Plantar Fasciitis – treatment, injections, casting; Best treatment for plantar fasciitis; what is the best shoe for plantar fasciitis
Plantar fasciitis is a condition that affects the plantar fascia of the foot. This is connective tissue that connects the ball of the foot to the heel. During certain times of each stride the plantar fascia will support up to 2 times your body weight. Because of inflexible calf muscles, sudden increased activity, pronation, obesity, or walking for long times on hard surfaces you may develop the characteristic pain of plantar fasciitis.
Once you have a diagnosis there are several treatment options that you must consider based on the reason behind the condition in the first place. As with any other condition if you know the reason that its occurring you must take away the cause to effect a cure.
The treatments listed here are suggestions that you can discuss with your doctor and are not meant to be diagnostic nor encourage you to make decisions without the input of your physician.
The first treatment for most injuries is rest until the pain has disappeared. Pain is your body’s way of telling you that something is wrong. The old adage no pain, no gain doesn’t apply to injuries. Instead it implies that gain is accomplished only with strong effort that may cause discomfort not pain.
Rest may cause you psychological distress but it is necessary to the treatment and recovery of plantar fasciitis. Many athletes find the rest part of treatment to be frustrating but if you rest completely then recovery is more apt to be successful.
If its not possible to stay off of your foot for a couple of days you should consider crutches to rest the plantar fascia. Another option for rest is to tape it to add support to the work that the plantar fascia is performing. You can learn the proper way of taping from a physical therapist.
Another integral part of recovery treatment is using ice or cold therapy. Ice is applied directly to the area that’s inflamed for 15 minutes every hour that is possible to help reduce the inflammation and decrease the time needed for healing. If ice is applied directly to the area then you should use an ice cup technique where the ice is in constant motion over the area and not resting in one position. If ice is directly applied without motion you risk frostbite damage to the area. You can also use re-freezable ice packs designed especially for this process.
The third leg of the recovery process for plantar fasciitis is stretching. Once the inflammation and pain have decreased you also must address the cause behind the injury. Often this is a lack of flexibility in the calf and plantar fascia. But even if the original injury was caused by obesity or a sudden increase in activity the injury itself will have caused the plantar fascia to become stiff. This is why your foot is most sore first thing in the morning. And also why a night splint that gently stretches the calf and plantar fascia will do wonders towards your recovery.
Your physician may prescribe an anti-inflammatory medication such as ibuprofen or a prescription strength drug. The doctor will also evaluate the way in which you bear weight on your foot and walk to determine if you need orthotics to restore a more normal biomechanical way of walking to your foot.
Once the plantar fascia has begun to heal your doctor or physical therapist may recommend sports massage techniques to decrease the tension in the plantar fascia and to help decrease the amount of scar tissue that forms after an inflammatory injury.
Some physicians recommend surgery for treatment but this should be approached with caution. Success rates of this type of surgery run around 50% so the situation must have been poorly controlled by conservative methods or there should be a significant physical deformity, such as a high, rigid arched foot.
Once you have gone one week without pain you are ready to increase your activity level. Start slowly and if you begin to feel pain again you should go back one step and start your rehabilitation process again. During your return to activities continue to stretch, exercise and use ice to ease your foot back to normal level.
