At Rebound Physical Therapy, we know that living with pain is hard. That’s why today we’re going to discuss plantar fasciitis, its symptoms, and how to relieve your plantar fasciitis pain.
What Is Plantar Fasciitis?
Plantar fasciitis is a condition that causes inflammation in the tissues on the bottom of your foot. There is a set of tissues that run from your heel along the bottom of your foot into the arch, then through to the base of your foot, and across to the toes. Those tissues should normally be pliable.
Over time, those tissues can become inflamed. When that happens you get plantar, meaning “the bottom of the foot,” and fasciitis, “inflammation of the fascia (the connective tissue on the bottom of the foot).”
What Are the Symptoms of Plantar Fasciitis?
If you have plantar fasciitis, it can be very irritating. Oftentimes, this condition presents itself with heel pain or pain in the arch of the foot that is very aggravating.
Typically, you’ll either have pain when you first get up in the morning when your foot hits the ground, or the pain will get progressively worse throughout the day as you’re on your feet. Sometimes if you’ve been sitting for a while, the pain will alleviate. But then you stand up again, and you feel that sharp pain in the bottom of your foot once more.
What Causes Plantar Fasciitis?
This condition comes about because of situations like:
- Changes in body weight
- Problems with the foot structure itself
- Overuse from being on your feet too long
Additionally, when your shoes start to wear out, you can notice that you don’t get the support that you need for your body and your activity. This can cause the inflammation to start flaring up again in that plantar fascia.
How Can I Relieve Plantar Fasciitis Symptoms?
It’s important to get on top of your plantar fasciitis early. It won’t just go away on its own if you don’t make any changes to address it. To get rid of the pain, you have to take the steps to decrease your inflammation.
There are steps you can take on your own, or that you can see our experts at Rebound to get help with. These include:
- Get good, supportive shoes. Your foot hits the ground thousands of times per day, so footwear is super important.
- Use ice early on. We advocate using ice to get the inflammation down.
- Visit a doctor for medication to help reduce the inflammation.
- Get corrective devices you can put in your shoes to treat your symptoms.
- Start doing stretches to loosen up the tissues in your feet.
- Try temporary taping or strapping to support your feet.
- Use custom orthotics like the ones we offer at Rebound, for extra support of your feet.
How Can Rebound Help with Plantar Fasciitis Pain?
When you come to Rebound for treatment, our physical therapists will look at your footfall mechanics and foot posture positioning, as well as your footwear, both from an evaluative standpoint and a preventative standpoint. This will let us evaluate the underlying causes of your symptoms and develop a treatment plan for you.
There are a number of ways to treat plantar fasciitis. When it’s flared up, you just want to get the inflammation down which you can do through:
- Modifying your activities
- Getting orthotic support structures in your shoes
- Having your shoes evaluated by a specialist
- Applying ice to the affected area
- Getting anti-inflammatory medication from a doctor
- Doing exercises to make your feet more pliable
Our physical therapists will assess your foot dynamics and your mechanics and correct them with various stretching and strengthening exercises that will improve your foot health. These exercises will also reduce the stress and protect you from future disruption, pain, or inflammation of the plantar fascia tissues, including your foot and ankle tissues.
Get Back in Action with Physical Therapy for Plantar Fasciitis
There’s a lot that can be done to treat plantar fasciitis. Our team at Rebound can fit you for custom foot orthotics to help relieve your symptoms. We can also use different treatment modalities to reduce inflammation and get your foot more pliable.
We’d love to help you handle your plantar fasciitis pain. Call our Topeka, KS clinic at 785-271-5533 to schedule a screening today.
Tags: health and wellness, physical activity, healthy tips, Healthy lifestyle, stiffness, aches and pain, chronic pain
