’s also very difficult to heal.
In fact, for most athletes, it can take months, if not years, to fully get over plantar fasciitis, forcing some of our toughest players to the sidelines for extended periods of time.
So with that said, is there any reason to believe Peyton Manning has even the slightest chance of getting back out onto the field within the next two or three weeks? History would say no.
In fact, let’s take a look at some other prominent athletes who dealt with plantar fasciitis, and see how severely they were set back, and see if their stories could spell the end of Peyton Manning:
Corey Dickerson
GAMES MISSED: 52
Just last year, the Rockies’ Corey Dickerson was sidelined for a large portion of the season with plantar fasciitis, and from his words, it’s clear that this is not an easy injury to deal with.
“It’s incredibly painful, just to walk,” Dickerson told Patrick Saunders of the Denver Post. “It can get to the point that you are thinking more about the foot than the game you’re playing.”
Dickerson ended up missing a combined 52 games between May and July on two separate trips to the DL, before missing another 37 with a broken rib suffered at the end of July; it wasn’t until after that final stint on the DL that Dickerson was able to come back comfortably from the plantar fasciitis.
While Dickerson never felt much pain just walking around or in the batter’s box, a “stabbing pain” shot up his heel any time he made a move to first or began tracking a fly ball.
Albert Pujols
GAMES MISSED: 83
Albert Pujols has played a lot of baseball in his life, and nothing — no pitcher — has beaten him down more than plantar fasciitis.
In 2013, Pujols, who has never played less than 140 games in his career, was sidelined for 83 games with the painful foot injury. And even when Pujols did play, he was relegated to designated hitter for 65 of his 99 games.
“You almost want to pee in your bed rather than go to the bathroom,” Pujols told USA TODAY Sports. “It’s really painful in the morning.”
So imagine how it felt to play baseball.
Much like Manning, Pujols is a multiple-time MVP and champion, and the decision to hang up the cleats for any period of time was not easy; that’s why it’s the responsibility of the coaches and organization to make those decisions.
“It was a decision of the organization, Arte and Jerry, because I don’t make a decision here,” Pujols said, via USA TODAY Sports. “I put my uniform on and get ready to play. They said, ‘This is what’s best for the organization in the long run,’ and they came and brought it to me. And I just told them, ‘Whatever you guys want to do, I’m all for it.’ It’s definitely hard, as I want to be out there, but I also understand that I can’t be selfish and put myself out there.”
Antonio Gates
GAMES MISSED: 9
After missing no more than one game in six straight seasons, Antonio Gates finally met an opponent he couldn’t defeat: Plantar fasciitis.
“You’re literally standing there 15-20 minutes, knowing that first step is going be to like an ice pick sticking in your foot,” Gates said, via USA TODAY Sports, about getting out of bed in the morning.
In fact, it got so bad that Gates, who had only just turned 30, was wondering if he could even continue playing football.
“I just couldn’t play sometimes,” he said. “And sometimes, the only way I could play was to take injections (of painkillers). I contemplated retiring. I didn’t think I could keep going like that.”
And you would too when, as Gates described to ESPN, it felt like “slicing a hot knife through butter.”
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[adrotate banner=”6″]Pau Gasol / Joakim Noah
GAMES MISSED: 20 / 0
Back in 2013, Pau Gasol tore his plantar fascia against the Brooklyn Nets, sidelining him for six weeks. Joakim Noah, though, who’s widely recognized as one of the NBA’s toughest players, didn’t miss a game. Mostly, because the Chicago Bulls were in the midst of a playoff run.
Nonetheless, Noah was not afraid to let everyone know how painful the injury was.
“It really sucks. Plantar fasciitis sucks,” Noah said, via NBC Chicago. “It feels like you have needles underneath your foot while you’re playing. That’s what it feels like. You can imagine ow hard it is when you need to run or you need to jump; all the things you have to do when playing basketball. I mean, you don’t want needles in your feet, right?”
While Noah powered through, much like Manning did last week versus the Chiefs, he clearly wasn’t himself. And if it had been the regular season, there’s no doubt that the All-Star center would have sat out a week or two.
Eli Manning
GAMES MISSED: 0
Oddly enough, one of the very few players to actually suffer from plantar fasciitis and not miss a game is Peyton’s brother, Eli.
Back in 2009, Manning tore his plantar fascia against the Kansas City Chiefs, but toughed it out the rest of the season, leading the Giants to an 8-8 record. Unfortunately, that included a 4-8 record post injury.
Manning and the Giants began the season 4-0, with Manning throwing for over 1,000 yards, eight touchdowns and just two interceptions. From that point forward, he averaged 248 yards a game, threw for 19 touchdowns and 12 interceptions in just four victories.
Whether that dip in production can be directly attributed to Manning’s foot injury, who knows. What Eli does prove, though, is that it is possible to play with a torn plantar fascia; though, Eli’s was fully torn, which is supposedly less painful than the partial tear Peyton is dealing with.
Who knows, though, maybe beating plantar fasciitis runs in the family.