Plantar fasciitis is caused by s
train on the plantar fascia on your foot. It involves inflammation of the thick band of tissue that connects the heel bone to your toes and supports your arch as well as being a sort of shock absorber.
The cause of plantar fasciitis is considered to be repeat injuries to the fascia of the foot. Most often, the injuries are close to where the plantar fascia connects to the heel bone.
The tendon that joins your calf muscle to your heel is the Achilles tendon. If this tendon is too tight, it can inhibit flexibility in your ankle and increase the likelihood of damaging the plantar fascia.
The most common symptoms of plantar fasciitis include:
Pain on the bottom of the foot near the heel
- Pain with the first few steps after getting out of bed in the morning, or after a long period of rest. The pain subsides after a few minutes of walking
- Greater pain after (not during) exercise or activity
It may be useful to ease your way through the pain by doing some gentle exercises throughout the day and when you first rise in the morning. Strenuous exercise or standing for long periods of time will usually exacerbate the problems. Making sure to get plenty of rest will reduce the pain.
Our podiatrist can usually diagnose plantar fasciitis just by talking to you and examining your feet. Rarely, tests are needed if the diagnosis is uncertain or to rule out other possible causes of heel pain.
These can include X-rays of the heel or an ultrasound scan of the fascia. An ultrasound scan usually shows thickening and swelling of the fascia in plantar fasciitis.
Although there is no single cure, many treatments can be used to ease pain. In order to treat it effectively for the long-term, the cause of the condition must be corrected as well as treating the symptoms.
Our Podiatrist will suggest some steps that patients should take in order to cure their plantar fasciitis:
Rest
- Apply Ice Packs
- Exercises and Stretches
- Anti-Inflammatory Medications
- Shoe Inserts
- Night Splints
Plantar fasciitis pain will take time to go away. Using these treatments is the best way to relieve the pain and it can take up to a year to be completely gone. Patience and perseverance is the key.
At times, cortisone injections may be used to reduce the pain, swelling and inflammation of plantar fasciitis. Most doctors believe that there are possibly more serious side effects when cortisone is injected into the heel area.
There are new treatment options being studied. It is a shock wave therapy named extracorporeal shock wave or ESWT. The “micro trauma” produced by this therapy is considered to stimulate the body’s own tissue repair process. ESWT is being suggested for patients who have not gained relief from other treatments or patients who have considered having surgery.
For more information on Plantar Fasciitis Treatment contact us at (561) 123-1234