Plantar Fasciitis
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Plantar fasciitis is a common problem and one that can stop you in your tracks when it comes to an exercise regime. Prevention is always the best method, but if you do suffer from this, then this article will give you some pointers to help.
Plantar fasciitis is the thickening of the plantar fascia which is a band of tissue running along the bottom of the foot. Plantar fasciitis can be very uncomfortable and you will certainly know about it if you suffer from this problem. Plantar fasciitis is known to be much more common in women than in men, and is something a person typically develops with age.
A few other reasons why people get it are:
-You are on your feet for many hours per day
-Are overweight
-You wear high heels a lot, and then change to flat shoes
-You have a high arch in your foot
-Have tight Achilles
-You have an abnormal walk
You will first know about Plantar fasciitis when you develop a pain around the bottom of your foot towards the heel of your foot, and you may feel this first thing in the morning when you stand up. Sometimes the heel of the foot will appear red or bruised.
The initial treatment is to stop doing the thing that aggravates it the most. Stop wearing high heels, and if you experience pain when running, then stop running for a while.
Orthotics can be very helpful and if you want to go down this route, please try and find a physiotherapy clinic that specialize in fitting orthotics. A good sports physio will be able to look at your gait, how you walk, the arches of your feet as well as testing you on pressure plates etc to check that you do need orthotics. If you go to your local beauty shop and just purchased a generic orthotic insole then these will most likely not help you. You need a custom fitted orthotic. Your physio may tell you that orthotics are not ideal for your injury and to try something else.
Stretching exercises can help to alleviate symptoms and should be practised several times per day. Another option is to massage the bottom of the foot with an ice pack shortly before going to bed. Nick often advises his clients to freeze a plastic bottle of water, and use this to roll the bottom of their feet over. This method costs nothing (other than the bottle), and is great for allowing you to put pressure on the bottle whilst massaging it out.
It should be noted that Plantar Fasciitis will not go away overnight. It can take up to a year for symptoms to go away, and invariably most people stop doing their stretches, ice rolling, taking it easy in certain exercises etc over the course of such a long period of time. People who do not do their homework, is the reason why physio clinics do so well financially. Nick has worked as a rehab trainer for a physiotherapy clinic and seen first-hand a large percentage of clients not bothering to do their homework. And believe it or not, even competitive athletes lose focus on their homework exercises as well, and end up returning to the clinic.
So rant over……if you are given homework to do by your physio for plantar fasciitis or anything else, then please do it. A physio can’t do the work for you, and all rehab work needs to be done on a regular basis.
It is believed that 1 in 20 patients with plantar fasciitis will need surgery, but please do exhaust all other resources before allowing someone to do this to you. Nick has also experienced first had a surgeon wanting to operate on his knee, and a sports physio telling him not to and rehab it instead. Nick went for the rehab option and his knee if fine know. Educate yourself to the options around you, remember a surgeon will be getting paid to do an operation on you so they may be a little keener to do this than you would like.
To avoid getting plantar fasciitis try and keep your weight under control and wear appropriate shoes. If possible try not to wear high heels because they do not do your feet, calves and anything else any favours.
We hope this article was useful to some of you and remember prevention is always the best approach.
Plantar fasciitis is the thickening of the plantar fascia which is a band of tissue running along the bottom of the foot. Plantar fasciitis can be very uncomfortable and you will certainly know about it if you suffer from this problem. Plantar fasciitis is known to be much more common in women than in men, and is something a person typically develops with age.
A few other reasons why people get it are:
-You are on your feet for many hours per day
-Are overweight
-You wear high heels a lot, and then change to flat shoes
-You have a high arch in your foot
-Have tight Achilles
-You have an abnormal walk
You will first know about Plantar fasciitis when you develop a pain around the bottom of your foot towards the heel of your foot, and you may feel this first thing in the morning when you stand up. Sometimes the heel of the foot will appear red or bruised.
The initial treatment is to stop doing the thing that aggravates it the most. Stop wearing high heels, and if you experience pain when running, then stop running for a while.
Orthotics can be very helpful and if you want to go down this route, please try and find a physiotherapy clinic that specialize in fitting orthotics. A good sports physio will be able to look at your gait, how you walk, the arches of your feet as well as testing you on pressure plates etc to check that you do need orthotics. If you go to your local beauty shop and just purchased a generic orthotic insole then these will most likely not help you. You need a custom fitted orthotic. Your physio may tell you that orthotics are not ideal for your injury and to try something else.
Stretching exercises can help to alleviate symptoms and should be practised several times per day. Another option is to massage the bottom of the foot with an ice pack shortly before going to bed. Nick often advises his clients to freeze a plastic bottle of water, and use this to roll the bottom of their feet over. This method costs nothing (other than the bottle), and is great for allowing you to put pressure on the bottle whilst massaging it out.
It should be noted that Plantar Fasciitis will not go away overnight. It can take up to a year for symptoms to go away, and invariably most people stop doing their stretches, ice rolling, taking it easy in certain exercises etc over the course of such a long period of time. People who do not do their homework, is the reason why physio clinics do so well financially. Nick has worked as a rehab trainer for a physiotherapy clinic and seen first-hand a large percentage of clients not bothering to do their homework. And believe it or not, even competitive athletes lose focus on their homework exercises as well, and end up returning to the clinic.
So rant over……if you are given homework to do by your physio for plantar fasciitis or anything else, then please do it. A physio can’t do the work for you, and all rehab work needs to be done on a regular basis.
It is believed that 1 in 20 patients with plantar fasciitis will need surgery, but please do exhaust all other resources before allowing someone to do this to you. Nick has also experienced first had a surgeon wanting to operate on his knee, and a sports physio telling him not to and rehab it instead. Nick went for the rehab option and his knee if fine know. Educate yourself to the options around you, remember a surgeon will be getting paid to do an operation on you so they may be a little keener to do this than you would like.
To avoid getting plantar fasciitis try and keep your weight under control and wear appropriate shoes. If possible try not to wear high heels because they do not do your feet, calves and anything else any favours.
We hope this article was useful to some of you and remember prevention is always the best approach.