What the HEEL? Plantar Fasciitis means Heel Pain…Learn what it is and how to get rid of it
Heel Pain. It hurts! The fact is, as many as 10% of the entire US population will suffer from heel pain at least one time in their life, and suffer they do. We spend so much time on our feet that anytime we have an injury in that area the suffering can be intense and last for months and months. Recovery in an area that is constantly used can be slow going. This is certainly the case with Plantar Fasciitis, or its common name: heel spur.
As a practicing Austin Chiropractor, we know that a heel spur is a small hook of bone that can form on the back of the heel of the foot. While this is often the common name for the condition Plantar Fasciitis, it is NOT EXACTLY the same thing. Doctors may choose heel spur because, well, it’s a heck of a lot easier to say!
The fact is Plantar Fasciitis is the correct term for heel pain that many people feel for a variety of reasons. Heels spurs often exist in patients with Plantar Fasciitis, but they are not usually the cause of the pain.
The Plantar Fascia is the area of tissue and nerves that runs along the center portion of your foot and includes a portion of the heel, the arch, and the ball as well. When this area is affected by sudden or prolonged trauma, it can become inflamed causing constant and sometimes severe pain.
There are several causes of this type of heel pain with one of the most common being the problem of obesity. Overweight people suffer from this condition occasionally just from normal walking. Because we walk heel toe, the heel area of the foot takes the initial impact of most movement unless we are sprinting using the balls of our feet. Therefore, those who are overweight place a greater stress on this area just from everyday walking about.
Another cause of this painful condition is a sudden and traumatic impact such as when someone jumps off a high ledge and inadvertently lands directly on the heel area. This can cause sudden pain in the foot, or sometimes none at all initially, but over time the pain begins to radiate and increases. Perhaps the most common cause of Plantar Fasciitis is the overuse that occurs with regular exercise. It can be truly discouraging when an activity we are performing to try to better ourselves results in a painful injury.
Jogging is perhaps the biggest culprit of those suffering from Plantar Fasciitis. The key reason is when you jog, you are still moving heel to toe so there is direct impact on the heel, and in turn, the Plantar Fascia area of the foot with each movement. The heavier the person is, the more likely this is to occur. The good news is, this condition is certainly treatable, and will not require surgery in most cases.
One simple treatment for this type of heel pain is to place an ice pack on the affected area to help reduce swelling. This often helps in the short run, but if there is true traumatic tissue damage, this ice pack treatment will only be effective on a temporary basis.
Another common therapy which is applied by chiropractors in Austin is to slowly stretch the calf area. Careful stretching of the calf on the leg affected can help increase the range of motion in the ankle which will in turn reduce the pain associated with Plantar Fasciitis as you move about.
A flexible shoe insert orthotic can also be extremely effective in helping to reduce the stress on the heel area of the foot, and in more extreme cases, a custom made orthotic by Austin chiropractors may be required.
Finally, Ultrasound treatment combined with a Vitamin C dosage has been shown to be effective in many cases to help reduce pain and inflammation.
No matter which method you choose, it is been shown in numerous case studies that full immobilization is NOT an effective treatment; active chiropractic therapy as described above is what is needed.
In only the most severe case is surgery actually needed to reduce the stress on the affected tissue of the Plantar Fascia area of the foot. A proper diagnosis by a qualified physician familiar with this condition will most likely result in one or more of the treatments above and get you back on your feet pain free as soon as possible.
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