Plantar Fasciitis Doesn’t Hurt Much
The truth is quite to the contrary my friends plantar fasciitis an extremely common cause of severe pain in the foot and heel is keeping orthopedic physicians very very busy these days. If you experience the unique pain of plantar fasciitis it is an experience you will not soon forget. What I write in this blog comes from extensive personal experience with the condition. I received far less than optimal advice from medical professionals, I do recommend that if you suspect that you have plantar fasciitis or heel spur pain that you see a doctor. I intend to give no medical advice here. Rather to give you the benefit of what I have learned from dealing with my own problem.
Plantar fasciitis effects both men and women in equal numbers, plantar fasciitis is a condition of the plantar fascia which is the broad, flat, ligament-like band that runs along the bottom of the foot connecting the bottom of the heel to the toes. The purpose of the plantar fascia is to support the arch of the foot. When the plantar fascia becomes strained, swollen or inflamed then plantar fasciitis and the heel pain it brings along with it develops. The heel hurts at the insertion of the plantar fascia at the calcaneal or heel bone where the inflammation tends to concentrate. The pain is increased greatly when the body in answer to the stress caused by the inflammation and the tugging at the point where plantar fascia meets bone builds a deposit that we call heel or bone spur. This outcropping greatly increases the pain and makes every step misery for many with the condition.
Inflamed plantar fascia are commonly seen in people who participate in heavy exercise schedules, runners in particular develop the condition. Many who have jobs requiring quite a bit of walking or standing, especially if those jobs take place on hard surfaces will also experience plantar fasciitis in numbers greater than the average population. At high risk of developing plantar fasciitis are those who are obese or even those who are just overweight. It seems the amount of overweight is directly proportional to a person’s likelihood of developing the painful malady.
The debilitating pain caused by the inflammation and resultant heel spurs occurs very frequently first thing in the morning after the plantar fascia has spent the night shortening or tightening.When you have the condition watch out for the first step out of bed, taking that first step after standing in the same position or place for a long time or with that first step when you have been sitting for a prolonged period of time.
Sufferers with plantar fasciitis usually experience some relief from pain following activity, this do to the plantar fascia warming and stretching but there is a price for the activity that was pain relieving as the heel pain returns with a vengeance from the stress and the resultant added inflammation
Plantar fasciitis is a condition that has great impact on lives the way that intense chronic pain conditions do. It occupies a part of you all the time. It is not a pain you "learn to live with". It can take years to completely resolve the issues of inflammation and bone spur growth and in some cases it is never quite fully resolved.
A considerable number of sufferers from the condition let the source of the problem continue too long without adopting some simple self therapies and maybe some lifestyle changes. The delay in treating usually makes the healing process long indeed. For some who have stoically endured the pain the worst happens because the condition progresses to the point where it is not uncommon for the severe aspect of the pain to last for years. I was unfortunately a member of that class.
Plantar fasciitis treatment is first to allow the plantar fascia to heal to the point where stretching and strengthening of the plantar fascia can begin, treatment focuses on reducing the inflammation and pain in the heel,and then and only then on to improving the strength and flexibility of the foot, allowing the small tears in the plantar fascia to heal, and ultimately get back to your normal life. Once the condition has progressed to where a bone spur is in place you must engage in a process. If you try too hard with the stretching and strengthening before you have given proper down time for the healing you only re-injure and and reignite the inflammation. So the first order of business is rest,rest rest, This can take weeks depending on home much rest you can give it but the more the better. At this time you should only be gently stretching the plantar facsia manually during the day and with a plantar fasciitis foot brace throughout the night.
In addition to the stretching and strengthening exercises among treatment options non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications, cortisone injections into the heel, ice, specially designed running shoes, orthotics, physical therapy,taping specifically for plantar fasciitis and ultrasound therapy. Surgery for plantar fasciitis is sometimes but infrequently resorted to. There are increasingly less invasive surgical techniques which is very good news for those who most go the surgical route.
I will be returning to the blog with discussion of all the different treatments for plantar fasciitis over the next several postings.
for more Plantar Fasciitis info these links wil serve well:
Plantar Fascia stretching for pain relief
Healthlink Medical college of Wisconsin
Mail this post