Health

All About Plantar Fasciitis

Pauly Dennis

Plantar Fascia is a strong and thick band of tissue that supports the arch of your foot. Most people such as athletes, teachers, or waitresses may experience inflamed or torn fascia, which causes pain in the heels.

Plantar Fasciitis is a condition where you feel a strong pain on your foot or a stabbing pain the moment you hit the ground. This condition can look little in the beginning but later it can get worsen. Hence, you must visit a podiatrist for the same. If you looking for one, then you can check the site for Podiatrist in Irvine. You will get the best of the doctors for yourself.

So here in this article, we would like to provide an overview of plantar fasciitis which includes its causes, risk factors, symptoms, and treatments.

Causes of Plantar Fasciitis:

The main function of the plantar fascia is to help in walking, running, and standing on the foot. Too much pressure and stretching can cause damage, inflammation, and tearing of your plantar facia. Some conditions that cause them to include:

  1. Flat feet or arched feet
  2. Wearing shoes which don’t fit properly
  3. You are an athlete or obese
  4. You exercise on a hard surface or do a lot of stretching exercises.

Some of the symptoms for the same includes:

The main symptom of this includes heel pain. There might be other conditions too such as:

  1. Pain in the arch of the foot
  2. Pain increases after exercise or gets worse in the morning or after prolonged sitting in one place.

This pain if continues for a long time for even months then you need to visit your doctor immediately.

How to treat Plantar Fasciitis?

90% of these problems can be solved through home remedies such as:

  1. Stretch your calf muscles
  2. Make sure you wear supportive, well-cushioned, and sturdy shoes.
  3. Massage that area
  4. Keep an ice pack to that area for 10 to 15 mins for about three to four times per day.
  5. Avoid standing for a long time.
  6. Take over the counter medicines anti-inflammatory drugs.

Some outpatient treatment includes:

If home remedies do not work, then you need to start with additional treatments like:

  1. Orthotics: It is a device that provides support to musculoskeletal problems. wearing supportive shoes and using orthotics such as shoe inserts or heel supporter can help with this problem.
  2. A night splint: People while sleeping in the night rest in a way where their feet are relaxed and pointing downwards. This causes tightening of the plantar fascia and causes pain. A night splint can help to relieve it.
  3. We can give extracorporeal shockwave therapy which is a shock therapy that stimulates the healing process.
  4. Surgery is considered if any of the above treatments do not work for more than 12 months. There are 2 types of surgery:

Gastrocnemius recession: This helps in strengthening the calf muscles.

Plantar fascia release: Here the plantar fascia is cut partially to relieve the tension in the muscles.

The best way to avoid this problem is to take preventive steps like relaxation, wear supportive shoes, and avoid hard floor.