Following on from our last blog on plantar fasciitis / heel pain these are our top tips to get rid it.
These are simple things you can follow yourself with minimal equipment but maximum adherence.
Plantar fasciitis treatment and strategies.
Most importantly a good assessment goes a long way to identify why your foot is painful. From this decisions can be made on the following treatment strategies:
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Advice regarding suitable footwear
In most acute cases we go by the adage of “comfort is king”, so if you have shoes or footwear that relieve the pain that’s the first thing to do. Often a good pair of runners that have good shock absorption work well for most. To go along with this avoid going in bare feet on hard surfaces as much as possible.
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Taping and plantar fasciitis
low dye technique especially, can be highly beneficial in pain relief and may indicate that a podiatry referral could be important in your successful treatment.
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Mobilisations for heel pain and plantar fasciitis
to ease stiffness in joints of the foot and ankle.
- Gel insole or heel cup for plantar fasciitis
These can help ease the pain as well and being more comfortable and quick easy solution. - For those that are running or increased their milage walking or running checking there has not bee ” too much too quick” and adjusting your exercise load can be important.
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Shockwave therapy and plantar fasciitis
can often be useful in treatment of plantar fasciopathy / plantar fasciitis especially if you have had a more persistent case.
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Exercises for plantar fasciitis
There’s always exercises to improve strength and mobility of the foot and ankle.
Top strength exercises for Plantar fasciitis and heel pain.
Calf and soleus raise for plantar fascitis.
In the first 2 weeks i recommend doing these over a step or on the floor.
Slow is the name of the of the game with these exercises.
Start with the following;
12 reps x 3 sets
2-3 secs up and 2-3 secs down
Plantar fascia calf raise.
These are from a piece of research carried out in 2015 that showed a decrease in symptoms in those suffering with plantar fasciopathy or heel pain. If you want to know more you can read this summary by Tom Goom the running physio
The use of a towel works well to dorsiflex the toes which then increases tension on the plantar fascia.
I start these 3 weeks after the calf raise program and add 1 set per week until doing 3 sets.
Recommended sets and reps
12 reps x 3 sets at 2 seconds up / 2 seconds down.
Build this up to 3 secs up / pause at top for 2 secs / down for 3 secs. This is an essential component of the program
Intrinsic foot muscles and the plantar fasciitis.
Since the plantar fascia attached to the intrinsic foot muscles its important that we rehab these as well.
Firstly doing your arch in the foot with calf raises will help this aspect of rehab.
The following toe dance exercise is another easy option.
Spiky ball and self massage.
In summary
Theres a lot you can do for plantar fasciopathy , it just takes a good assessment and patience with the treatment plan, but you will get there.
I hope this gets you on the right track, if you need any more help you can read more about our tendon and plantar fascia services, including shockwave therapy here.
Dave
