Plantar fasciitis is the ‘common cold’ of the foot. The common cold is so common everyone has had it. Plantar fasciitis also seems to be common that everyone has either had it or knows someone that has had it. The cardinal symptom of plantar fasciitis is pain under that heel that is worse when getting out of bed in the morning (and also often after getting up from sitting for a period of time). Plantar fasciitis is an inflammation or degeneration of the long ligament under the foot that has the role of supporting the arch of the foot. The plantar fascia is also part of the windlass mechanism of the foot.
As the plantar fascia supports the foot, anything that puts a load on the arch is potentially going to strain the plantar fascia is going to put the foot at risk for getting plantar fasciitis. Things that increase the load include a high body weight, a higher activity level, a tight calf muscle and poor foot biomechanics.
Logically, the only real way to manage plantar fasciitis long term is to reduce that load. This means losing weight, reducing activity levels, stretching the calf muscles and using foot orthotics to improve foot biomechanics. Low dye straping is often used initially to reduce the load.
There are many other treatments advocated for plantar fasciitis, but all they do is help heal the damage in the tissues, they do not reduce the load in the plantar fascia. These treatments include cortisone shots, shockwave therapy, TOPAZ surgery, etc.
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