By: Staff
If you follow us on Instagram or Facebook, you may have noticed that we have been highlighting one ailment each month that we see come through our office quite a bit. If you miss our highlights on social media, you can always come to our blog and get a full recap of all of the information we spoke about.
In January we highlighted Plantar Fasciitis. If you are reading this and have experienced plantar fasciitis before, you may cringe just saying it out loud. Plantar fasciitis it’s inflammation in the thick fibrous band of tissue in your foot and heel. These muscles that are inflamed support the arch of the foot and the pain comes from overly stretched, small tears in that fibrous tissue. This translates to pain throughout the foot and into the heel bone. Many people notice it is most painful walking barefoot, first thing in the morning when they wake up, or if they have been sitting down for a long time then get up to take their first few steps.
We see a lot of plantar fasciitis cases come through our office. We have multiple ways to treat and help symptoms of plantar fasciitis at Wash Park Chiro that we wanted to share, so if you ever find yourself dealing with pain from plantar fasciitis, you know what some of your options are.
See One of Our Doctors
Lets start with chiropractic adjustments. Our docs will start by evaluating the mobility or stiffness of your ankle and foot joints. They apply a high velocity, specific thrust to any joints that are too stiff in order to add movement to the foot and ankle. If your ankle and foot are too stiff, the plantar fascia (and Achilles and calf) become stiff and therefore painful. Adjustments are safe, specific and in many cases provide immediate relief. Moreover, adjustments of the feet and ankles improve squats range of motion, running, skiing, skating, etc.
Acupuncture
Acupuncture is another option that may be considered when treating plantar fasciitis. Acupuncture improves many symptoms of plantar heel plain by the careful placement of needles that cause a local effect on nerve endings, releasing neuropeptides that cause the pain. Acupuncture also promotes blood flow to the area helping it heal faster. Our acupuncturist will start with assessing the foot structure, as well as your posture up the chain in the knees and hips to devise and individual treatment plan to release the muscles and fascial planes involved.
Massage
Massage is another great tool that can be applied A common factor that contributes to plantar fasciitis is when the calf muscles are excessively tight from either running, unequal leg length, flat or promoted feet, etc. The best way to help manage plantar fasciitis is to actually massage it yourself first thing in the morning. Massage makes the tissue more flexible, which then helps prevent pain occurring throughout the day. If you experience plantar fasciitis, deep work on the calves from one of our massage therapists for just 30 minutes should help prevent any pain you might be feeling!
Things You Can Do At Home
Home care for your plantar fasciitis is just as important as the treatment that you receive in the clinic. Many of the poor habits that you have at home can prolong the recovery time for your injury. Below are a couple things you should look for when dealing with ongoing plantar fasciitis.
1) Old worn training shoes should be replaced.
2) Sleeping with tucked in bed sheets can put more tension on your fascia.
3) Walking barefoot when your injury is acute/subacute.
Treatments you can do at home to help speed up recovery or prevent plantar fasciitis from getting worse:
1) Ice massage
2) Contrast of heat and ice
3) Daily Stretching of your fascia, achilles tendon and calf muscles.
4)Towel grabs, to strengthen your arch.
5) Calf raises done on the stairs.
Whether you have plantar fasciitis or are just starting to see symptoms of plantar fasciitis, now you have the information on how it is treated and steps you can take to keep it from worsening. If you have any questions, please ask our chiropractic, massage and acupuncture providers at your next visit, or call our front desk staff to be set up with a new appointment.
Alyssa Krizek is the Office Manager at Washington Park Chiropractic and is from Southern California. She graduated from California State University, Los Angeles, and earned a Bachelors in Liberal Studies and a minor in Women’s and Gender Studies. Additionally, she is NASM-GPT certified, TRX STC and GTC Certified, and is Crossfit L1 Certified Trainer.
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