This video is your guide to Plantar Fasciitis, how you can overcome that pain and get back to being active.
Many of us throughout our life will experience heel pain at some time. Plantar fasciitis is shown to affect 20% of people at any given time. While not totally debilitating, it does limit both ability and comfort while walking, as well as other recreational opportunities.
Bone Spurring caused from Plantar Fasciitis, or the other way around?
The textbook version of plantar fasciitis is described as a pain at the site of the attachment of the plantar fascia and the calcaneus. At times, a bone spur may form off the inner side, or medial side of the heel bone. The amount of pain accompanying this can vary from a sharp pain to a dull ache. Most individuals report the symptoms are worse in the morning, after prolonged sitting, or when under load, such as walking, exercises, prolonged standing, that type of thing.
As mentioned before, certain bony changes can be seen on radiographic images called calcaneal spurring. This is an outgrowth of bone on the inside lower portion of the foot. The reason for this change can be many, including degeneration, inflammation, traction, repetitive trauma along with vertical compression such as jumping or landing on your feet often. Certain studies do show a correlation between those with a calcaneal spur and plantar fasciitis.
How can you test for Plantar Fasciitis yourself?
A simple test is to walk on toes only, then normally. Dr. Thomas Michaud explains that pain free toe walking compared to normal walking is a sign of bone spurs because of the transmission of forces placed on and around the calcaneus. Dr. Thomas Michaud, the author of Human Locomotion, further describes the predictor of plantar fascitis as being less to do with the arch height of the foot, which is often cited as a cause of plantar fasciitis, but the speed at which the toes move upward during the propulsion phase of the gait cycle. Which muscle we’re talking about here is the flexor digitorum muscle. We’re going to show in a picture for you.
This muscle sits beneath or deeper than the plantar fascia and helps in toe flexion or the propulsion phase of the gait cycle. It is a short muscle that does not cross the ankle. There are two options for strengthening this muscle, which we have linked videos here for you.
A major factor for Plantar Fasciitis could be anxiety.
On a different note, outside of physical factors that may play a role in plantar fasciitis, there was a study done in 2020 in the Brazilian Journal of Physical Therapy that looked at both physical and psychological factors that may be a predictor of pain in the plantar fascia. It may come as no surprise that anxiety is a major predictor of pain.
A program just for you. An at home care program.
In order to help the most people with plantar fasciitis, we needed to provide you with a home care program. We created a program so that you can do as much of the work for plantar fasciitis on your own. Of course, the best option is to be individually assessed and treated by a physician. This program is meant to provide the groundwork to retraining and strengthening your feet. We want you to have access to our guide to feel informed and get feeling as good as possible. This program is linked to this video as well as at our website at chiromovement.com.
Link to Plantar Fasciitis Home Program.
My name is Dr. Steven Bird with ChiroMovement Muscle and Joint Clinic. I appreciate you watching this video. If this helped you, please share this with somebody else as well, like and subscribe to our channel. Thanks for watching.
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1.Digiovanni BF, Nawoczenski DA, Malay DP, Graci PA, Williams TT, Wilding GE, Baumhauer JF. Plantar fascia-specific stretching exercise improves outcomes in patients with chronic plantar fasciitis. A prospective clinical trial with two-year follow-up. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2006 Aug;88(8):1775-81. doi: 10.2106/JBJS.E.01281. PMID: 16882901
2. Kirkpatrick J, Yassaie O, Mirjalili SA. The plantar calcaneal spur: a review of anatomy, histology, etiology and key associations. J Anat. 2017 Jun;230(6):743-751. doi: 10.1111/joa.12607. Epub 2017 Mar 29. PMID: 28369929; PMCID: PMC5442149..
3. https://humanlocomotion.com/pages/articles-by-dr-thomas-michaud-1 https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2565/7146/files/NewTechniquesforTreatingPlantarFasciitis.pdf?18009094848855083734
4. Harutaichun P, Pensri P, Boonyong S. Physical and psychological predictors on pain intensity in conscripts with plantar fasciitis. Braz J Phys Ther. 2020 May-Jun;24(3):249-255. doi: 10.1016/j.bjpt.2019.02.014. Epub 2019 Mar 11. PMID: 30876701; PMCID: PMC7253913.