What is it?
The Plantar fascia is a thick band of connective tissue which spans the arch from the heel to the base of the toes and is responsible for stabilising the arch during movement. Plantar fasciitis (or fasciopathy) is a very common musculoskeletal complaint.
Risk Factors
There are many risk factors to developing plantar fasciitis. Some of the common risk factors include:
- Weight;
- Occupations requiring prolonged standing or walking;
- Weight-bearing activities;
- Foot shape;
- Muscle tightness;
- Reduced range of motion in the ankle;
- Lower limb biomechanics; and
- Footwear
Symptoms
The pain is typically located in the heel and sometimes in the arch of your foot. A common symptom of plantar fasciitis is experiencing pain when taking the first few steps after lying down in bed, sat down for a long period of time or after a period of prolonged standing or walking.
Diagnosing
Plantar fasciitis can be diagnosed by a clinician based off the patient history and after a physical examination. Although plantar fasciitis is common cause of heel pain, there are various other causes of heel pain that need to be considered such as:
- Tarsal tunnel syndrome;
- Baxter’s nerve entrapment;
- Plantar fascia tear or rupture;
- Stress fracture;
- Fat pad atrophy; and
- Achilles tendinopathy.
Self-help
Simple measures you could take to help improve or resolve your heel pain include:
- Carrying out calf and foot exercises and stretches;
- Rest and reduce the amount of activity you are doing;
- Avoid wearing footwear that is ill-fitting and not supportive; and
- Losing weight.
How can we help?
At Camberley Chiropractic Clinic, we can take a full history of your complaint and carry out a physical examination. The physical examination will usually involve watching you walk and/or run as well as undertaking pressure plate gait analysis.
We offer to the following treatments for plantar fasciitis:
- Footwear advice;
- Taping;
- Stretching and strengthening exercises;
- Shockwave therapy;
- Low level laser therapy; and
- Foot orthoses (insoles).
Please contact reception@camberleychiropractic.co.uk or 01276 21637
References:
Latt, L.D., Jaffe, D.E., Tang, Y. and Taljanovic, M.S., 2020. Evaluation and treatment of chronic plantar fasciitis. Foot & ankle orthopaedics, 5(1), p.2473011419896763.
Rhim, H.C., Kwon, J., Park, J., Borg-Stein, J. and Tenforde, A.S., 2021. A systematic review of systematic reviews on the epidemiology, evaluation, and treatment of plantar fasciitis. Life, 11(12), p.1287
Thomas, M.J., Whittle, R., Menz, H.B., Rathod-Mistry, T., Marshall, M. and Roddy, E., 2019. Plantar heel pain in middle-aged and older adults: population prevalence, associations with health status and lifestyle factors, and frequency of healthcare use. BMC musculoskeletal disorders, 20(1), pp.1-8.
Umar, H., Idrees, W., Umar, W., Khalil, A. and Rizvi, Z.A., 2022. Impact of routine footwear on foot health: A study on plantar fasciitis. Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care, 11(7), p.3851