Treatment For Plantar Fasciitis

What is Plantar Fasciitis?

Plantar fasciitis is one of the most common causes of heel pain. It is caused by the inflammation of a thick band of tissue that runs across the bottom of each foot and connects the heel bone to the toes (plantar fascia).

Tension and stress on the fascia can cause small tears, resulting in foot pain plantar fasciitis. The foot pain plantar fasciitis causes are a harsh stabbing pain that occurs usually with the first steps in the morning, however it can also be caused by long period of standing or when you get up from sitting.

Diagnosis

At Sky Podiatry we have the experience to diagnose plantar fasciitis, in some cases imaging is required such as ultrasound or MRI, and what we see is a thickening of the plantar fascia. We also utilise top-class pressure plate technology to explain why pain is occurring in the foot and ankle. The inflammation and foot pain plantar fasciitis causes are a sign to the body that you are injured and needs to rest.

We often clinically diagnose plantar fasciitis, however there are a few cases where do need to use imagery. We use imagery when our patient with planter fasciitis is not responding to our treatment plan – this usually occurs when the patient has a plantar fascia tear (where the fibres within the plantar fascia are torn). If this does occur, our podiatrists will reassess, and ensure that our patients are a lot more restrictive with their movements before processing to a treatment plan.

Treatment For Plantar Fasciitis

At Sky Podiatry, our treatment for plantar fasciitis differs from other podiatrists as we take a holistic approach and look at all aspects.

Education

Firstly, when we are treating any condition, we make sure we educate the patient on the treatment, the work that they need to put in and what we can do as clinicians. This helps us set the expectations, outcomes, and the goals that we want to achieve from the treatment for plantar fasciitis.

Footwear

At Sky Podiatry, we ensure that our patient’s footwear is appropriate for their foot. We examine whether it is hindering or if the footwear is helping their condition. As podiatrists, we see that most people suffering from foot pain plantar fasciitis is due to wearing the wrong shoes because they feel the most comfortable whilst wearing them, however the day following is when the pain occurs. In most cases, the correlation between the two goes unnoticed by the patient. So, we assess our patient’s footwear to ensure that it supports them in the best possible way.

Strength and Conditioning:

At Sky Podiatry, prior to offering treatment for plantar fasciitis, we check the following:

Are there any limiting factors that will impact our treatment?
Does the patient have restrictions in certain muscles or joints?
Have they had a hip replacement?
Have they had a knee replacement?
Have they had any surgeries or breaks or other factors that will contribute to plantar fasciitis?

To heal the plantar fasciitis, we need to teach the body, and strengthen it so that the tissue goes back to its normal state. The only way we can do this, is through consistent, repetitive loading. We do this by performing strengthening exercises and do the same exercise over and over again in a controlled way, to teach the body that it is stronger than what is perceives itself to be, and that this continued strain applied will cause the body to adapt. The body will then realise that the work is not going away and that the tissue of the plantar fascia will begin to strengthen, and the body will start to repair and relieve the foot pain plantar fasciitis causes.

Orthotics and Offloading:

At Sky Podiatry, we also consider orthotics to heel foot pain plantar fasciitis. The faster that we can switch the excessive load to be reduced to below the bodies capacity, the faster our patient will heal. We can reduce this load in many ways including:

Rest
Footwear
Orthotics
Taping

It is important that we keep a consistent pattern to measure the persons improvement. Orthotics work to improve the bodies biomechanics to improve efficiency and reduce the load. By improving the biomechanics of the foot, we offload the compression off these tissues that are working increasingly hard and improve the overall muscle activation within the foot. Orthotics work best when combined with the right footwear, and the strengthening and conditioning of the foot.

Adjunctive Therapies

At Sky Podiatry, we offer education and onward referral for adjunctive treatments for plantar fasciitis including:

Dry needling
Shock-wave therapy
Corticosteroid’s injections
Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections

These therapies are only considered along with the other options. However, it is important to note that these adjunctive therapies all provide short-term relief from the foot pain plantar fasciitis causes, and that we aim to get the core down pact, and then we can add in these additional treatments to improve the speed of recovery.

Book an Appointment Today.

Sky Podiatry

Shop 3/220-224 Westbury Rd, Prospect, TAS 7250

(03) 6732 7838

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Sky Podiatry

Target Complex, Shop 5/21 Vermont Rd, Mowbray, TAS 7248

(03) 6724 3171

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