Plantar Injury
Plantar Injury
Plantar Injury
Foot Side View
Foot Top View
Bottom of Foot
Extensor Tendonitis
Foot Tendonitis
Foot Ligaments
Cycling Injuries
When it comes to Plantar Fasciitis, like so many other things online today, there's a lot of bad advice on the internet.
Whether someone is looking for followers, or trying to sell a cheap Chinese gimmick on Amazon, their focus is on what's good for them, not you.
To be clear, Plantar Fasciitis is caused by overloading the arch of your foot (upward pressure on the arch of your foot) during repetitive or heavy activity.
In only a few cases, a bone spur may be aggravating the condition as well.
Despite their hype online, Orthotics, Arch Supports, Stretching, Massage, Surgery and Cortisone injections, are not the solutions.
Often, they actually make the problem worse!
The plantar fascia is a thick band of tissue that runs along the arch of your foot, connecting your heel bone to your metatarsal (the ball of your foot).
The plantar fascia is there to hold the bones in your foot in an arch.
That arch is important for proper balance and gait.
Plantar Fasciitis is an injury where the thick band of tissue stretches and the arch begins to fall.
You don't want your plantar to stretch, or your foot arch will collapse.
That's why people with flat feet or fallen arches have chronic foot pain.
By far, the most common cause is upward pressure on the arch of the foot.
When you press up on the plantar a little bit, that translates into a whole lot of tension and strain along it's length.
So all those sites selling you 'arch support', be it in shoes, orthotics, or insoles, are actually just telling you a good story to get your money.
In reality, any item that puts upward pressure on the arch of your foot is only going to contribute to plantar fasciitis, not cure it.
The plantar fascia is a ligament.
It's not designed to bear any pressure on its surface.
Normally, about 80% of your weight is balanced on your heels, with the other 20% balanced on the balls of your feet.
There should be minimal upward pressure in the middle of your foot.
Putting pressure on the surface of the plantar fascia creates microtears.
This is Plantar Fasciitis.
Heel spurs are tiny bony lumps that form on your heel near where the plantar attaches to the heel bone.
These little lumps irritate the plantar when you put pressure on the foot causing it some minor damage.
Some people are more prone to them than others, but they are generally not very common.
Heel spurs can come and go on their own.
There is often a correlation between excess calcium in the body and bone spurs so consider your diet.
Vitamin D supplements can also be beneficial in managing bone spurs for some people.
The challenge with Plantar Fasciitis is healing it.
Once you damage the plantar, your body tries to heal.
Over night, while there's no pressure on your feet, your body starts to pull the torn tissue back together and start the healing process.
But when you get up in the morning, and as you go through your day, even a bit of walking can cause the tears to get reopened.
That's why those first steps in the morning hurt so much.
Your body started healing over night, but those first steps sent you backward again.
That's how Plantar Fasciitis happens.
There's an initial injury, and as fast as your body tries to heal it, it keeps getting reinjured.
When you can't get ahead of the healing and reinjury process, that's plantar fasciitis.
To get past the issue, your challenge is to make the healing steps as big as possible and the reinjury steps as small and few as possible.
Since there is so much misinformation out there about Plantar Fasciitis, below are a bunch of the most common ones to be aware of:
Devices that are designed to stretch the plantar fascia, such as night splints, will only make your condition worse.
Night splints actually re-injure your plantar every time that you wear them.
Leaving your foot in a permanently stretched position while you're sleeping will cause your foot to heal in a lengthened state.
While you're sleeping your body has a chance to try to repair the plantar by attempting to pull the ligament back together.
Wearing a night splint means that your plantar fascia doesn't get a chance to heal correctly, because you're re-stretching it and re-tearing it.
This means more damage to the plantar fascia, more pain, and a longer recovery time.
When your plantar is on stretch, like it is while wearing a night splint, it's in an unnatural position.
You've already elongated your plantar by injuring it with microtears.
You don't want to stretch it further with a night splint.
You want your plantar tissue to heal back down to it's regular size.
When your plantar tissue tries to heal in a stretched position, this can lead to further problems down the line, such as gait issues, fallen arches, and flat feet.
It's a common misconception that arch supports (also called orthotic inserts) are needed to correct issues with the plantar fascia and arch of the foot.
With each step, you don't want pressure applied to the middle of your foot pushing up.
This will only cause further stress and injury to your plantar fascia.
Your arch is naturally occurring and messing with this structure is not a good idea.
If you're going to use any kind of extra support, make sure it's applied to the heel and ball of the foot, because these are the areas of your foot that are actually designed to withstand pressure.
Extra support for the heel and ball is only required in rare circumstances, like in cases of fallen arches or flat feet.
Think of your arch as a bridge, with the ball and the heel on either side to support it.
Providing the heel and ball of your foot with added lift will help reduce the pressure on your plantar and reduce pain.
You want to remove the pressure from the plantar and put it where it's supposed to go - the heel and the ball.
Another popular treatment for Plantar Fasciitis is rolling the bottom of your foot over a ball. This is supposed to "massage" the plantar ligament to relieve pain. Again, like with arch supports, any upward force applied to the plantar fascia will only result in further pain and injury because the plantar was not designed to have this kind of force applied to it. You want to avoid putting pressure on the plantar so that it can heal. Ball stretching will only undo that healing and make your Plantar Fasciitis worse.
When you have Plantar Fasciitis, you should be trying to rest your foot as much as possible. Your Plantar does not need to be "massaged", it needs to be rested. An injured Plantar should be treated in the same way as a broken bone in terms of physical activity. If one of the bones in your leg was broken, you wouldn't bear any weight on it, you'd use crutches. You also wouldn't treat a broken bone with a massage. While massages can stimulate blood flow, which is good, it's not worth risking the re-injury that could occur. A good indication of re-injury is pain. If you feel pain during a treatment like massage, it's time to stop.
Having your heel hang off the edge of a step puts pressure directly on the plantar fascia. This is not a good idea. Step stretches can cause serious damage and put you all the way back to the beginning of the healing process. Again, the plantar should not have any upward pressure applied to it. Your plantar is not designed to sustain this type of pressure. When you have Plantar Fasciitis, steps should be taken very carefully and you should make sure your entire foot is planted on each step as you go. When your Plantar Fasciitis is almost completely healed, there is a benefit to doing step-up exercises using the ball of your foot.
Towel stretches are actually designed to stretch out your Achilles Tendon. They have no benefit for Plantar Fasciitis. If the towel is over the ball of your foot, there is not a concern. If the towel is wrapped around the arch of your foot, Towel stretches can also lead to further tearing of the plantar fascia. Towel stretches should be avoided if your plantar is in pain. They don't do anything to treat Plantar Fasciitis and actually put unneeded pressure on the plantar, which can lead to further damage.
In most cases of Plantar Fasciitis, surgery is not required.
Surgery should only be considered if your plantar is completely ruptured (in two separate pieces).
There are many risks and complications associated with Plantar Fasciitis surgery, including nerve damage, infection, blood clots, neuromas (benign cysts), and flattening of the arch.
There is also no guarantee that it will get rid of the problem for good.
According to a study found on PubMed, 76% of patients who underwent an endoscopic plantar fasciotomy had not found relief.
Plantar Fasciitis Release may also be unsuccessful.
You need the plantar to remain tight, like the string on a bow.
Cutting out a part of the plantar will cause the plantar to loosen, which could lead to fallen arches or other issues.
Again, messing with the natural structure of the arch will only cause problems.
Rest is very important when recovering from plantar fasciitis.
Of course, resting completely isn't possible in our busy lives, but resting when you can will help you avoid further injury.
While it is true that moving promotes blood flow, and in turn blood flow promotes healing, too much movement too soon in the healing process is a bad thing, as it only results in re-injury and a much longer recovery time.
Exercise and Stretches do nothing to help the plantar itself.
Don't misunderstand.
Motion is a very good thing.
Motion alone moves a lot of good stuff between the cells of your body.
But 'stretching' and 'exercise' suggest pushing limits and pushing limits puts you at high risk of reinjury.
While you're injured, only do motions and activity that don't cause you any pain or concern.
Pushing limits will not help you heal faster.
Pushing limits only risks your recovery.
You need to accept that for a short while, reducing your activity is important to letting your foot get over the hump in terms of healing.
You cannot keep doing the same level of activity you were doing before becoming injured.
You need to let your knee rest.
If you are driving through the pain, you are just making your situation worse.
This can't be stressed enough about plantar injuries because your initial injury has turned into a more significant injury.
Rest is critical. Give your foot a break.
You can gradually work your way back up to your regular activities, but this will take some time.
Painkillers should never be used during times of physical activity.
This is because painkillers completely block the pain signal, making you totally unaware that you're doing more damage to the injured area.
Painkillers mask the pain, tricking you into thinking you're better and able to push yourself physically, when this will only result in further injury.
Make sure you restrict painkillers to times when your body is at rest.
Using painkillers when you're active means risking a worsening plantar tear and an even longer recovery.
While painkillers are effective at relieving pain and inflammation, they are not designed to address the root cause.
In situations where the underlying injury is osteoarthritis or tendonitis, some meds can help if used at the right times.
That is not a plantar injury though.
For more information about which meds help and when, give us a call, our treatment advisors will give you some excellent free advice.
You need more than painkillers, though, if you really want to heal.
Check out our Treatment of Plantar Fasciitis page for effective ways to deal with pain.
One of the biggest mistakes you can make during recovery is stopping treatment before your injury has finished healing.
The healing process does not end once the pain stops.
The healing process takes much longer than most people realize.
(You can click here to understand how tissue heals.)
The key thing to remember is that long after the pain stops, your tissue is still healing.
This means you need to continue doing BFST® treatments in order to complete the healing process.
Doing regular BFST® treatments for several months after the pain is gone is extremely beneficial.
Do a BFST® treatment prior to any physical activity, to warm up the circulation in your plantar and help avoid re-injury.
The safest and most effective treatment solution for Plantar Fasciitis is rest, along with ColdCure® and BFST® treatments.
Try to rest your affected foot as much as possible.
Consider using crutches to keep the weight off your injured foot.
Use the ColdCure® Foot Wrap to relieve your pain and internal inflammation.
ColdCure® can also be used to treat any flare ups of pain that occur during the healing process.
If you're going to take painkillers, avoid using them when you're active, as this can lead to further injury.
You can take them to help you sleep at night.
Use the BFST® Foot Wrap 3x per day to promote blood flow to your injured plantar.
This increase in blood flow works to heal your damaged tissue, accelerating the recovery process.
Keep doing BFST® treatments for several months after the pain is gone.
The healing process takes much longer than most people think.
Even once the pain has disappeared, your plantar may only be 20% or 30% healed.
Make sure you don't secure the Foot Wraps too tightly during use, as you don't want to strain the plantar.
Do this and your Plantar Fasciitis can truly heal - finally.
