Plantar Fasciitis
I bet you’ve heard the term plantar fasciitis.
Most people know at least 1 thing: It’s really bad foot pain
Let us enlighten you with more info!
So we learned about how important our feet are last post, and to really hit home this idea, I wanted to talk to you about one of the most common conditions involving the feet: plantar fasciitis.
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Wait, I’ve heard of that! What is it exactly? Plantar fasciitis is an inflammation of the plantar fascia that causes pain at the base of the heel when weight bearing (aka when we’re standing/walking/etc.) The pain is usually worse in the morning. The plantar fascia runs from our heel to our toes; it helps maintain the inside arch of the foot, and it is also a huge shock absorber for our body.
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But how can it get inflamed? The plantar fascia can commonly become inflamed from repetitive stress or impact on the feet. A common example would be someone who increases their training too quickly - take someone who doesn’t run a lot, and then goes out and runs a half marathon without properly increasing their running distance over a longer period of time. Another example would be someone who gained weight rather quickly. This places a lot of increased pressure/stress on the plantar fascia that it wasn’t used to having prior.
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So here are a few things you can do at home to alleviate the pain. First take a lacrosse ball, frozen water bottle, or anything similar and put it under your foot. Run it going down the inside arch, stopping and tender areas, and putting more weight on it by leaning forward. This will be a ‘hurts so good’ kind of feeling!
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Next, take a seat and put your fingers between each of your toes. This in and of itself can be a huge stretch, but once you get used to it, start stretching forward and backward, and side to side. Another way to stretch out the plantar fascia is to put your toes against a wall and lean forward towards the wall.
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Lastly, find a step and a towel. You are going to put the towel under just your big toe, and then perform calf raises. The towel increases the stretch of the plantar fascia. An isometric calf raise, which means you just hold it at the top without going up and down, can also be a good place to start if using the towel is too much of a stretch at first.
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To strengthen and rebuild that arch even further, refer to the last blog post/video. Gaining control of the intrinsic muscles of the foot is of utmost importance when it comes to plantar fasciitis.
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If someone comes in office with this condition, we focus on breaking up the scar tissue in the foot with different techniques using myofascial release, instrument-assisted soft tissue, and taping to support where the plantar fascia is irritated at the base of the heel. In addition, we do a lot of rehab with our plantar fascia patients to activate and strengthen this part of the foot. Soon you’ll say goodbye to your excruciating morning foot pain!
