Plantar Fasciitis
Plantar Fasciitis is often a name give to any pain in the heel. In reality many problems can cause heel pain. At the Reinge Clinic we will look biomechanically through the whole lower leg to ensure we treat the source of the problem.
What is Plantar Fascitiis
Plantar Fasciitis, is inflammation of the fascia on the base of the foot. The plantar fascia, is a connective tissue that connects the heel to the toes and when it becomes inflamed it creates pain and a tightening of this area.
This can make it very sore to walk on and a defining feature is where pain is there first thing in the morning when the foot feels very stiff, but improves as the day goes on.
The main question we ask, is why is this area inflamed, what is causing this inflammation and this often leads us to look further up the body.
How can we treat it?
Plantar Fasciitis, is an inflammatory condition, so the first thing to do is to calm down the inflammation. Icing the whole foot for 10 mins per hour is a great place to start.
Once the inflammation is calmed, we need to restrengthen the foot. We can do this with targeted strengthening work. The plantar fascia has an important role in shock absorption when the foot hits the floor, it helps to support the arch. So we need to restrengthen this arch.
Once the symptoms have calmed down, we need to work out why this ocoured in the first place. Usually this is down to foot weakness or leg muscle imbalance, causing the muscles at the back of the leg to become tight and tug at the attachment points at the base of the foot.
So we would measure your leg circumference, muscle test your muscle interactions and find out where the weaknesses are. Then we would restrengthen to ensure the problem doesn't repeat itself in the future.