Plantar Fasciitis: The Most Common Cause of Heel Pain Revealed!

You wake up and crawl out of bed–only to feel a sharp, stabbing pain shoot up from your heel. No, you didn’t step on a tack. It’s likely plantar fasciitis, one of the most common causes of heel pain worldwide.

Plantar fasciitis is a painful condition that affects your plantar fascia, a band of tissue running along the bottom of your foot from your heel to your toes. When the plantar fascia becomes irritated or inflamed, usually due to overuse, it leads to foot discomfort (which then makes it harder for you to get around).

While plantar fasciitis is painful, it’s also easily treated with physical therapy. The team at Albanese Physical Therapy will work closely with you to rehabilitate your injury, providing immediate pain relief and helping you uncover what caused your plantar fasciitis in the first place.

Today, we want to give you an overview of plantar fasciitis so you know what you’re dealing with. Already struggling with foot or heel pain? Call us to schedule an appointment so we can start helping you find relief!

How Do I Know It’s Plantar Fasciitis?

Many injuries can cause foot pain, from ankle sprains to tiny stress fractures. That’s why it’s important to pay attention to the location and sensation of your foot pain, as well as any mobility issues. To help you understand the signs and symptoms of plantar fasciitis, let’s look at an example case.

Sarah had recently taken up running after several years away. She loved going out every morning and jogging around her neighborhood. But after a few weeks, she started to experience discomfort on the bottom of her foot whenever she went for a run.

The pain usually started as a sharp, stabbing pain on the bottom of her heel, but she also noticed that the arch of her foot felt tender and restricted.

After experiencing the pain for the first time, she started to notice it more frequently, and not just after her runs, either:

• First thing in the morning, when she got out of  bed
• While standing in a long line at the grocery store
• While spending a day walking around an amusement park
• After watching a long movie in the theater

When Sarah eventually visited a physical therapist to seek treatment for her foot pain, she made sure to carefully lay out all the times she experienced pain (and all the times she didn’t; Sarah noticed the pain tended to fade around mid-morning, then flare up in the evening). That, along with her detailed explanation of the pain’s location, helped her PT correctly identify her pain as plantar fasciitis.

Physical Therapy: Frontline Treatment for Plantar Fasciitis

The Albanese Physical Therapy team’s knowledge of your body’s musculoskeletal systems means we can help you treat plantar fasciitis without invasive treatment methods (like surgery). While rehabilitation might take some time (usually a few weeks to a few months), you can resolve your pain through targeted foot exercises.

Here’s what you can expect when you visit us:

• A thorough evaluation: Besides reviewing your symptoms, we’ll conduct a comprehensive gait assessment and other movement screens to help us identify any biomechanical factors that might contribute to your plantar fasciitis.
• Pain management: We’ll help manage your acute pain through hands-on manual therapy techniques, foot taping, and other drug-free approaches.
• Therapeutic exercise: Stretching and strengthening exercises will help resolve your current bout of plantar fasciitis. We’ll provide you with a tailored exercise program, including simple exercises you can do at home to help maximize your recovery.
• Prevention tips: Plantar fasciitis is usually an overuse injury, meaning it develops gradually over time. A frequent cause of plantar fasciitis is starting an intense new workout program (as Sarah did). Faulty gait mechanics and other lifestyle factors can contribute to it as well. We’ll provide you with customized advice and strategies for avoiding future incidents of plantar fasciitis.

Sources: https://www.physio-pedia.com/Plantar_Fasciitis, https://www.choosept.com/guide/physical-therapy-guide-plantar-fasciitis 

Questions for Stephanie

Can physical therapy help with headaches or jaw pain?

Yes! Many headaches and jaw problems stem from issues like tight muscles, joint dysfunction, or poor posture. In those cases, we’ll evaluate your neck, upper back, or jaw alignment to pinpoint the underlying concerns, then develop a personalized treatment program to address them directly. Techniques might include manual therapy, targeted exercises, and postural training.