What is it?
Plantar Heel pain is the most common injury that we treat at Studio Podiatry.
When confronted with heel pain, most people believe that the pain is being caused by a Heel Spur, which is a spike of bone poking out from the heel bone. However more often than not, it is caused by discomfort or irritation of the Plantar Fascia.
The Plantar Fascia is a band of connective tissue that runs from the heel to the base of the toes. Injury to the plantar fascia has been found to demonstrate very similar traits to tendinopathy, which typically goes through a weakening process of the collagen fibres over time causing chronic tissue damage.
The good news is that this process can be easily managed and responds well to movement, graduated loading programs that increase the strength of the damaged tissue and offloading techniques that we use to decrease the strain being placed through the fascia.
What are the symptoms?
- Stabbing or dull pain under the heel
- Ache or burn on the foot sole
- Swollen heel
- Pain when rising (especially in morning)
Why did I get it?
Plantar Fasciitis can be caused by a myriad of reasons and is most commonly seen in the active middle aged population. Women are also more susceptible than men.
Plantar heel pain can be caused by a variety of factors including:
- Low activity levels
- Increase in body weight
- Rapid increase of physical activity or running load
- Excessive flexibility and flat foot or increased stiffness and high arch
- Spending extended periods of time on your feet in poor footwear
- Pregnancy
How is it diagnosed?
Plantar heel pain can be diagnosed with a thorough assessment by one of our highly trained Podiatrists who will diagnose the condition, identify the contributing factors and develop a clear plan to ensure the correct road is being taken to become pain free.
They will go through your injury history, current activity levels and symptoms to better understand your plantar heel pain, how it impacts your life and how they can help you achieve your goals.
You are then taken through a physical assessment where our team will look at the range of motion in your joints, strength of specific muscle groups as well as movement patterns relevant to what you want to do and what sport you play.
How can I treat it?
We tend to forget about the importance of our feet, causing many people to leave their heel pain unattended for months or years. The fact that you’re reading this is a positive sign that you’re motivated to do something about your pain.
The quickest path to being pain free is to pay a visit to your Podiatrist for them to help you develop a treatment plan.
Below are some treatment strategies which may be implemented by your Podiatrist:
- Taping
- Strengthening program
- Mobility programs
- Footwear advice and modification
- Custom orthotics
- Dry needling
- Myofascial release
- Foot and ankle mobilisation
- Activity modification
- Cortisone injections
- Shockwave therapy
Although Plantar Fasciitis can be painful, there is light at the end of the tunnel because when treated correctly it is a condition that you can recover from quickly so you can get back into achieving those physical and lifestyle goals.
Ready to take back control and permanently resolve your heel pain?
Book your appointment with one of our podiatrists now!
