All You Want To Know About Plantar Fasciitis

What is Plantar Fasciitis?

Plantar Fasciitis is one of the most common causes for pain on the bottom of a foot. There is a thick band of connective tissue, called the plantar fascia, that runs along the bottom of your foot and connects your toes to your heel. When this connective tissue becomes inflamed it becomes sore, and this is plantar fasciitis. Usually my clients report that they feel the plantar fasciitis pain most in the morning when they first get up out of bed, but then as it warms up it can begin to feel better. Often the pain is around the heel area, although it can be felt anywhere along the plantar fascia as show in the diagram to the right. Runners and athletes commonly get plantar fasciitis because of the additional stress they put on their plantar fascia.

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What causes Plantar Fasciitis?

By Kosi Gramatikoff User:Kosigrim

Plantar Fasciitis is caused when physical stress is applied to the bottom of the foot and small tears start developing in the plantar fascia. It is normal for this to happen through our daily activities, but when the plantar fascia isn't given a chance to rest and heal, these small tears start building up and the plantar fascia then becomes inflamed and sore.

Runners, athletes, people who are overweight, or those who regularly wear thongs or high heels are all putting additional stress on their plantar fascia, and are more likely to develop some inflammation there.

When to seek treatment for Plantar Fasciitis?

It's best to begin treating plantar fasciitis as early as possible, because the worse it gets, the longer it takes to get better. I have seen some people's plantar fasciitis pain get so bad that they can barely walk, so this is one that you really want to get under control as early as possible. By the time plantar fasciitis gets to the stage where one can barely walk, it can take a few weeks to resolve, and will require a change of lifestyle pace so that the plantar fascia has more opportunity to heal without applying additional stress to the tissues.

Besides taking longer for the plantar fascia to heal, in the meantime people with a sore foot adjust the way they walk to compensate for the foot pain, and this can lead to knee, hip and back problems. Because Bowen Therapy works differently to other therapies, I have frequently helped clients relieve their plantar fasciitis pain where other treatments have failed.

You can read some reviews from Louis's clients on the Review page here, or Book Online here for a Bowen Therapy Treatment for Plantar Fasciitis in Geelong​. We're open till 9pm on weekdays and Saturday.