Plantar Fasciitis

Plantar fasciitis has got to be the most common musculoskeletal problem seen by podiatrists. Plantar fasciitis probably comes in many ‘shapes and forms’ and probably has an ‘-itis’ inflammatory form and a fasciosis or degenerative form or a mixture of both. There also seems to be a type of plantar fasciitis in which there is some bone marrow oedema. The classic symptom of plantar fasciitis is post-static dyskinesia or pain after rest, especially upon getting out of bed in the morning. The assumed cause of plantar fasciitis is excessive load in the plantar fascia. A number of things can cause this – the evidence points at excessive body weight and tight calf muscles. Most clinicians also link excessive foot pronation to plantar fasciitis, but the evidence on this is not that conclusive. The logical treatment fo plantar fasciitis is a reduction of the load in the structure that has the injury. This is best achieved with specific design features in a foot orthotic. Stretching of the calf muscles and the plantar fascia is also very helpful. There are many other modalities for the treatment of plantar fasciitis, but almost all of them are aimed at healing the damaged tissues and not aimed at reducing the load in the plantar fasica. The best way to do that is explained on Run Research junkie. There is also plenty of snake oil around on this as well.

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