Plantar Fasciitis

What is Plantar Fasciitis?

Plantar fasciitis is the inflammation of the plantar fascia, a piece of strong, thick tissue that runs along the bottom of the foot. It connects the heel bone to the toes, creating the arch of the foot. Plantar fasciitis is the most common overuse issue affecting the foot. It presents as pain on the heel and throughout the sole of the foot and can typically be most painful first thing in the morning taking initial steps or weight bearing after a period of rest. It is more common in sedentary individuals but also accounts for 8% of all running related injuries.

What is the best management for Plantar Fasciitis?

A variety of interventions can be used to manage plantar fasciitis including:

- Manual therapy: a number of manual therapy techniques can be utilised to improve the biomechanics of the foot/ankle and therefore alleviating load on the plantar fascia.

- Strength Training: by increasing the tissues capacity to tolerate more load, this in turn can reduce the symptoms. Strength training has been shown to be of benefit to overuse soft tissue injuries with a heavy, slow resistance program.

- Stretching: tightness in the gastrocnemius has been shown to correlate with pain severity in plantar fasciitis and therefore stretching this muscle and aiming to improve dorsiflexion of the ankle is beneficial.

- Lifestyle Changes: Losing weight can help to reduce the load that is placed on the plantar fascia and decrease the change in poor biomechanics in the region. Typically coupled by an increase in activity in order to lose weight, this approach results in an effective combination.

- Orthoses/Insoles/Footwear: the biomechanics of the foot are significantly influenced by what the feet are housed in and how they are supported. This can be modified by the shoe itself or by orthoses/insoles that are inserted into your shoe.

- Injection: Corticosteroid injections alongside strength training has been shown to be the best treatment for plantar fasciitis, however given the nature of this it is best to consider an injection as a later option if symptoms are not improving to management approaches above.

All approaches above require the implementation and guidance by health professionals. If you are experiencing symptoms typical of plantar fasciitis please seek assistance from your health professional for diagnosis and management.