Plantar fasciitis is the most common cause of heel pain in adults.
Runners are often victims since 10% of them suffer from it.
But it’s not just for athletes.
This pain is special.
It comes and goes, is intense in the morning when you wake up, and slowly fades with each step.
Prolonged sitting also complicates fasciitis when standing up.
But again, a few steps are needed to make the pain bearable.
But what is plantar fasciitis and how do you deal with this sharp but intermittent pain?
There are natural methods and sound advice to really treat it and get rid of it before it becomes chronic.
Contents
The role of the plantar fascia
The plantar fascia is a long connective tissue that extends from the heel to the base of the toes.
It supports the arch of the foot and then fits into the heel bone called the calcaneus to the head of the metatarsals.
The Achilles tendon attaches to the back of the calcaneus.
The plantar fascia acts like the string of a bow.
It stabilizes the longitudinal arch of the foot.
What is plantar fasciitis?
The plantar fascia is made up of three bands: the median, the central, and the lateral.
The fascia is the central part of the plantar fascia.
As we have seen, the plantar fascia inserts into the calcaneus and then extends widening and thinning towards the toes.
The pain felt is due to inflammation of the aponeurosis after repetitive tension.
When you walk, the plantar fascia ligaments stretch each time the foot hits the ground.
If these ligaments stretch excessively, tissue damage occurs and you feel pain.
Plantar fasciitis symptoms
The pain may intensify during prolonged exercise, standing for a long time, and especially on waking, during the first steps of the day.
In the same way, sitting or lying down for a long time makes the pain disappear, which resurfaces violently when you get up.
Walking or stretching gradually relieves it.
Plantar fasciitis diagnosis
Ultrasounds, as well as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), can reveal plantar fasciitis, although it is difficult to diagnose a ruptured plantar fascia with ultrasound.
Ultrasound helps determine if the plantar fascia has a tear or is just inflamed.
The treatment of plantar fasciitis
The treatment of plantar fasciitis is basically:
- rest
- ice
- anti-inflammatory drugs
- shoe inserts
- Achilles heel stretches
- rarely infiltrations
The last resort if symptoms persist beyond 6 months is surgery.
How to treat plantar fasciitis?
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Plantar fasciitis exercise
The worst thing about plantar fasciitis is stretching the fascia.
Since it is inflamed and painful, why make it worse?
The best thing to do is to stretch the opposing muscles.
Sit down and put your foot on the knee of the opposite leg, grab your toes and curl them down.
Release then fold again about ten times.
Contrary to what you might think, stretching the opposing muscles sends signals to the injured part because everything is interconnected.
When you contract a muscle, the opposite muscle stretches and relaxes in the same way.
If you are in doubt, rate your pain on a scale of 0 to 10 now, and then do this simple exercise.
Practice it a dozen times and then reevaluate your pain.
It will surely have diminished frankly.
Do this exercise several times a day for two weeks.
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Take some vitamin D
Take a winter vitamin D3 cure.
In summer, take advantage of the sun to make it naturally.
Vitamin D is a powerful anti-inflammatory.
Take a high dose of natural vitamin D3 10000UI (#ad) or prolonged sunbathing, and you will find that any pain you feel, whether it’s back pain or your foot discomfort, will start to fade within hours.
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Plantar fasciitis and diet
Be careful what you eat, especially anything that is useless and unhealthy.
Three things should really be avoided:
- refined flour
- refined sugar
- refined oils
They are the direct sources of the inflammatory phenomenon in your body.
If you decide to replace traditional soybean, sunflower, and rapeseed oils, which are not really vegetable oils but chemically treated seeds, you will reap many health benefits.
Prefer olive, avocado, and coconut oil, which are actually vegetable oils and bring many benefits to the body.
Here too you will feel a marked improvement in your pain and eventually forget about plantar fasciitis simply by changing your diet.
Plantar fasciitis natural treatment
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Cold
Apply ice or cold spray (#ad) helps reduce pain and inflammation.
This cold therapy should be carried out several times a day and especially when pain is present.
It is recommended to apply this application 10 minutes every hour when fasciitis appears and then 3 times a day when symptoms subside.
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The heel piece
If your heel is painful, wear a heel protector with a silicone gel pad (#ad).
It protects the area and calms inflammation in the heel, giving you restful walking comfort.
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Plantar aponeurosis insoles
Orthopedic insoles are particularly recommended if you have flat feet or overpronation.
You need them to correct your foot movements and prevent pain.
Go for soles that support the arch of the foot (#ad) to reduce your pain in the feet but also in the lower back and knees.
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The Night Splint
There are splints for plantar fasciitis that are advised to be worn at night.
They are very suitable to avoid contraction of the foot during sleep, which is why you feel pain when you wake up, as soon as you put your foot on the ground.
This breathable and lightweight night splint (#ad) brings tremendous relief and can even solve your fasciitis problem because it supports the fascia, the Achilles tendon, and the calf muscles, and prevents any contraction during your sleep, thus allowing progressive healing of the lesion.
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Magnesium
Relieving plantar fasciitis also involves tendon relaxation.
For this, magnesium is essential.
A 300mg dosage of magnesium bisglycinate (#ad) at bedtime is highly recommended.
This form of magnesium is more assimilable and does not cause any intestinal transit problems.
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Turmeric
Turmeric gets its powerful anti-inflammatory effects from the curcumin it contains.
Taking a turmeric supplement is, therefore, a serious alternative to traditional anti-inflammatories.
Go for a supplement of highly bioavailable curcumin (#ad) to enjoy all its benefits.
Take a cure of about twenty days to evaluate its effectiveness, at the rate of 3 doses per day during meals.
How to cure plantar fasciitis?
The major cause of plantar fasciitis is repetitive excessive tension.
When it declares, it is important to not neglect the rest it requires.
It is not because you are going to interrupt your sports activity for two weeks that you are going to lose your muscle capital.
The main thing here is not to neglect its treatment so that this sudden pain does not become chronic.
So think about correcting the posture of your feet, performing simple exercises to relieve the fascia, eliminating inflammatory foods that increase your pain, and introducing some supplements that will calm the discomfort and treat the injury in depth.
Frequently Asked Questions
What triggers plantar fasciitis?
Plantar fasciitis is the result of overstretching of the fascia.
It can occur especially if you run on too hard surfaces or downhill, if you tend to run on the forefoot or apply a poor running technique.
Of course, wearing the wrong shoes for your activity is a major factor.
Plantar fasciitis how long does it take to heal?
The healing time for plantar fasciitis is highly variable.
It evolves between a few days if it is not neglected to 6 to 8 weeks if it becomes chronic.
Healing is accelerated by rapid treatment, a respected rest period, and appropriate dietary changes.
Which specialist to consult to treat plantar fasciitis?
The first instinct is to consult a podiatrist to assess your plantar fasciitis.
He can prescribe an X-ray, ultrasound, or MRI.
If an anomaly is detected, he will refer you to an orthopedic surgeon.
If he detects problems with tendons, muscles, joints, or ligaments, he will refer you to a rheumatologist, who is a specialist in the musculoskeletal system.
Plantar fasciitis and osteopathy
An osteopath can help you solve your plantar fasciitis problem.
He performs a complete clinical examination and determines the areas of the body that influence your foot.
Thus, he can detect a blockage at different levels (ankle, knee, hip, vertebra).
It can also tell you about poor posture that influences weight distribution on the feet and triggers fasciitis.
* Read more:
10 natural remedies for foot blisters
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