Plantar Fasciitis And Chiropractic Treatment
Heel pain syndrome or Plantar Fasciitis affects more than two million people in the U.S. each year.
Symptoms can appear gradually as a result of degeneration or from a sudden trauma to the heel of one or both feet. The symptoms of Plantar Fasciitis are usually worse on taking the first steps after prolonged sitting, sleeping or non-weight-bearing movement and is aggravated by prolonged weight bearing or activity. Excess weight in obesity can cause plantar facitiitis pain or make it worse.
What is Plantar Fasciitis?
The calcaneal tubercle is connected by plantar fascia to the forefoot with five slips, each directed to a toe. Other causes of plantar foot pain include nerve entrapment, atrophy of the calcaneal fat pad rheumatoid arthritis or calcaneal stress factor. These symptoms may accompany plantar fasciitis or be separate symptoms and a blood test can be performed to determine the cause.
Plantar Fasciitis can also be the result of excessive or under pronation and impaired shock absorption caused by improper footwear. Pronation occurs as part of the normal walking gait when the ankle rolls inward slightly after the heel strikes the ground. At the beginning of the next step the toe-off causes the ankle to roll slightly outward. When the ankle rolls inward too far, the foot overpronates which causes stress on the soft tissues of the foot.
The body will compensate by moving the weight to a new area in order to avoid pain. This is a problem that can bring on plantar fasciitis from conditions such as calf strain, tibialis posterior dysfunction or chronic Achilles tenonisis. The persistent pain from plantar facitiitis itself causes the body to compensate by moving the bulk of the weight to the outside of the foot, or an attempt to land on the toes.
These pain-avoiding-compensation strategies will disturb the body alignment, which may lead to joints being stressed with new pain felt in different parts of the body. When symptoms have increased to the point where the person is no longer able to bear the pain that the weight places on the foot, plantar fasciitis has set in.
Plantar Fasciitis and Chiropractic Treatments
There are many types of treatment to combat the symptoms of plantar fasciitis including graston, chiropractic treatment, anti-inflammatory medication, night splinting, taping and orthotics.
Other therapeutic modalities include ultrasound, low-level laser, and electrical stimulation of the muscles to reduce pain and inflammation.
Plantar Fasciitis and Chiropractic Manipulation
Chiropractic manipulative treatment can restore normal mechanics to the joints, reduce tension and relieve pain at the plantar fascia site. Chiropractic manipulation of the spine can restore normal balance and counteract the effects of over or under pronation relieving pain and inflammation.
Rehabilitation
Resistance exercises are performed on a progressive basis with muscle strengthening exercises.
Massage
A brief twenty to sixty second self-massage of the area before rising in the morning and before any stretching and weight bearing takes place can prevent pain.
Recovery Recovery after treatment is a slow process and depends on the type of therapy. Most people with plantar fasciitis recover within 6 to 12 months and almost 90% respond to conservative treatment measures such as chiropractic manipulation. As no single known treatment modality has been effective, multiple modes may have to be considered to successfully treat this difficult condition.
The key to success in plantar fasciitis and chiropractic treatment is manipulation of the area and the spinal column applied aggressively with the dedicated compliance of the patient.
For more information contact Affinity Chiropractic at 612 564 5051 in Minnetonka MN.
