You know that annoying pain around your heel or on the sole of your foot whenever you stand up and walk? No matter what you do, the pain doesn’t seem to go away and always seems to sneak up on you when you are least aware. This condition may be something called plantar fasciopathy or plantar fasciitis (if there is some level of inflammation). The cause or onset of this condition doesn’t have to be traumatic in nature, as in you don’t need to be a sportsperson or active person to get it. Office workers or people with a sedentary lifestyle can suffer from it as well. To explain this, we must understand how this condition comes about and we’ll also discuss how to deal with this nasty condition.
The plantar fascia is a strong, thick fibrous connective tissue under your foot. It ranges from your big toe and goes to the heel. However, this structure doesn’t technically end there as your Achilles tendon also merges with it into one continuous structure. The plantarfascia’s job is to absorb the load and impact from the ground as you jog, but also redirect the force of impact and release upon the push off during walking/ jogging/ running/ jumping.
Symptoms such as pain/ tension arise typically from when the fascia has been overloaded or overused. This can potentially lead to inflammation as the fascia is severely overloaded and in some cases may even lead to some degree of tearing. The reason why this condition is difficult to treat and manage is because of the complex nature of what started it in the first place. Some of the causes can be as simple as from overdoing/ overusing/ repetitive activities such as a high training load and not allowing adequate rest. But it can be as complicated as having flat feet, weak hip muscles causing poor biomechanical movement along its kinetic chain, weak intrinsic foot muscles for stability and/or recent fluctuation in body weight.
Treating someone with one or more of these causes can be challenging. Examples of treatment are strengthening, stretching, taping, orthotics, gait advice and manual therapy. At Logan Physio, we assess and treat based on what you tell us and what we find on the subjective and objective examination. We are then able to come up with the best solution for you in order for you to get the result you are looking for.
