Plantar Fasciitis

What is plantar fasciitis?

The dreaded Plantar Fasciitis! Sharp, hot poker bashed into your heel when you first put your foot down in the morning. Ouch! It’s a properly horrible condition that is surprisingly common. Around 4% of Australians have it (that’s a lot!). Plantar fasciitis is an irritation and/or inflammation of the attachment of the bottom of the foot soft tissue onto your heel bone. More likely if you’re middle age, overweight, spending lots of time on your feet and if you’ve changed footwear.

Why does plantar fasciitis happen?

In a word – load. If you’ve decided that eating chocolate is now a competition, and you have to win, so you’ve put on 10 kegs of Darrell Lea…your fascia might complain. Or if your shoes are cactus and you’re walking to work every day (to get healthy!), your heel might say ‘Nope’. It’s not a shortening problem its an overloading problem. Look for change before the pain started. Footwear, weight, change in exercise, standing long periods, walking long periods on uneven surfaces (eg sand) – these could all be a cause.

What can you do about plantar fasciitis? Plantar Fasciitis Physiotherapy in Newcastle.

Take the load off. Tape it / Put some orthotics in / wear good shoes / stop overloading activities. Whatever you do, stop stretching it! Stretching is just going to yank on the fascia and make it cranky. Its important to find the why – figure out if your ankle is stiff, or feet muscles weak or tight hamis or even a dodgy lower back (more on this in Bright-tips). Sometimes in more severe cases a cortisone injection or shockwave therapy can make a difference.

How long will plantar fasciitis take?

Most plantar fasciitis will ease by itself within 2 years. GREAT. So its worth trying to ease it with good physiotherapy so you’re not a grumpy heel hating troll 2 years later. We can help it get better faster. We’d expect to see some improvement within 6 wks but it may take 3-4 months for you to really start feeling human again.