You Can Be Free of Plantar Fasciitis Pain
What brings a pretty large percentage of patients to our podiatry office in Centreville, Virginia? Heel pain. Very often, the pain is due to a condition called plantar fasciitis.
What is plantar fasciitis?
Any word ending in “-itis” indicates something is inflamed. In this case, that “something” is the plantar fascia – the thick band of tissue that runs along the bottom of your foot. The ligament supports your arch, which is why arch pain so often accompanies heel pain.
Inflammation occurs from too much stress on the bottom of the foot. Some stressors include:
- wearing shoes with little or no arch support
- standing for many hours a day
- running on hard surfaces
- a sudden increase in the number of miles or the speed at which you walk or run
- being overweight
Ways to beat the pain
Treating heel pain early is one of the best ways to beat it quickly. So, if you’ve noticed your heel hurts first thing in the morning when you get out of bed, do the following:
- Rest your foot as much as possible.
- Check the shoes you’ve been wearing lately. If they’re old, they may not be supportive any longer. If they’re on the flimsy side and you can bend them in half, they were never supportive in the first place. Upgrade to new shoes with good arch support, if necessary.
- If you’re a runner, remember you should replace your running shoes every 400 miles.
- Ice the bottom of your foot. A great way to do this is to roll it over a frozen water bottle. You’ll be stretching out the tight plantar fascia while applying ice.
- A tight plantar fascia is often related to a tight calf muscle. Do exercises that stretch the calf and the plantar fascia.
- Reduce inflammation by taking acetaminophen or ibuprofen.
- See a podiatrist if you don’t get relief with these home treatments.
Plantar fasciitis is only one of several possible causes if you’ve got pain in your heel. Whatever the reason for your heel pain, board-certified podiatrist Dr. Kenneth R. Wilhelm and the caring staff at Clifton Foot & Ankle Center can help you get rid of it. Click here to make an appointment online or call our Fairfax County office at (703) 996-3000.
