Plantar fasciitis commonly causes stabbing pain that usually occurs with your first steps in the morning. As you get up and move, the pain normally decreases, but it might return after long periods of standing or when you stand up after sitting.
What Is Plantar Fasciitis?
Before we can explain what Plantar Fasciitis is, it might be best first to learn about the Plantar Fascia. The Plantar Fascia is the thick connective tissue which supports the arch on the bottom of the foot — connecting the heel bone to your toes. It’s what ensures that you can push off with power and jump. The tissue is tightened at every step and must cope with every step we take in our day-to-day lives.
You get Plantar Fasciitis from the inflammation of the Plantar Fascia, which involves small cracks that occur in the tissue at the level of the attachment with the heel bone.
What Are the Symptoms of Plantar Fasciitis?
Plantar Fasciitis is characterized by severe, persistent pain under the heel. The pain can spread to the sole of the foot. Usually the pain decreases as you are moving around for a while, but will often return once you start standing still, or stand up after having sit down for a short period of time. The pain gradually increases if it is not treated in a timely manner. If Plantar Fasciitis goes untreated, it usually results in chronic pain even while resting.
What Causes Plantar Fasciitis?
Plantar Fasciitis often occurs in people with fallen arches (commonly referred to as flat feet), and is caused by overpronating the foot (when the foot rolls inward). Overpronation, causing the inner foot to be lowered too far down, puts too much tension and overloads the Plantar Fascia, resulting in small cracks in the tissue.
Other forms of overload may be due to:
- Being overweight
- Being pregnant
- Running/playing sports, especially on uneven or hard surfuces
- Standing on your feet too long (for work)
- Stiff muscles in the feet and/or lower leg
- Trauma (jumping from a high place
What Are the Treatments for Plantar Fasciitis?
If Plantar Fasciitis is caused by overpronation of the foot, it is important to correct the foot and prevent it from sagging. Although it does not take away the pain directly nor cure the inflammation, special customized insoles can release tension and pressure on the Plantar Fascia—once cured it can prevent the tissue becoming painful again.
A new technology we recently introduced at Pain Away Clinic is Shockwave Therapy, which will aid in the rapid reduction of pain and stimulate cell growth, making it a highly effective treatment for chronic injuries such as Fasciitis Plantaris. Inquire at our clinic or make an appointment with one of our qualified physicians to diagnose the cause of your ailment and find the course of treatment that exactly fit your needs.
Below is a short introduction video of what you can expect with Shockwave Therapy at our clinic:
