Plantar Fasciitis Doesn’t Exist

The pain in the heel is all in your mind.

Try telling that to someone suffering from the sharp pain of Plantar Fasciitis. Hopefully you’ll have time to say “just kidding” without that sufferer coming after you with his or her tennis shoe!

Suffering from Plantar Fasciitis is no joke. It’s painful. It’s immobilizing. It’s often left untreated.

For up to six weeks.

Imagine walking around for six weeks with a pebble in your shoe, pressing into the fleshy part of your heel. And yet you walk. And eventually you stop placing your heel down fully and instead you shift your weight forward on the ball of your foot.

Ouch.

Pressure on the knee joint, slowly moves into the hip and before you know it your lower back is screaming at you.

Plantar Fasciitis is no laughing matter and the key to healing is taking a few steps immediately at the first sign of heel pain or even simple discomfort.

Key Steps to Plantar Fasciitis Support

1. Catch the pain early — before it becomes a chronic condition, and you’ll be bowing down to your feet daily.
2. Rest your feet! Seriously, let your feet rest until the pain goes away. This is not the time to run with the motto “No Pain No Gain.”
3. Define your gait. Are you overpronate or oversupinate? If you go into a shoe store that specializes in running shoes, they will be able to perform a standing or walking test to see if you step in a way that puts additional stress on the plantar fascia.
4. Stretching. Stretching. Stretching. Yes, stretching. That delicate tissue known as the plantar fascia is strong and flexible yet can become overused, over stressed. When you have pain, the start of overcoming the discomfort is to rest the foot. And then discover the right stretches to strengthen the muscles and tissue connecting toes to heel.
5. Cold therapy, such as ice, helps reduce swelling and pain. This is important to do whenever you have discomfort and after stretching or exercising.
6. Stretch and massage those calf muscles, baby! Tight calf muscles are a sure path to Plantar Fasciitis. Stretching the calf allows the tissue of your feet to be supported properly, so take care of those calf muscles always.
7. Orthotics or support inserts may be a great way to provide additional treatment options but first get the best one for you. This will mean a bit of research.
8. Be healthy. This means dropping those extra pounds so that your feet are able to support exactly what they are meant to support based on your height and bone structure.
9. Plantar Fasciitis night splints. A way to tie yourself up and stretch your calf muscles and Plantar Fasciitis overnight which prevents tightening.
10. Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy, or ESWT. Crazy sounding, but true, and helpful for those in major pain. Sound waves are directed at the heel pain to promote and stimulate healing.

Now there’s also surgery and corticosteroid injections but those should be considered as last options and discussed with a doctor. Surgery is rare and the injections are simply an immediate, but temporary, relief from the pain.

Always check in with your doctor to get the best Plantar Fasciitis support for your current needs.

If you have more questions or need more support for your current condition or are interested in preventing Plantar Fasciitis, then we’ve got the scoop on healthy heels.

We know that Plantar Fasciitis does unfortunately exist, however it doesn’t have to be a painful, chronic life-long sentence. Heal your heel today and enjoy your feet — and your life — right away!