Plantar fasciitis is the most common musculoskeletal complaint seen in the foot.
The plantar fascia is a strong ligament on the bottom of the foot that is attached to the ball of the foot and to the heel.
Given its position and attachments, it function is to hold up the arch of the foot.
Anything that puts pressure on the arch of the foot is going to be a factor in potentially causing the problem.
The research has shown that these factors are a higher bodyweight, tight calf muscles, being on the feet all day and foot biomechanical problems.
One of the key symptoms of this is pain at the bottom of the heel that is worse when getting up from rest, especially getting out of bed in the morning.
There are many treatments advocated for the treatment of plantar fasciitis and many self-proclaimed 'secret sauces' for magical cures.
Simply put, plantar fasciitis is due to an excessive load in the plantar fascia, so the only successful and logical way to manage plantar fasciitis long term is to reduce that load.
The only known ways of reducing that load are the use of a particular strapping or taping techniques known as low dye strapping (but this is only useful in the short term); the reduction of body weight (which may be difficult and may be a very long term strategy); the stretching of the calf muscles (which is almost always recommended); the reduction of time spent on the feet (for example reducing sports activity, the use of seating in employment, etc); the use of foot orthotics or supports (which is the most practical option, but not all types of foot orthotics have design features that reduce the load in the damaged structure); and surgical cutting of the plantar fascia (this will reduce the load in the plantar fascia, but it is certainly not recommended until all else has failed).
All the other advocated treatments for plantar fasciitis do not reduce the load in the tissues and only help facilitate the healing process of the damage in the tissues.
A lot of the treatments in this group are fads and come and go in popularity.
These treatments include things such as cortisone injections, ultrasound, shock wave therapy, cryosurgery, dry needling, massage, etc.
While these treatments will help, something needs to be in place to reduce the load in the tissue or there is a possibility of the treatment failing.
The other possible reason for treatment failure is that the condition was not actually plantar fasciitis and was one of many other conditions that can cause pain under the heel.
The plantar fascia is a strong ligament on the bottom of the foot that is attached to the ball of the foot and to the heel.
Given its position and attachments, it function is to hold up the arch of the foot.
Anything that puts pressure on the arch of the foot is going to be a factor in potentially causing the problem.
The research has shown that these factors are a higher bodyweight, tight calf muscles, being on the feet all day and foot biomechanical problems.
One of the key symptoms of this is pain at the bottom of the heel that is worse when getting up from rest, especially getting out of bed in the morning.
There are many treatments advocated for the treatment of plantar fasciitis and many self-proclaimed 'secret sauces' for magical cures.
Simply put, plantar fasciitis is due to an excessive load in the plantar fascia, so the only successful and logical way to manage plantar fasciitis long term is to reduce that load.
The only known ways of reducing that load are the use of a particular strapping or taping techniques known as low dye strapping (but this is only useful in the short term); the reduction of body weight (which may be difficult and may be a very long term strategy); the stretching of the calf muscles (which is almost always recommended); the reduction of time spent on the feet (for example reducing sports activity, the use of seating in employment, etc); the use of foot orthotics or supports (which is the most practical option, but not all types of foot orthotics have design features that reduce the load in the damaged structure); and surgical cutting of the plantar fascia (this will reduce the load in the plantar fascia, but it is certainly not recommended until all else has failed).
All the other advocated treatments for plantar fasciitis do not reduce the load in the tissues and only help facilitate the healing process of the damage in the tissues.
A lot of the treatments in this group are fads and come and go in popularity.
These treatments include things such as cortisone injections, ultrasound, shock wave therapy, cryosurgery, dry needling, massage, etc.
While these treatments will help, something needs to be in place to reduce the load in the tissue or there is a possibility of the treatment failing.
The other possible reason for treatment failure is that the condition was not actually plantar fasciitis and was one of many other conditions that can cause pain under the heel.