Plantar FasciitisThe Plantar Fasciitis Monster Has Struck!
Ouch! Sharp pain stabs the inside of your heel (and sometimes the arch) when your foot hits the ground with the first few steps after awakening or prolonged sitting. The pain gradually improves with walking around. During your daily activities, you might have pain initially, which then decreases. This pain might then recur at the end of a strenuous workout. You keep trying to run or walk through it until any weight bearing activity becomes painful, and jumping and running are impossible. The plantar fasciitis (PF), monster has struck! Plantar fasciitis is the most common cause of localized heel pain. In a study of 232 injured runners, 7% had plantar fasciitis. The plantar fascia is a long band of fibrous tissue on the bottom of the foot that extends from the heel to the bases of the toes. It supports the joints, bones, and muscles under the foot during midstep and creates a rigid lever for push-off. It maintains the longitudinal arch of the foot. P F is an inflammation of the plantar fascia. It is usually chronic with an insidious beginning, although occasionally one might develop a sudden onset. Repetitive trauma produces micro tears in the plantar fascia near its attachment to the heel. The body’s attempt to repair these tears leads to chronic inflammation and resulting pain. Runners and Walkers alike alter how they move in order to run or walk through plantar fascial pain: shortening stride length, foot striking the toes first rather than heel first, and running or walking on the outside border of the foot are among the alterations. Risk Factors One study found that training/exercise errors were associated with 60% of sports/runners’ injuries, and 29% of those injuries were due to excess mileage/walking. The average weekly mileage for the injured group was 49 miles per week. Other training/exercise errors predisposed individuals to plantar fasciitis include:
Lack of strength and flexibility in the ankle and foot can also predispose one to plantar fasciitis. A 1991 study found that individuals with P F had significantly decreased strength of the calf muscles and significantly decreased flexibility of the achilles tendon. Without strong calf muscles, one may not get the proper propulsion during push-off, and Achilles tightness can lead to pronation at the heel, putting more strain on the plantar fascia. For More Information On One Product Solution To Help Plantar Fasciitis: A Solution To Help With P F Another muscle group of primary importance to foot function is the small (intrinsic) muscles in the foot. This is an often overlooked group of muscles, as they do not function when the foot is standing. The foot intrinsic muscles stabilize the foot during propulsion. If you pronate, there is greater intrinsic muscle activity needed to stabilize the arch that runs side to side underneath your foot and the joint where your ankle connects to your foot. Strong intrinsic muscles can reduce heel and arch pain. Biomechanical factors that contribute to P F include flat feet and high arches. Individuals with heel pain are more likely to have flat feet and pronate. If you pronate excessively, the hind foot will have decreased stability, and this adds more strain on the plantar fascia at its heel attachment during the stance and push-off phase of running/walking. In the individual with high arched feet, there will be decreased motion where the ankle attaches to the foot, and this results in decreased ability of the foot to absorb the force of ground contact. At foot strike, the heel remains rolled outward, and the longitudinal arch remains rigid throughout the midstance phase of running/walking. Stress is passed through the outer border of the foot and knee. Other biomechanical factors that could contribute to plantar fasciitis include bowed legs, knock knees, tibial torsion (twisting of the tibial bone in the lower leg), leg length differences, and rotation of the hip socket. Deficiencies in running/walking shoes may also contribute to plantar fasciitis, too loose a heel counter or too flat a shoe resulting in excessive rolling in; too flexible a shoe allowing excessive toe flexion and increased plantar fascial tension; too tight a toe box or too rigid a sole restricting movement align the foot; absence of good arch supports, causing the arch to flatten. For More Information On Another Product Solution To Help Plantar Fasciitis: A Shoe Technology That Can Help Relieve P F Symptoms Prevention So how do you prevent plantar fasciitis? Factors that can be controlled include training progression, environmental factors, shoes, and strength and flexibility exercises. A useful guideline for a safe training progression is “the 10% rule.” Limit increases in distance or intensity to 10% a week. For example, if a person is running or walking 60 minutes at a session, 4 times a week, or 240 minutes, she or he can probably increase the running or walking to 264 minutes (240 + 10%), the following week if all else remains the same. Terrain is also an important factor in determining the severity of PF. Running or walking 30 minutes on hills is very different from running or walking 30 minutes on flat surfaces in terms of the forces on the legs and feet. Work up gradually to increase your running time on hills. Also lean forward when running or walking downhill. If you run or walk on a banked or crowned surface, vary the direction you run or walk in, so you can alternate which leg is higher and which leg is lower on the bank. If you know concrete or asphalt is causing you discomfort, try running or walking on a cinder or composite surface. If you are going on vacation and are not used to running or walking on sand or grass, don’t spend your whole vacation doing it ~ have fun, relax. Good running or walking shoes are vital to injury prevention. Shoe technology continues to improve and change rapidly. Buy your shoes from a reputable dealer or company who knows runners/walkers and his product well. Your shoe dealer should be able to guide you in choosing proper shoes for flat or high-arched feet and your particular running or walking style. (See 2nd link information above ~ A Shoe Technology that can help relieve P F symptoms). If you’re a likely P F victim, stretching and flexibility exercises for the hamstrings/buttocks and achilles/calf muscles are critical. There are three types of stretching: ballistic, slow, and dynamic. Ballistic (or bouncing) stretching occurs when you repeatedly do a quick stretch followed by a quick contraction. This can result in muscle tears and is no longer a recommended technique for stretching. Slow stretching involves going down to a point at which you feel tightness in the muscle and then push a little more and hold for 30 –60 seconds. While a recommended method of stretching, it can result in thinning and weakening the tendon attached to the muscle. However, dynamic stretching working and exercising the tightened muscle in the outer range of motion increases the range of motion by lowering the muscle’s tension. You also increase the collagen tissue (which makes up the tendon and muscle) in that end range and increase the strength in the range. For More Information On Another Product Solution To Help Plantar Fasciitis: A Shoe Insole Technology To Help Relieve P F Symptoms You can prevent plantar fasciitis with good training habits, good shoes and insoles technologies, and preventative strengthening and flexibility exercises. If you begin to develop P F, stop and analyze what could be causing it and make changes to return yourself to full function. Rather than trying to run or walk through the pain, learn to listen to your body. The longer you ignore P F pain, the worse it’s going to get and the longer it will take to rehab back to your pervious level of running or walking. (Acknowledgement: Allison A. Boldridge, M.A., P.T., and Road Runners Club of America). To Order Now The Products Mentioned In This Article to Relieve The Symptoms of P F: Get Relief From Plantar Fasciitis
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