Is Plantar Fasciitis causing your heel pain?
Plantar Fasciitis (pronounced: plantar-fa-shee-eye-tis) is a common condition causing heel pain. The pain is felt under the heel or the entire sole of the foot. The heel pain is more prominent on waking up and the pain diminishes after taking the first few steps. This condition may be debilitating for some, making it difficult to be on your feet all day long.
Could the pain you feel, be plantar fasciitis?
Initially, heel pain starts mildly and may be recurrent. Gradually the pain may increase. Look out for the following symptoms by answering true or false:
Symptoms
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True/False
| |
1
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My heel is the most tender part of the foot
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True/False
|
2
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My pain is worse on waking up
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True/False
|
3
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My pain gets better after walking a few steps
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True/False
|
4
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My pain causes me to limp
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True/False
|
5
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My pain increases on long standing hours
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True/False
|
6
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My pain increases after exercise
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True/False
|
7
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My pain came after my weight increased
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True/False
|
8
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My pain is chronic and it may be on and off
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True/False
|
9
|
My pain has increased after changing my shoes
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True/False
|
10
|
My pain has increased because I haven’t changed my shoes for years
|
If most of your answers were true, you must get help and please do not ignore.
What may have caused Plantar Fasciitis?
The plantar fascia is a strong stretchy ligament starting from the heel bone up to the ball of the foot. It is designed to bear your weight and support the spring action as you walk and run. However, this Plantar Fascia can get injured by:
- Wrong foot alignment. Flat feet or high arches both can cause this pain. Hence gait assessment is utmost important to relieve your pain.
- Standing for long hours may put excessive pressure on the ligament.
- Lack of calf stretch/ proper warm up before workouts.
- Worn out footwear.
- A sudden increase in weight also puts excessive pressure on the ligament.
- Aging can cause loss of elasticity in the ligament, thus causing heel pain.
What can you do to treat your pain?
Plantar Fasciitis can be treated majorly by non-invasive methods. Following a few simple tips help you in getting relief from your pain
Rest: Spend part of the day seated so that the pressure is relieved off your ligament, especially if you spend most of your day standing or walking.
Ice: Use cold packs on sole of foot/ most painful region of your foot for 20minutes, 3-4 times a day to bring down the inflammation.
Plantar Fascia Release: You may find trigger points on the sole of your feet. Releasing it with frozen water bottle under the foot might relieve your pain. Roll it gently with some pressure on the bottle specifically in painful areas. Do it for 2-3 minutes under each foot.
Stretching: Stretch your calf at least twice a day. Hold the stretch for 10 seconds on each side and repeat 3 times.
Calf Stretch
Footwear: Avoid being barefoot at all times. If footwear is worn out, change your foot wear. Wear footwear that offers maximum support like sports shoes or sandals. DO NOT mistake soft footwear to be comfortable/pain relieving. Its effects are only temporary (if any). Soft footwear provides only shock absorption. It does not correct the mal-alignment of the foot. Corrective footwear will be uncomfortable initially; however, once you break-in, it will be your new comfort zone!
Strive Footwear (Corrective Slippers)
Corrective Insoles: Use customized corrective insoles (Orthotics)on a daily basis to get maximum support for the arch and the plantar fascia ligament. Pair the insoles with good supportive shoes for best results. This helps not only in correcting wrong foot alignment but even helps improve performance.
Customised Corrective Insoles
Dr. Megha Bhatnagar: sports Physiotherapist
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