{"id":475,"date":"2019-01-14T23:01:32","date_gmt":"2019-01-14T23:01:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ontheballorthotics.ca\/?p=475"},"modified":"2019-02-12T21:54:26","modified_gmt":"2019-02-12T21:54:26","slug":"plantar-fasciitis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ontheballorthotics.ca\/plantar-fasciitis\/","title":{"rendered":"Plantar Fasciitis"},"content":{"rendered":"
Plantar fasciitis is one of the most common diagnoses that I see in the clinic. It can be quite debilitating and affect day to day life. What exactly is this fasciitis, and how do you get rid of it?<\/p>\n
Plantar fasciitis is an \u201citis\u201d (or inflammation) of the plantar fascia band.<\/p>\n
This plantar fascia band runs from the heel to the ball of the foot. It acts like a pully for the medial arch (largest and inside arch) of the foot. As you progress through your walking stride, the band will mechanically tighten and relax, which is dependent on how the joints are moving in the foot. It is NOT a muscle, which means it cannot contract to move joints.<\/p>\n
When the band becomes injured, it can be from various situations. As a Pedorthist, I focus on how the foot affects the rest of the body. So, how does the foot affect the plantar fascia?<\/p>\n
A common foot type causing plantar fasciitis is pes planus, which means flat foot. While standing with a flat foot, much strain occurs to the plantar fascia. Think of it like an elastic band:\u00a0 this elastic band\u00a0attaches on either side of a semi-circle. When this semi-circle flattens out, the elastic band stretches to allow this to happen. If you stretch this band a little bit in either direction, it returns to its original shape without damage. But, if it stretches even farther, you start to see damage to the elastic, which may break if stretched too far. If consecutively stretched 5000 times a day, the damage will be more apparent over time.<\/p>\n
The difference in the elastic compared to the plantar fascia, is that the body adapts and can repair itself. The plantar fascia should be moving constantly while walking, but the body needs to be able to repair any small damage without any notice to the outside observer. Once the damage becomes so severe that the body cannot keep up with the repair, that is when plantar fasciitis begins.<\/p>\n
At the other end of the foot spectrum there is pes cavus, which means high arch. This foot type is less common, but can still lead to plantar fasciitis. A high arch causes a tight plantar fascia band, and any movement can lead to strain. If the foot does not move, it prevents shock absorption during walking, and this shock may be absorbed by the plantar fascia band instead.<\/p>\n
Other types of feet may not specifically fall into one of these two categories, but may have other factors causing plantar fasciitis. An example would be overpronation, which can be explained very similar to the relationship between pes planus and plantar fasciitis.<\/p>\n