You Are Not Alone if Suffering With Heel Pain

A survey done by the American Podiatric Medical Association revealed that 64 % of people suffering from heel pain have never sought treatment from a podiatric physician. The survey also revealed that nearly 40 percent of the American population suffers from heel pain! With the economy on a downturn and unemployment rates over 12% in some state, American’s cannot afford being off of their feet. What if your feet hurt? How long can you stand at work before your feet need a break! If you are avoiding the doctor for heel pain because you are scared of the cost or surgery, you are being foolish!

The most common cause of heel pain is plantar fasciitis. This is a soft tissue injury that is commonly healed with conservative treatment, meaning no surgery! Though there are many reasons for heel pain, plantar fasciitis is by far the most common and is one of the most debilitating. It is often characterized as pain with the first step of the day. When stepping out of bed in the morning or a long car ride, the sufferer experiences pain with the first few steps. Many patients describe the pain as an achy bruise on their heel times ten!

To understand the treatment of plantar fasciitis it is essential to understand why and how this chronic pain occurs. The plantar fascia is a thick band of tissue that attaches to you calcaneus, the heel bone, and bones in your forefoot. The fascia supports the arch of your foot. When standing or walking, feet tend to pronate. This means the foot is tilting inward and elongating. This biomechanical positioning causes stretching and tearing of the plantar fascia which leads to inflammation. It is the inflammation process that causes the pain in the heel of the foot where the fascia attaches. The human body is masterpiece; thus, not everyone experiences plantar fascia damage. Our body will often adjust to compensate for abnormal stresses, but sometimes it just cannot take the stress put it through. One may experience plantar fasciitis during pregnancy or after gaining weight. It is also associated with an increase in activity. So, if you are taking on more shifts at work or began a new work out plan, you may start to feel some foot discomfort.

Since the pain is due to inflammation, many treatment plans flight this problem first. Corticosteroid injections is an antinflammatory that will give many suffers great relief. There are side effects associated with steroid injections, thus the number of injections that one can receive is limited and not everyone is eligible for an injection. Another primary treatment is orthotics. Orthotics helps control the pronation that leads to the stretching and tearing of the fascia. The orthotics will also help the fascia support the arch. Another essential portion of the treatment plan is stretching, exercising, and rest. Since this is a dynamic process, many podiatric physicians will recommend physical therapy to optimize the healing process. This treatment will also play a critical role in prevention in the reoccurrence of facial injury.

No foot pain is normal and no one should have to suffer from foot pain. It can be debilitating to your everyday life and many American’s cannot afford to slow down or stop for foot pain. The good news is that heel pain is often treatable without surgery. With the pain so excruciating and the treatment options so obtainable, it unacceptable that 64% of heel pain suffers are living with pain because they fail to seek help.

Stretching for Plantar Fasciitis

Why is it so important?

You may remember your podiatrist telling you how important it is to stretch and ice for plantar fasciitis. The doctor may have given you a sheet of paper that described the stretches with pictures and everything. Who knows where that is now? Are you doing your stretches? Do you remember how to do them or maybe no one ever showed you how to perform them properly.
First, let us review why stretching is important. Plantar fasciitis is inflammation of the fibrous band on the underside of your foot. Imagine your foot arch as a hunting bow. Your foot arch is the wood portion and the string is your plantar fascia. If you place the string portion on the ground and push down on the wooding handle, you stretch out the string. This is very similar to the stress on your plantar fascia when you stand, walk, and run. Overtime, these overuses cause inflammation and heal pain. A common reason why some people are more prone to developing plantar fasciitis is due to tight calf muscles and weak foot muscles. This is easily corrected! You can improve your symptoms and decrease the chance of recurrence just by

doing a few simple stretches.

Stretching is so critical to the treatment plan, that many podiatric physicians will refer you to a physical therapist. This will speed up the recovery process and will help prevent reoccurrence!
When stretching for plantar fasciitis, you must be persistent and diligent. While sleeping, your muscles are not being used and they become tight. When the alarm goes off and you jump out of bed, you will often have excruciating heal pain with your first step. This is because your tight muscles are causing increased pull on your plantar fascia. The first thing you should do in the morning is stretch! You may experience similar pain after sitting for a long time. Once again, the first thing you should do is stretch. Stretching should be done about three times a day along with icing. No excuses. Some stretches are so easy you can do them while sitting at your desk working!

Push the wall to China exercise

Place both hands on the wall at shoulder height. With your toes facing strait forward, extend one leg backwards. Imagine you are trying to push the wall to china. You should feel your calf being stretched.

Towel Stretch

While watching TV, sit on the floor with your legs stretched out in front of you. Wrap a towel around your feet so you are hold on to the ends, one in each hand. Slowly pull the towel toward you keeping your back strait at 90 degrees. You should feel your calf muscles stretching.

Bottle or Tennis Ball Roll

Use a frozen water bottle or a frozen tennis ball for best effect. This is too simple. Roll your foot over the bottle or tennis ball.

Now you have no excuses! Now you know three easy stretches for your plantar fasciitis. Remember to be persistent and diligent and to talk to your podiatric physician about other treatment options to help relieve your pain.

For a video presentation, go to youtube.com/pwishnie and click on the stretching video.

Plantar Fasciitis and Heel Pain

What is Plantar Fasciitis?
Do you have stabbing, burning heel pain? When you get out of bed or out of your car is your foot achy and painful to walk on? If yes, you may be suffering from Plantar Fasciitis.
Plantar Fasciitis is caused by inflammation of your plantar fascia, a band of tissue that supports your arch. It can arise for various reasons including improper shoe gear, overuse, or even your foot type. Anything that causes increased stress on the arch supporting ligament will cause this debilitating pain.

How is it treated?
For immediate pain relief, your podiatric physician can give you a cortisone injection. There are many conservative treatments for plantar fasciitis that when used accordingly are very successful. You should be icing and stretching the bottom of your foot daily. Your podiatric physician may refer you to a physical therapist to aid in your treatment and to teach you the most effective stretching techniques for your foot type and condition. You may also be advised to wear a night splint that stretches your tendons and fascia in your foot while you sleep. These treatments can significantly reduce the inflammation of your plantar fascia and thus reduce your pain. It is also necessary to address your shoe gear. You should be wearing shoes that properly stabilize your foot and support your arch. Your podiatric physician can provide you with a prefabricated or custom orthotic that would give your achy foot the support it need. Athletic shoes are easily broken down and lose their supportive capabilities and should be replaced on a regular basis. This is a common cause of heel pain in runners. Your podiatrist can properly advise you on proper shoe gear and how often you should replace your sneakers.
How fast will the pain go away?
Since the fascia or ligament in the bottom of your foot is injured, the pain will not go away over night. It takes time and therapy to improve the integrity of the tissue. If you are diligent with the treatment plan, your pain will subside. When your pain goes away, you should not stop wearing proper shoe gear and orthotics and continue to stretch because the pain can reoccur.
You do not need to wake up every morning with achy feet. You can get back to walking, running, or even daily activities with simple conservative treatment! When your pain is addressed one step at a time, you will see results.

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Dr. Peter Wishnie is a podiatrist who specializes in foot and ankle surgery. He is the senior partner at Family Foot & Ankle specialists located in Piscataway and Hillsborough,NJ. Their goals are to educate the public on the care of their feet and ankles and to get them functioning as quickly as possible. They are dedicated to foot and ankle health. For more foot health tips on heel pain, get a Free copy of their book, “You Do Not Have To Suffer With Heel Pain,” by visiting their website: http://www.stopfootpainfast .