“I thought chiropractic was just for neck or back pain, it can help my foot pain due to plantar fasciitis?”
As a practicing chiropractor for the past 20 years, I can’t tell you how many times I heard that quote from patients with a bewildered look on their faces! My response is:
“Yup! You bet we can, and I’m living proof as a doctor with former plantar fasciitis”
Over the past many years, we’ve helped so many patients get over their plantar fasciitis pain and prevented that sharp, stabbing, burning pain from returning. But, before we see how your plantar fasciitis or heel pain can benefit from chiropractic care, let me define it and lay out the most common causes for it.
What is Plantar Fasciitis?
Plantar fasciitis is an inflammatory ligamentous disorder affecting the arch on the bottom of foot whereby producing sharp, stabbing or burning pain. This pain can be felt most often in the morning upon arising out of bed, standing for long periods, getting up from a seated position, walking a good distance, prolonged periods of sitting, or bending the foot and toes up towards the shin and knee. Less common symptoms can arise as well such as numbness, tingling, swelling or radiating pain. Rupture of the plantar fascia can occur with chronicity, overuse, or lack of treatment, although rare. Typical signs and symptoms of a plantar fascia rupture can include a click, pop or snapping sound, moderate-severe acute pain, redness and swelling. A qualified, experienced chiropractor can examine and properly diagnose treatable plantar fasciitis while ruling out other conditions such as a calcaneal stress fracture, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, spinal stenosis, neuropathies and other pathologies.
Photo Credit: Health Guide Insider
The plantar fascia is a thick band of connective tissue, commonly called the plantar aponeurosis tendon sheath, along with delicate muscles that attach from the bottom base of the toes back to the heel along the medial longitudinal arch of the foot. This plantar fascia is extremely important not just for proper foot and ankle biomechanical movement, but also to our overall posture, gait and knee/hip/lower back function as well.
Over 3 million people per year suffer from plantar fasciitis in the U.S. It is most common in people over 40 years of age but more and more younger individuals are experiencing this painful condition, especially athletes, gymnasts and dancers. What’s very frustrating is that 85% of those patients diagnosed with plantar fasciitis by their medical doctors were told there’s no clear explanation or identifiable cause for their pain!
What Causes Plantar Fasciitis?
The causes of plantar fasciitis are not entirely clear and there are varying medical opinions as to its origin. While heel spurs are frequently found during x-ray, it is unclear if they play any role at all in causing plantar fasciitis. The heel spur is a bony formation that forms on the front surface of the calcaneus (heel bone) due to the plantar fascia tightening up, inflaming, and pulling on the periosteum of the heel bone. This tightening tension of the plantar fascia over time pulling on the calcaneal attachment causes the body to produce the heel spur. At this anchoring attachment site, several undesirable physiological processes occur including micro tears, collagen breakdown, scarring, and to a lesser extent inflammation plays a role.
Some causes and risk factors identified with plantar fasciitis include excessive running, improper training techniques, bad foot mechanics, altered gait, lack of mobility, standing for prolonged periods especially on hard surfaces, postural imbalances, leg length inequality, high feet arches, weight gain, foot pronation (inward tilt), pes planus (flat feet), and poor supportive shoes.
How Can Chiropractic Care Help?
Thankfully, there are some treatable physical causes of plantar fasciitis that your chiropractor is versed in taking care of that can greatly help! As mentioned, first and foremost, a thorough examination and diagnosis needs to occur before a proper treatment protocol can be suggested and implemented. One of the most common conditions mentioned above is pes planus (flat feet) that is a major contributing factor to plantar fasciitis. The foot is intrinsically comprised of many little bones, muscles, ligaments and tendons, all of which have to function properly and with normal movement. What occurs with pes planus (flat feet) is, the talar bone displaces medially and plantarward from under the navicular bone whereby stretching the spring ligament and the tibialis bone posterior, resulting in loss of the medial longitudinal arch (dropped arch). Chiropractors can perform a non-painful adjustment to this area, reducing this subluxation (misalignment) and restoring proper function and normal movement.
If your pain is deemed to be of localized or immediate origin, other treatments or techniques can be effectively implemented. Such non-invasive treatments may include low-level-laser (“cold laser”) therapy, ultrasound, electro-stimulation, functional cryo massage, kinesiology taping, soft-tissue mobilization with instruments or hands, stretching/exercises , orthotics, and functional performance therapy foot rollers to mention but a few. If your plantar fasciitis is deemed to not be of local origin after an examination, a chiropractor can get tremendous results with correcting postural imbalances, disc related conditions, sciatica or radiculopathy, and improper hip/knee/ankle biomechanics or subluxations (misalignments) that may be affecting, contributing or causing the unwanted miserable condition.
Consult a chiropractor before considering surgery or addictive drugs with side effects. Being proactive in your health and seeking therapeutic care to correct the problem long-term is the best medicine! Don’t prolong treating your plantar fasciitis thinking “it will go away” or mask the pain with damaging drugs!
Put your best foot forward, call us for a complimentary consultation to see if chiropractic care is appropriate and get on the road to recovery!
