Plantar Fasciitis
Treatment / Heel Pain

What Is Plantar Fasciitis?

Plantar fasciitis is an inflammation of the plantar fascia—the ligament that connects your heel to your toes. This ligament supports the arch in your foot and absorbs the shock of stepping on the ground.

When the plantar fascia is inflamed, walking and standing become painful. And it only gets worse from here. Plantar fasciitis is caused by repetitive stress on the ligament, which can lead to stretching and microtears. The body needs blood and nutrients to heal those microtears.

However, if the condition is not treated in time (while it's still an acute inflammation), scar tissue begins to form. This scar tissue prevents blood and nutrients from reaching the damaged areas of the plantar fascia ligament. Essentially, the healing process gets blocked and the condition becomes chronic.

If you feel pain in your heel, don't ignore it. The best thing to do is schedule an appointment with your local podiatrist.

What Causes Plantar Fasciitis?

Repeat stress on the ligament seems to be the main cause of plantar fasciitis. Constant stretching and stress lead to microtears in the plantar fascia, which results in inflammation and pain.

That being said, the exact cause of the condition isn't always readily available. In many cases, it's tricky to determine why exactly your ligament is acting out.

Risk Factors

Observation of our patients shows certain factors increase the risk of developing plantar fasciitis:

• Age. It's more than just a number. Plantar fasciitis is a lot more common in people between 40 and 60.
• Foot biomechanics. Biomechanical problems in your feet can lead to many problems. Plantar fasciitis is one of them. If you have flat feet, a high arch, or other abnormalities that cause additional stress to the plantar fascia, your chance of developing the condition increases.
• Obesity. More weight means more stress on the plantar fascia.
• Pregnancy. Same reason as above.
• Certain sports and activities. Any activity that puts stress on your heel, such as running, dancing, and aerobics, increases the likelihood of ligament problems.
• Your job. If your work forces you to spend a lot of time on your feet, you're more likely to develop plantar fasciitis.

Once you come to our clinic for a detailed examination, we may be able to determine the cause of your condition.

Symptoms

Plantar fasciitis presents with mostly painful symptoms:

• Pain in your heel or arch of the foot, especially after you get out of bed.
• The pain may subside during exercise but intensifies afterward.
• Swollen heel.
• Pain may persist for weeks, even months.

While the variety of symptoms of plantar fasciitis is not great, the location of the inflammation is problematic enough to seriously affect your quality of life.

How Do We Diagnose Plantar Fasciitis?

We begin with a physical examination of your foot. Heel pain can present in a variety of conditions, so we try to rule out other diagnoses. It's important to get your plantar fasciitis diagnosed correctly.

It's likely we'll order imaging tests (X-ray, MRI, and ultrasound) to get a better idea of what we're dealing with. The X-ray will help us check for bone spurs and assess the condition of your heel bone. MRI and ultrasound will help us take a better look at the condition of your plantar fascia.

How to Treat Plantar Fasciitis

There are plenty of ways to treat plantar fasciitis pain. They're usually effective if the condition hasn't progressed too far. Here are some things you can try:

• Resting and stretching. While it's true plantar heel pain is more intensive after resting, you need adequate rest for your plantar fascia to heal. Especially if you're overusing it. As for stretching, it can help release the stress in your muscles and ligament, resulting in less pain. You should focus on stretching exercises for your calf muscles and Achilles tendon.
• Change your footwear. Uncomfortable shoes, shoes with poor arch support, and worn-out sneakers are all bad for you. Always choose comfortable, well-fitting shoes with thick soles and good arch support.
• Icing. Ice is good for the pain. You can put ice for 10 to 20 minutes a few times a day over the pain area.
• Custom orthotics. If you can't find shoes with the right arch support, custom shoe inserts may be the answer. Furthermore, plantar fasciitis improves with braces and night splints.
• Extracorporeal shockwave therapy. The most nonsurgical treatment for people with chronic plantar fasciitis. Sound waves are used to stimulate healing.

We don't recommend self-treating with over-the-counter pain medication. This may give you temporary pain relief but that won't address the underlying issues, which is the damaged plantar fascia tissue.

If you've tried one or several treatments above and the pain persists for weeks, even months, it's a good idea to schedule a visit with your podiatrist. We may be looking at chronic plantar fasciitis.