Plantar Fasciitis - Do I have it?
Posted on 1st June 2017 at 13:48
Heel Pain… Plantar Fasci@#?* Plantar Fasciitis - Do I have it? What do I do?
In this blog, I just want to give you some information about what this may feel like and the first line of treatment because I’m sure if you are reading this then you are in pain and want that to stop!!!
Do I have it?
Do you have heel pain like a bruised feeling or arch pain? This one is usually a sharp pain.
Generally, the pain is at its worst in the morning, gets better with walking but can come back after activity. It often returns after sitting down for a while. Some mild cases may only cause problems after running.
Ok, I have these symptoms, now what do I do?
The first thing to do is to address the inflammation as it is destructive and the longer it goes on then the more difficult it is to treat.
Anti-inflammatories such as Ibuprofen can help or if preferred topical Ibuprofen gels. If you don’t want to, or can’t use ibuprofen, look out for gels such as Biofreeze or Advance7 that provide topical relief without it. Freeze a bottle of water and roll it from your heel to the ball of your foot, ice is a great anti-inflammatory.
Look at what you are wearing on your feet. The floors and pavements we walk on are man-made and completely flat and this puts your feet under immense strain.
Bare feet, sock soles, ballet pumps and soft shoes all allow our feet to push into the ground and this can strain the plantar fascia. Wearing footwear with a contoured foot bed [this is the inside of the shoe that the foot sits on] and a firm sole [the outer part of the foot bed] helps reduce this strain.
An example would be a Fit-Flop style sole, Birkenstock, Strive or anything that has an arch shaped support and it not too flexible when you push back the toe area.
If this first line of tackling your symptoms is not working or you have plateaued then look out next week for further treatment suggestions.
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