Plantar Fasciitis

To see an important video on how we diagnose and treat chronic plantar fasciitis click here.

Over 95% of all heel pain is diagnosed as Plantar Fasciitis. This is best described as an inflammation of the ligament that runs from the heel to the ball of your foot and helps support your arch. The bottom or inside of your heel may hurt when you stand.

Must Know About This

• Regaining foot strength and flexibility is essential for long-term relief and prevention.
• Wearing shoes that have no elevated heel and a thin flexible midsole and beginning a program that emphasizes being barefoot more often can lead to rapid relief.
• If conservative treatments are not successful, extracorporeal shockwave therapy can be extremely effective.

Good to Know About This

• Plantar fasciitis is a most common cause of heel pain, which is usually the most intense during the first steps of the day.
• The thick fibrous bands that compose the plantar fascia and run from the heel to the toes becomes irritated and painful.
• Individuals with muscularly weak and imbalanced feet are especially susceptible.

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More About This

Usually the pain is worse in the morning when you get out of bed and after resting when you stand up. The pain usually decreases when you walk a few steps but may never completely go away. This pain feels like a stone bruise. It is often due to over use, meaning you over exercised or just stand on the wrong surface in the wrong shoes for too long.

Sometimes jumping or falling traumatically induces the pain. If this is the case, see a Doctor immediately you may have a fracture.

Plantar Fasciitis Self Help Tips

Step 1

Educate yourself. The information provided by “The Heel Pain Center” should be used to help understand your problem.

Answer yes or no to the following statements to be eligible for this treatment.

1. I don’t remember injuring myself.
2. My heel hurts worse in the morning (when I stand up and put weight on it) and after resting (when I stand up again and put weight on it)
3. My heel hurts on the bottom and not on the back of the heel.
4. The pain is like a stone bruise. The pain is not a shooting pain.

By answering TRUE to the previous questions you may continue:

Step 2

Determine what actions have caused your pain and continue to aggravate your heel (s):

1. Do you wear flat shoes either on a daily basis or on weekends? Here is a list of what flat shoes are: Boat shoes; Vivo Barefoot casual shoes, deck shoes, moccasins, thongs, slippers, sandals, flexible dress flats, or Chuck Taylor brand tennis shoes.  Note: In general, tennis shoes are not considered flat shoes.
2. Do you work on hard surfaces like cement, wood or marble floors?
3. Do you stand on your feet a lot?
4. Have you begun an exercise program that involves walking, running, step aerobics or jumping rope?
5. Have you experienced any rapid recent weight gain?
6. Do higher heeled shoes feel better than flatter ones?
7. Do you like to stretch your feet in the morning to try to make them feel better before standing?

If you answer YES to many of the previous questions, then read then continue to read to discover how you can help manage your Plantar Fasciitis at home. Just like the common cold, there are some things you can do right now to try to alleviate your pain. Remember, if your pain persists then see our office.

Step 3

Plantar Fasciitis is an over-use syndrome. This means that too much tension is occurring within the ligaments and muscles on the bottom of your foot.  The effect of traditional shoes greatly increases the probability of Plantar Fasciitis occurring, because one of the effects is development of a foot that is characterized by weak and imbalanced musculature.

The goal of the Podiatrist is two fold:

First, we attempt to alleviate the inflammation by prescribing anti-inflammatories and physical therapy.

Second, we attempt to promote the natural strength and flexibility of your foot by encouraging you to strengthen your feet by spending some time barefoot and to wearing minimal shoes at other times.  Just allowing your feet the ability to move through their natural range of motion without restriction can produce rapid and substantial positive changes, especially when supplemental stretching exercises are added.

The Feet For Life Centers is excited to also offer a new treatment, Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy, for chronic plantar fasciitis “heel pain”. Extracorporeal” means “outside the body”. Shock waves are created by very strong acoustic (sound) energy. Your ESW treatment will be performed with a device called the EPOS ULTA OR MEDISPEC. The EPOS is a shock wave generator very similar to the shock wave devices used to treat kidney stones without surgery. The shock waves are created by an electromagnetic impulse or a spark fired impulse that travels through soft plastic dome filled with water, eventually reaching your plantar fascia.  During ESWT treatment, this dome is placed close against the heel so that the shock waves pass through the dome to the heel. ESWT treatment is proven though out the US and Europe for treating chronic proximal plantar fasciitis.

See an important video on how we diagnose and treat chronic plantar fasciitis: