Patient Information

Plantarfasciits 

What is Plantarfasciitis?

Plantarfasciitis is an inflammation of the plantar fascia, the thick piece of connective tissue on the bottom of the foot, usually characterized by pain in the heel or arch of the foot. The plantar fascia starts at the heel (calcaneous) and extends to the base of the toes (metatarsals). The plantar fascia is responsible for taking all the weight of your body through the tension of the tissue to help make your foot rigid and allowing you to push off your foot with walking or running.

Symptoms

Plantarfasciitis pain is typically worst with the first steps in the morning or after sitting for extended periods of time. The pain may start as a dull ache or stiffness at the heel but can progress to sharper, more intense, and over the whole arch and heel if not treated. 

Causes

The tissue can become inflamed by a variety of causes including improper shoe fit and lack of strength or flexibility in your lower leg and foot. If your shoes do not provide enough support to your arch, the plantar fascia can become strained from overuse. On the contrary, you may have too much support which doesn’t allow the mechanics of the foot and ankle to work properly. A lack of flexibility in the lower extremity can also cause increase the stress on the plantar fascia by forcing excessive movement of the arch of the foot as your body finds ways to compensate for the other tight tissues. Weakness of specific muscles in the lower leg and foot, which should assist in lifting the arch, causes too much strain on the plantar fascia and can lead to inflammation of the tissue.

Physical Therapy Treatment

An evaluation by a physical therapist can help determine if your plantar fascia is inflamed and recommend a course of treatment. As the causes of the inflammation can vary, it is important to determine why the plantar fascia is inflamed, not just treat the symptoms. A physical therapist can evaluate gait, flexibility, joint mobility, strength and balance to get to the root cause of the pain. Treatment may include modalities, manual therapy to the heel and ankle, deep tissue massage, specific stretches for the plantar fascia itself as well as surrounding muscles that affect the foot, strengthening exercises to decrease the strain on the tissue, and instruct on proper shoe fitting.


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