If you do not rest your feet, the pain will get worse. Other things, such as the repetitive stress of walking, standing, running, or jumping, will add to the injury, inflammation , and pain.
The injured ligament may never heal completely if you are not able to stop the activity or change the condition that caused it. If the condition is not treated, plantar fasciitis can cause constant heel pain when you stand or walk.
If you think you might have plantar fasciitis, call your doctor. The earlier a doctor diagnoses and treats your problem, the sooner you will have relief from pain.
Call your doctor immediately if you have heel pain with fever, with redness or warmth in your heel, or with numbness or tingling in your heel. Call your doctor if you have been diagnosed with plantar fasciitis and the home treatment you agreed on is not helping to control your heel pain.
The following health professionals can evaluate and diagnose plantar fasciitis and recommend nonsurgical treatment:. If nonsurgical treatments fail to relieve your pain, your doctor may refer you to a specialist such as an orthopedist or podiatrist. If you are an athlete, your doctor may refer you to a sports medicine specialist to look for problems with how your feet strike the ground, how your feet are shaped, or your training routine.
To diagnose plantar fasciitis, your doctor will ask questions about your symptoms and your past health. He or she will also do a physical exam of your feet that includes watching you stand and walk. X-rays aren't helpful in diagnosing plantar fasciitis, because they do not show ligaments clearly.
But your doctor might take X-rays if he or she suspects a stress fracture , bone cyst, or other foot or ankle bone problems. X-rays may show whether a heel spur is present, but a bone spur does not necessarily mean that a person has plantar fasciitis. If the diagnosis is not clear, you may have other tests. Tests that are done in rare cases include ultrasound , MRI , blood tests, bone scans, and vascular testing, which can evaluate blood flow in the foot and lower leg.
If your doctor suspects nerve entrapment, you may have neurological testing. Most people recover completely within a year. Out of people with plantar fasciitis, about 95 are able to relieve their heel pain with nonsurgical treatments. Only about 5 out of need surgery. Treatment that you start when you first notice symptoms is more successful and takes less time than treatment that is delayed. There are many methods you can try to relieve the heel pain of plantar fasciitis.
Even though their effectiveness has not been proved in scientific studies, these methods, used alone or in combination, work for most people. Avoid using only heat on your foot, such as from a heating pad or a heat pack for at least the first 2 or 3 days. Heat tends to make symptoms worse for some people. If you use contrast baths , which alternate hot and cold water, make sure you end with a soak in cold water. If you try a heating pad, use a low setting.
If your weight is putting extra stress on your feet, your doctor may encourage you to try a weight-loss program. If nonsurgical methods such as rest, ice, and stretching exercises help relieve your plantar fasciitis symptoms, continue using them. If you have not improved after 6 weeks, your doctor may recommend that you continue those methods but add other nonsurgical treatments, such as:.
Formal physical therapy instruction can help make sure you properly stretch your Achilles tendon and plantar fascia ligament. Doctors usually consider surgery only for severe cases that do not improve.
Your doctor may suggest corticosteroid shots if you have tried nonsurgical treatment for several weeks without success. Also, the shots themselves can be painful, and repeated shots can damage the heel pad and the plantar fascia.
Plantar fascia release involves cutting part of the plantar fascia ligament in order to release the tension and relieve the inflammation of the ligament. If you are trying to lose weight and you develop plantar fasciitis when you begin exercising, especially jogging, talk with your doctor about other types of activity that will support your weight-loss efforts without making your heel pain worse.
An activity like swimming that doesn't put stress on your feet may be a good choice. If your plantar fasciitis is related to sports or your job, you may have trouble stopping or reducing your activity to allow your feet to heal. But resting your feet is very important to avoid long-lasting heel pain. Your doctor or a sports medicine specialist may be able to suggest a plan for alternating your regular activities with ones that do not make your pain worse.
If you exercise frequently, ask your doctor whether physical therapy or referral to a sports medicine specialist, podiatrist , or orthopedist is appropriate. The following steps will help prevent plantar fasciitis or help keep the condition from getting worse if you already have it:. If you feel that work activities caused your heel pain, ask your human resources department for information about different ways of doing your job that will not make your heel pain worse. If you are involved in sports, you may want to consult a sports training specialist for training and conditioning programs to prevent plantar fasciitis from recurring.
The first steps your doctor will recommend to treat plantar fasciitis are ones you can take yourself. Different people find that one method or a combination of methods works best for them. Often athletes develop foot problems because they train in shoes that are worn out or don't fit properly.
Replace your shoes every few months, because the padding wears out. Also, replace shoes if the tread or heels are worn down. While replacing shoes is expensive, it is less expensive—and less painful—than a long-lasting heel problem. Other sensible training techniques, such as avoiding uneven or hard surfaces, can help prevent plantar fasciitis from occurring or returning.
The healing process takes time—from a few months to a year. But you should begin to have less pain within weeks of starting treatment. If you have not improved after trying these methods for 6 weeks, your doctor will suggest other treatments. Your doctor may recommend medicine to relieve the pain and inflammation caused by plantar fasciitis. Drug treatment does not cure plantar fasciitis.
But by reducing pain, medicine may make it easier for you to follow other treatment steps, such as stretching. You should not use medicine as a way to continue the activities that are causing heel pain. Surgery is usually not needed for plantar fasciitis.
About 95 out of people who have plantar fasciitis are able to relieve heel pain without surgery. Your doctor may consider surgery if nonsurgical treatment has not helped and heel pain is restricting your daily activities. Some doctors feel that you should try nonsurgical treatment for at least 6 months before you consider surgery. Experts in the past thought that heel spurs caused plantar fasciitis. Now experts generally believe that heel spurs are the result, not the cause, of plantar fasciitis.
Many people with large heel spurs never have heel pain or plantar fasciitis. So surgery to remove heel spurs is rarely done. Physical therapy may be helpful for some people who have plantar fasciitis. It can be especially useful for people who have problems with foot mechanics biomechanical problems , such as tight Achilles tendons.
A technique called extracorporeal shock wave therapy ESWT uses pulsed sound waves to treat plantar fasciitis. Research is still being done, but some studies show that ESWT can help reduce symptoms in plantar fasciitis that has not responded to other treatment.
Most types of shock wave therapy, sometimes called "focused" ESWT, require anesthetic. Another type, called radial ESWT, can be done without anesthetic, because the shock wave is more spread out. Blahd Jr. Author: Healthwise Staff. Medical Review: William H. This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise, Incorporated, disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of Use. Learn how we develop our content.
To learn more about Healthwise, visit Healthwise. Your feet and ankles carry a heavy burden — your entire body weight! With every step you take, they endure a large amount of force. As you get older and when you get injured, the ligaments and tissues in the foot can change, altering the forces on your feet and ankles and causing you pain. There are many reasons your feet may hurt. It could be the residual effects of an old injury. Maybe it's just poor-fitting shoes.
Foot pain decreases your stability, mobility and strength. It can alter how you walk, stand, run or jump and affect the functioning of your knees, hips and back. This can be very debilitating since you use your feet and ankles to perform most daily activities. Plantar fasciitis is one of the most common sources of foot pain. With the right treatment, you can get rid of the pain and get back on your feet.
Plantar fasciitis is a condition that causes heel pain that radiates into the bottom of your foot. It can happen to anyone, at any age, but it's an overuse injury that is more common in runners and people who are on their feet more often. The plantar fascia is a thick band of tissue that connects your heel to the ball of your foot and supports the arch. Poor foot positioning can cause the structures in your foot to load incorrectly, which puts pressure on the band.
An injury to the tendons in your foot and ankle can also damage the fascia. You will want to return to running gradually.
Many people mistakenly jump right back into high-intensity running, which can make plantar fasciitis much worse. First, make sure that you are stretching your legs and feet before and after each run. You also should be running at a slower pace and taking more rest days between activities. As a runner, I understand this can be challenging for many.
However, you can also work on low-impact exercises during your downtime. Doing so makes the time before I can run at my complete potential pass much faster.
Plantar fasciitis occurs when the tissues at the bottom of your foot become inflamed. The plantar fascia tissue connects your toes to your heel bone. It can become agitated with repetitive stress — making it a common injury among runners.
If you have this condition, you are more likely to notice it earlier in the day. In my experience, it starts as an ache in the bottom of your foot, and pain is usually at its worst when you first get out of bed. Each patient is different, but more severe conditions usually take longer to heal. This is why we recommend coming in early, at the first sign of a problem.
The sooner the plantar fasciitis treatment begins, the quicker you can get back to the physical activities you enjoy the most. When you have plantar fasciitis and are in severe pain, it's essential to see a specialist such as Dr. Agyen to access treatment that will put you on the path to recovery as soon as possible. As always, Dr. Yeargain, Dr. Joseph Agyen Jr, and the clinic's staff want their patients to heal as fast as possible while causing minimal disruption to their everyday lives.
Our team wants you looking and feeling better! To learn more about plantar fasciitis, have a look at our website. We look forward to treating you. What is Plantar Fasciitis? Who usually 'gets' plantar fasciitis and how? Are there ways I can reduce the pain at home? How does a Podiatrist treat plantar fasciitis and what process will I experience at your practice?
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