Plantar Fasciitis And Plantar Fascia

Plantar fasciitis is a common, painful foot condition and is an inflammation of the ligament that connects the heel to the base of the toes. It happens when the plantar fascia becomes too inflamed.

The pain becomes evident during day time. This is because of the fact that the fascia contracts over the night while you sleep. Although there may be times when you won’t feel any pain, it is only a temporary thing. Once you stand up for long periods or you get up from a long time of sitting down, the pain may strike once more.

There are several factors which can cause plantar fasciitis and these are as follows:

1) Overdoing strenuous physical activities

2) Moving heavy objects

3) Arthritis

4) Diabetes

5) Abnormal foot mobility

6) Poor quality of footwear

Plantar fasciitis can affect both feet, but it usually happens on just one foot. The illness also develops gradually and only becomes evident once unbearable heel pain is felt. However, this illness definitely has several symptoms, which you should take a tab on so that you can prevent it from becoming a major medical condition. These are the following symptoms associated with this illness:

1) A stabbed-like feeling on the bottom of your foot

2) A progressive heel pain experienced as soon as you wake up and walk to go about your early morning activities or even after doing exercise

3) Heel pain experienced after standing for a long period of time or when getting up from sitting down for over a time

4) Some swelling observed in the middle part of your heel

Once you experience these symptoms, it would be wise to note how often they occur and then proceed to consult your doctor.

As you seek medical attention, your doctor will first verify all the symptoms, which you may have experienced. The podiatrist will also point out to you the tender areas found on your foot. This is necessary so that other factors causing heel pain can be ruled out. Other than physical examination, your podiatrist can also schedule a foot X-ray or even an MRI to see if you have got a stress fracture.

Treating plantar fasciitis is actually quite simple. All it takes is proper discipline and close monitoring of treatment regimen issued by the doctor.

For self-care treatments, here are the usual recommended procedures:

Night splint: This is usually done by enclosing your foot up to your calf within a splint as you sleep. The purpose of this is to hold your foot tissues as well as your Achilles tendon so that it can be stretched overnight.

Orthotics: This is an arch support, which works by distributing the pressure absorbed by your feet evenly on all areas.

Physical therapy: Rehabilitative exercises can strengthen your leg muscles and help make your heel and ankle more stabilized to absorb pressure.

If your plantar fasciitis condition is diagnosed as severe, you can use other medical methods, to help you alleviate pain and treat the foot.

Corticosteroids: your podiatrist will suggest this medicine if other forms of treatment are not efficient in treating it. This works by injecting a couple doses within your fascia area to alleviate pain. At times, iontophoresis can also be conducted instead of injecting corticosteroids. The medicine is distributed within the fascia are using electric current gently induced to relieve the pain.

Extracorporeal shock wave therapy: This method uses sound waves as a means of stimulating the healing process of the affected area. If the plantar fasciitis has been diagnosed as a chronic illness, this is the treatment method being adopted.

Surgery: When one undergoes surgery for planta fasciitis, the plantar fascia is removed from the heel bone. This is the final option and is only turned to when other methods can no longer take away the heel pain and the condition becomes too severe to handle.

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