Plantar Fasciitis Treatment
Hands-On, Plantar Fasciitis Physical Therapy
One-On-One Treatments. Long-term, Effective Knee Pain Relief
Watch Our Therapydia PT Demonstrate Physical Therapy Treatments For Plantar Fasciitis
What Is Plantar Fasciitis?
One of the most common sources of heel pain that we encounter in physical therapy is plantar fasciitis. The word itself implies inflammation of the plantar fascia, the thick connective tissue that supports the arch of the foot during weight bearing activities. In the PT clinic, we see both acute micro-tearing of the plantar fascia as well as chronic build up of scar tissue from repetitive injury. When the plantar fascia becomes irritated, inflamed, or weakened by injury, every step can be painful.
Early assessment and conservative intervention is key to avoiding a long term injury and more aggressive treatments like injections or surgery. Some common early indicators of plantar fasciitis include pain with the first step in the morning, discomfort in the heel or arch with walking after prolonged sitting, or the sensation of a lump or rock in the shoe. Patients often ignore these symptoms because it is not unusual for the pain to quickly go away after the first few steps in the morning or after the first minute or two of a run.
Causes of Plantar Fasciitis
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There are a number of risk factors that can lead to plantar fasciitis including limitations in dorsiflexion range of motion (ROM) in the ankle, obesity, diabetes, improper shoe wear, and inordinately high or low arches. Studies have shown that limited dorsiflexion and high body-mass index (BMI) in particular are the two biggest risk factors in the development of plantar fasciitis.
Plantar fasciitis is most often seen in middle age and affects females more than males primarily because of women’s tendency to wear narrow fitting shoes and high heels. It is also a very common injury seen in runners, accounting for 8-10% of all running related injuries.
• Heel striking while running causes compression of the heel pad up to 200% of body weight.
• Patients who are overweight or obese have a 1.4-fold increased probability of plantar fasciitis
Why Physical Therapy
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PTs can help to quickly alleviate the primary symptoms in the foot as well as educate patients on any compensatory movement patterns that may lead to secondary complications like knee, hip, or back pain.
- Joint mobilization, manual therapy therapy, and myofascial release are common techniques to release or inhibit an active trigger point.
- Trigger point dry needling (also known as TDN, functional dry needling or intramuscular manual therapy) is becoming a very popular treatment for a variety of musculoskeletal issues but especially plantar fasciitis. The muscle relaxes and the trigger point becomes inhibited, alleviating the symptoms of sciatica.
- Custom exercises in conjunction with heel and quad range of motion are also effective at reducing plantar fasciitis symptoms.
About Therapydia NOLA
Better Physical Therapy Experience
At Therapydia NOLA, our physical therapists offer one-on-one, hands-on treatment. You’ll spend your entire with one of our expert therapists – we won’t hand you off to a PT assistant or aide. With our manual therapy techniques and custom exercise programs, we’ll help you strengthen your hip musculature and correct your mechanics to get rid of your knee pain or to help you recover from knee surgery. We’ll help you understand what’s causing your pain, what you can do to relieve your pain and ways to prevent reoccurring injuries.
Best of all, you’re covered. Therapydia works with and provides billing for most insurance groups and Medicare. We also accept cash payments.
- Lifetime Wellness
- Hands-On-Care
- Quality Treatment
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