Plantar Fasciitis Treatment

Plantar Fasciitis Treatment – Mesa, AZ – Acute & Chronic Plantar Fasciitis Treatment

We believe we offer the most advanced approach to chronic plantar fasciitis treatment in Mesa, Arizona. Our reviews speak for themselves! 

Overview Of Our 4 Step Plantar Fasciitis Treatment Process

  1. Neurological – Discover the brain to foot connection that is causing pain. 
  2. Muscle Balance – Balance the muscles that support the plantar fascia from the hip to the toes. Balancing is more important than strength. 
  3. Stop Pain – Exercising with plantar fasciitis pain is near impossible! With our advanced office technology, we often have the patient out of pain in 5 minutes or less, allowing faster rehab and at home exercises.
  4. Tendon Nutrition – High levels of nutrition are required for rapid healing. Depending on your specific symptoms, both topical and internal nutrition can be applied to heal faster!

We don’t believe anyone offers specific nutrition for plantar fasciitis, pain relief for plantar fasciitis, muscle balancing above the knee for plantar fasciitis or nerve retraining for plantar fasciitis all in the same office, except for us! 

Common Mistakes In Plantar Fasciitis Treatment

  1. Using a boot, brace or sock for plantar fasciitis

While many people suggest “rest” for plantar fasciitis, we call this “avoidance”. If you have a leaky roof and just put a bucket to catch the drops of water, you are avoiding the inevitable roof repair. We see many patients with chronic plantar fasciitis that have been in foot boots for weeks or months and thus still have to fix plantar fasciitis but in addition, we have to fix the compensations in the hip, low back and knee from wearing a boot for such a long time. 

Wearing a stretching socks or night socks also prolongs healing as the plantar fascia is designed to recover at night. You see, while you walk your plantar fascia is stressed throughout the day. At night, it has a chance to recover and tighten up. A healthy fascia or tendon is a tight one. Muscles should remain loose. Traditional stretching for plantar fasciitis is nothing but a temporary pain killer. 

2. Rest, ice and elevation 

Rest, ice and elevation can be very useful for plantar fasciitis for a temporary period. It is best if you know the specific cause (ie sprained ankle, acute stress fracture, recent marathons etc.) and it is within a 6 week period. After 6 weeks, rest, ice and elevation only prolongs recovery time. In fact, new science reports ice to be highly ineffective after the initial 30 to 60 minutes fro an injury.  

3. Use of Arch Support or Orthotics

Adding arch supports or orthotics only masks the problem temporarily. Much like boots, it locks your foot in a new position that temporarily relieves pain but puts you on the endless merry-go-round of new orthotics every 6 months for the rest of your life. 

4. NSAIDs or Pain Killers For Plantar Fasciitis Pain

We don’t pretend to think plantar fasciitis heel pain or foot pain isn’t miserable. But, there is a significant danger of using NSAIDs or anti-inflammatory medications for your plantar fasciitis. When we consistently shut down prostaglandin inflammation using one medication, the body switches to more aggressive inflammation called leukotrienes. These are 100 to 1000 times more inflammatory and can lead to the need for more aggressive pain management for plantar fasciitis or even chronic regional pain syndrome (CRPS). 

5. Cortisone Injections

Cortisone injections often provide rapid relief from plantar fasciitis pain. The main problem here is that it only decreases WHERE the pain is not WHY the pain is there. Steroid injections for plantar fasciitis are never the long term solution. If you are an athlete, this puts you at risk for more serious injury as corticosteroid injections weaken tendons and ligaments over time. This makes you more prone to stress fractures, shin splints and worsening of plantar fasciitis. 

6. Plantar Fasciitis Stretches 

Stretching has been a staple in the rehabilitation and physical therapy for plantar fasciitis for decades. But…we are getting much smarter than we used to be. Static stretching is becoming a thing of the past. 

At first the logical thing to do is to stretch a tight muscle. Stretching induces endorphins that kill pain and make you think the pain is going away when it really isn’t. In the natural treatment world, we like to ask WHY it feels tight in the first place. The answer is because the calf muscles want to contract more. So while we don’t necessarily recommend heel cups or lifts for plantar fasciitis, technically by elevating the heel and allowing the lower calfs to tighten, we are helping the healing mechanism. 

The way to naturally support calf contraction and balancing the active motion (allowing you to walk barefoot again) is to balance the calf muscles the flex and the calf muscles that extend. This basically means the front and back of you lower limbs. 

7. Plantar Fasciitis Surgery

Last, but not least, this is one of the most dangerous treatments for plantar fasciitis. As with any surgery, you can never restore true natural movement and can expect to deal with this injury or another chronic injury caused by it for the rest of your life. I know that sounds harsh, but the hardest cases of plantar fasciitis are those that have been surgically altered.

FAQs

Is plantar fasciitis and plantar fasciosis the same thing?

Plantar fasciitis and plantar fasciosis are not the same thing. Plantar fasciitis refers to inflammation of the plantar fascia while plantar fasciosis refers to damage to the plantar fascia due to repetitive strain. Even thought they are different, it is unlikely that you will get a diagnosis that differentiates between the two. Treatment for plantar fasciitis and treatment for plantar fasciosis are more often than not similar and overlapping. 

What are the symptoms of plantar fasciitis?

Plantar fasciitis symptoms include pain at the bottom of the foot, near the heel, pain at the back of the foot, pain on the arch of the foot and pain that is worse in the morning or after sitting for a period of time. You can often differentiate foot & heel pain from plantar fasciitis by paying attention to when your foot hurts. Plantar fasciitis also hurts more after exercise rather than during exercise. 

Do flat feet cause plantar fasciitis?

Having flat feet does not mean that you have to have plantar fasciitis pain. Research does suggest that people with flat feet or high arches can have an increased risk, but it doesn’t show that you can’t recover. If you have noticed that your feet previously had an arch and now you have flat feet, investigation of why your foot is flat is important for treating plantar fasciitis. 

Is all heel pain from plantar fasciitis?

No. Common causes of heel pain include achilles tendonitis, stress fractures, bone bruises, neuropathy, heel spurs, arthritis and tarsal tunnel syndrome. 

I have CRPS (chronic regional pain syndrome) can you help?

Yes. We have been able to help many people with CRPS related to their feet! We currently only offer treatment for CRPS of the hands and feet. Given the complexities of CRPS our treatment protocols do take somewhat longer and require more care. Please contact the office for more details on options. 

Does this work for Morton’s Neuroma?

While many treatments fail for Morton’s neuroma, our therapies are comprehensive in nature. After an initial evaluation, we can discuss contributing factors and actions to heal from Morton’s Neuroma. 

Does massage help for plantar fasciitis?

Massage therapy for plantar fasciitis can feel good, but it requires more than a massage to get to the cause of your plantar fasciitis. Massage can help with inflammation. We like Gaston, IASTM, GuaSha and many other manual therapies for plantar fasciitis but our proprietary program doesn’t always require it. 

Do you recommend dry needling for plantar fasciitis?

In our opinion, dry needling is the last treatment for plantar fasciitis. Once the inflammation is gone, we can then use it to remodel some of the local tissue. It is not the fastest treatment for plantar fasciitis in our opinion.

Do you offer shockwave therapy for plantar fasciitis?

If you have an acute plantar fasciitis case, extracorporeal shockwave therapy can be a good treatment. Once you have chronic plantar fasciitis, shockwave therapy is generally accepted as less effective. We find that it does increase blood flow and nutrition to the area, but we find it does not re-establish the neurological repair. 

 

References 

  1. http://www.scottsevinsky.com/pt/reference/ankle/aaos_mortons_neuroma.pdf 
  2. http://www.scottsevinsky.com/pt/reference/ankle/jat_plantar_fascitis_windlass_mechanism.pdf
  3. https://www.dubinchiro.com/articles/BioMechanics_March2007_PlantarFasciitis.pdf
  4. https://orthoinfo.aaos.org/globalassets/pdfs/2017-rehab_foot-and-ankle.pdf
DISCLAIMER: Houston C. Anderson is NOT a licensed Medical Doctor (MD).He is a licensed Chiropractic Physician and Applied Kinesiologist in the state of Arizona. Information on this website is provided for general educational purposes only and is NOT intended to constitute (i) medical advice or counseling, (ii) the practice of medicine including psychiatry, psychology, psychotherapy or the provision of health care diagnosis or treatment, (iii) the creation of a physician patient or clinical relationship, or (iv) an endorsement, recommendation or sponsorship of any third party product or service by the Sponsor or any of the Sponsor's affiliates, agents, employees, consultants or service providers. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any diseases. If you have or suspect that you have a medical problem, contact your health care provider promptly.