Where Plantar Fasciitis Comes From | Chiropractor for Plantar Fasciitis in Fairhaven, MA
Hi everyone, this is Dr. Dennis Barley at Barley Wellness here in Fairhaven, Massachusetts. Today we’re going to talk about plantar fasciitis.
What is Plantar Fasciitis and Why Does it Cause You Pain?
Plantar Fasciitis is one of the most common causes of heel pain, and it can be a debilitating problem that leads to a loss of quality of life. Plantar Fasciitis involves inflammation of the thick band, which goes across the bottom of the foot and connects the heel bone to the metatarsal phalangeal where the toes, those joints in the toes. This is a picture of that plantar fascia right here, which goes from the heel, posterior part of the heel all the way to the between the joints of the the metatarsal bones and what we call the phalanges. So the bottom of the foot basically, that’s the plantar illustration of a plantar fascia. fasciitis itis simply means inflammation, and that’s when that bend gets irritated, mostly occurring, the irritation mostly occurs at the heel. The plantar fascia actually works as a support for the arch of the foot. Again, there are a few arches of the foot there are three arches and it acts as a support. And the plantar fascia supports those arches while walking. And the average American takes about 4000 steps a day and some people are walking seven to 10,000 steps daily. So that’s a lot of pressure, a lot of force that the foot has to him handle.
Plantar Fasciitis Symptoms
The symptoms of plantar fasciitis are commonly a stabbing pain at the bottom of the heel usually occurs with the first few steps in the morning. As you get up and move around that pain normally decreases. But it might return after long periods of sitting. So you go sit down for breakfast, then you try to get up again and it gives you discomfort. It generally does improve with exercise, such as running, but worsens after rest, post exercise. Some things that cause plantar fasciitis are running excess weight, so you’re putting more pressure on the foot, those occupations where you’re standing longer. Also, footwear is a big issue. Many times people are in the wrong sized foot footwear, the wrong shoe size. So it crunches up those arches because the shoe is too small and causes irritation.
So that’s plantar fasciitis. Those are some of the symptoms of plantar fasciitis and what the plantar fascia is.
