Plantar fasciitis: Most common cause of Plantar heel pain

Plantar fasciitis is the most common cause for plantar heel pain in our feet. It is not fully understood, but we know that chronic or excessive overload at the plantar fascia (tendon at the bottom of our feet that helps support our arches) from activity like prolonged standing or running can result in acute or chronic pain. With some plantar fasciitis cases a disorganisation of the fibrous tissue of the tendon has also been seen, which suggests the condition can be more degenerative in nature rather than inflammation alone and therefore, has been referred to as plantar fasciosis more recently rather than plantar fasciitis.

Plantar fasciitis/fasciosis pain is felt predominantly at the medial (inside) part of the heel extending towards the arches of the feet especially during the first steps in the morning. The pain can also occur post-activity particularly after periods of rest and can occur both unilaterally or bilaterally.

There are a number of risk factors for this condition including: obesity, low or high arched feet, pronation (rolling feet inwards excessively), weak foot muscles, walking barefoot, poor footwear to name a few.

There are many conservative treatment options that work to help manage your pain, so if you think you could be suffering from this debilitating condition, get in touch today because it is not normal to have heel pain or discomfort!