Plantar Fasciitis: Treatment for Heel Pain

Since August, I've had excruciating heel pain in my left foot. As one of the over 46 million uninsured Americans, I turned to the Internet for medical information. After ruling out heel spurs because I didn't feel a "bony protrusion" in my heel--only pain--settled on plantar fascists as the diagnosis and proceeded to search for treatment. I visited many sites including the Podiatry Channel, without finding a specific treatment. There were many listings of what my doctor may suggest, once it is medically determined by x-rays that it is plantar fascists, but none that I could print and take to my sofa. Finally, this month I was able to visit a Physical Therapist who gave me a simple heel exercise that while not curing the problem, has relieved the pain sufficiently. We may very well end up with x-rays, but until that time I do my easy little stretch that I will share with you.

During my research on line, I found no pictures of the treatment options for plantar fasciitis. Now that I know what to look for, I've found several to share with you on exactly how to do the recommended heel exercises. First, let's review the causes as noted on line.

1. Faulty foot structure
2. Going barefoot
3. Being overweight

I personally have a distinct problem with #2, going barefoot causes plantar fasciitis. Recent dialogue has grown over whether actually barefoot walking/running is better for you. The explanation put forth my physical therapist Damien Howell is that when you step on something rough or sharp, your foot and leg muscles contract until you are off of the object; however wearing shoes, you don't feel the objects and your muscles get weak. This explains perfectly why after years of being on my feet without acquiring plantar fasciitis, that when I went to practically living in my flip-flop sandals, my heel muscles inflamed--they were weak. The information only further encourages muscles stretches for the whole body, especially if there are a few added pounds. My plantar fasciitis flared up when I purchased my laptop and added that to my backpack of books and stuff.

One more bit of info I'd like to touch on before I give you the illustrations of the exercises is that while Plantar fascists is the most common cause of heel pain, the pain may also be heel spurs. While I came across this in my original search, I found something interesting that I will mention to my physical therapist. In an April 2007 article about heel spurs, Dr. Cluett states that, "About 70 percent of patients with plantar fasciitis have a heel spur that can be seen on an X-ray." So, while we, and many others are treating the plantar fasciitis, there may also be a heel spur that needs treatment--but first, the x-ray.

The following pictures were found on the Internet when I searched for "plantar stretches." I find the towel stretch to be the most effective, especially first thing in the morning, before placing any weight on the foot. If you perform this stretch, you'll be able to get out of bed almost heel-pain free. The stair stretch I've found to work exceptionally well during the day, or when you're out in public. People tend to look at you differently if you are just stretching your leg rather than wrapping something around your foot. Unfortunately, when you're in pain, it really doesn't matter, and plantar fasciitis means just that kind of pain.