Plantar Fasciitis Treatment

Plantar fasciitis (also referred to as Fibromatosis of the plantar fascia) is an inflammation of the fascia at the bottom of your foot. The plantar fascia is the connective tissue band that runs under the foot and the ball of the foot connecting to the heel bone. Plantar Fasciitis is a frequently observed strain injury of the foot. It is characterised by pain under the heel bone (calcaneus) and/or under the foot during weight bearing activities like walking, running, standing and also sports. Because the pain resulting from this disease occurs mainly in the heel area we often speaks of heel pain, also referred to as heel spurs or calcaneal spurs. Let's have a look at the following. Risk factors, physiology, symptoms and treatment available.

Symptoms:

There is a rather diffuse pain below the centre of the heel which sometimes extends entire heel are and also the rest of the foot. Typically the pain will increase when you put weight on the heel and the pain is worst with first loading, e.g. in the morning or when you start moving starts after having sat for a while, watching TV or driving your car. Walking around for a while will often reduce the pain and sharp pain is replaced by a dull ache, often referred to as a stone bruise.

Physiology of for Plantar Fasciitis

Plantar Fasciitis is an over-use injury. Frequent loading of the fascia can cause micro-tearing of the tissue which in turn will lead to inflammation and degeneration of the connective tissue (collagen) in the fascia. The term fasciitis is appropriate because we are dealing here with an inflammation (-itis indicates inflammation in Latin). Although initially an inflammatory process occurs (including redness, swelling and pain) this condition evolves to a degenerative process. If some form of Plantar Fasciitis treatment is not employed rapidly, the condition is prolonged and calcification often occurs in the attachment of the fascia onto the heel bone, known as heel spurs This is not the cause of the pain or disease but a consequence of the inflammatory processes and a way for the body to respond, trying to ease plantar fascial tension.

Factors that increase the likelihood of this condition

Athletes who put a high load on the plantar fascia, such as runners and sports people who do jumping are at a much increased risk. Especially if the training intensity is extremely high and the training surface is hard. Constant pounding of the feet during contact phase of gait (i.e. coming down hard on a flat foot) can lead to plantar fasciitis problems. There is also a clear correlation between heel pain and increased weight gain or obesity. Furthermore, a poor gait cycle is often associated with this painful condition.

Conservative treatment for Plantar Fasciitis

Podiatrists say this disease is self-limiting in that it eventually will go away as the body takes its natural course (in about 1-2 years). A study showed that 50% of conservatively treated patients were completely pain-free after 3 years. There are many treatments available to the patient, some of them work very well. For most treatment modules there is strong evidence of effectiveness found. Importantly there are three mainstays which support conservative treatment, being: reduce the inflammation in the acute phase (first onset of heel pain), reducing the load on the fascia and the foot in general and restore foot and leg muscle strength and flexibility. Inflammation reduction can be achieved with a simple bath of ice water or an ice pack placed on and around the painful heel area. Most importantly is eliminating the cause of Plantar Fasciitis by limiting the excess load on the fascia ligaments under the foot. Devices can be employed including footwear modifications and orthopedic insoles (orthotics) or heel cups.

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