Plantar Fasciitis and Foot Pain
Pro Chiro
What is Plantar Fasciitis?
Plantar fasciitis is a painful condition of the foot and heel caused by overusing and overloading the muscles in the sole of the foot. It commonly causes pain on the first step after waking up and the first step after resting. This pain normally improves with more movement and further walking. It is one of the most common causes of heel or foot pain in adults.
Plantar fasciitis treatment at Pro Chiro is very effective, helping get our patients back to doing what they love in record time!
What is the Plantar Fascia?
The plantar fascia is a thick, fibrous band of connective tissue starting from the bottom of the heel bone and extending along the sole of the foot. The plantar fascia stops the arch of your foot from over-flattening. It does this by acting as a shock absorber, supporting the inner arch of the foot during the push-off phase of walking, jumping, running.
How Does Plantar Fasciitis Develop?
When the plantar fascia develops micro tears or becomes irritated and inflamed, it is known as plantar fasciitis. Plantar fasciitis simply means an inflammation of the muscles and soft tissues of the base of the foot.
Most patients with heel pain present without the presence of inflammation. Therefore, a more accurate term to describe their problem would be plantar fasciosis. Plantar fasciosis may involve short or long term stretching, tearing, degeneration of the fascia at its attachment site. Plantar fasciitis involves all of the above plus the presence of inflammation. Plantar fasciitis / fasciosis can occur on one or both sides at the same time.
What Are the Risk Factors For Developing Plantar Fasciitis?
Plantar Fasciitis Treatment
At Pro Chiro, we have great success with plantar fasciitis treatment. Plantar fasciitis can be caused by stiffness of the joints in the foot and ankle as well as tightness and weakness of the muscles in these areas. Plantar fasciitis responds very well to hands on therapy. Some of the common treatment techniques we use with plantar fasciitis include adjustments of the stiff ankle and foot joints. We also use various forms of soft tissue treatment including instrument assisted soft tissue release and certain stretches. For certain patients with plantar fasciitis we also use a particular type of taping called low dye taping which can be very successful at reducing the pain.
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How Can You Help Plantar Fasciitis At Home?
In addition to the hands on therapy techniques mentioned above, there are certain exercises and stretches that can be done at home to help reduce the pain and prevent the problem from returning. We have also previously made a video about the best exercises for plantar fasciitis which can be found here.
The first exercise in the video is a great way to improve the strength of the muscles in the base of the foot. This will help to take pressure away from the plantar fascia and allow it to recover. On top of this, building up the strength in these muscles will stop plantar fasciitis from returning.
At home you can also use a tennis ball like in the above video to help reduce the tension within the muscles in the base of the foot. This is another way you can reduce the strain on the plantar fascia and encourage it to relax and recover.
If you want to learn more about the treatment techniques we offer and how they can help you, you can learn more here.
We also have a Facebook page where we share lots of useful health tips and advice. This allows you to have confidence that you’re staying as injury resistant as possible.
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