What is Plantar Fasciitis?
Plantar Fasciitis is one of the most common heel pains. Plantar Fasciitis is basically inflammation of Plantar Fascia which is strong band of tissue, pretty much similar to a ligament. Follow the picture below for better understanding.
This is a very common problem among athletes all around the world but not so uncommon among common people as well. Believe it or not every month a million people search online about Plantar Fasciitis which proves it’s a major problem for many people. 10% people have this disorder at some point of their life and many of them are not aware of this.
Causes of Plantar Fasciitis
Let’s come straight to the point. You would want to know the probable cause of Plantar Fasciitis so that you can stay away from this.
In a nutshell whatever stretches your Plantar Fascia can be the root cause of Plantar Fasciitis. For example,
- If you run, walk on a hard surface for a long time (if you jog every morning on a hard surface, you might want to recheck with your podiatrist).
- If you are suffering from flat feet. Not sure what this is? Read this article of ours.
- If you are overweight which means you might be putting too much pressure on your foot.
- You wear shoes which are not comfortable and do not provide proper arch support.
- If you have a tight Achilles tendon. What is this, check the photo below
Treatment of Plantar Fasciitis
So this can be divided in two parts, these are Non-surgical treatment and surgical treatment.
Natural Treatment of Plantar Fasciitis
- Rest: Take proper rest. Stop doing activities which increases the pain. You might want to stop running for few days. But this doesn’t mean you should sit idle, there are few exercise which you should do in order to get rid of the problem
- Calf stretch: Follow the position of the photo below. Now push your hips to the wall but in a controlled manner. Try to hold it for 10 seconds. Repeat this 20 times for each foot.
- Plantar fascia stretch: Follow the position of the photo below. Now try to pull down your toe in a controlled manner. Hold the position for 10 seconds. Now repeat 20 times for each foot.
- Apart from these two there are several other exercises for Plantar Fasciitis. Some are given below
- Apply ice to your feet. This can be done 3-4 times a day. Try to roll the ice on the feet instead of keeping it fixed.
- Medication: There are certain medicines and steroids available for the pain and inflammation. But we would recommend that you talk to your doctor first before taking them. Feel free to contact us.
- Shoes: Try wearing shoes which will support your arch. If confused you can talk to your podiatrist, else you can contact us.
Surgical Treatment of Plantar Fasciitis:
Surgery is only recommended when your pain has not eased even after 12 months of treatment. If you are facing such issue feel free to reach out to us. There are mainly two kind of surgeries performed which are,
- Gastrocnemius recession
- Plantar fascia release
Though surgeries are proved to give good results but in some cases there can be certain nerve damage problem.
