This is a topic that I get asked about over and over, what is plantar fasciitis?
In short, it is a painful inflammation of your plantar fascia ligament that runs along the bottom of your foot. It is usually painful at its origin which is right on the inside of the heel of your foot.
Why me?! A common reason is poor footwear, for many years humans have never worn shoes, but now we do, and we are somewhat addicted to them. This means that now whenever we don't wear 'super-supportive' shoes, we seem to get injuries like heel pain. Other common triggers for plantar fasciitis are a sudden increase in weight, over-exercising, and tight calf muscles.
How do I fix it? There are many ways to manage and treat this problem but the most important method is to find out what is the underlying cause. A lot of treatments are focused on treating the pain symptoms but do not address the reason this happened to you in the first place.
For many people, the cause is what we call a 'bio-mechanical' issue. This is how your bones and muscles work together to allow you to walk and move around. Often the way to resolve these bio-mech issues is to support the foot through correct shoes and insole devices.
As a podiatrist, we are the experts in the treatment of plantar fasciitis as we come into contact with it constantly. The study of podiatry is solely focused on how the foot works and how we can medically treat conditions of the feet.
If you are experiencing heel pain, make sure podiatry is always your first choice.
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