Did you know 83% of active adults will suffer from plantar fasciitis in their lifetime? Commonly runners and avid walkers can experience symptoms of plantar fasciitis. Are you experiencing pain in your foot after waking up? Feeling frustrated with the pain in your foot limiting your exercise routine? Although it’s an annoying and painful condition it CAN be treated.

Research states in general 80% to 90% of individuals with plantar fasciitis respond well to conservative treatment over a period of 6 to 12 months. There isn’t a magic pill to take or someone else to do the work to get your symptoms to resolve, but rather a consistent approach to address the areas of limitation, restriction and symptom relief to provide your body with the ability to restore function in your feet and prevent these symptoms from happening again.

What is Plantar Fasciitis?

Inflammation of the thick connective tissue band called the plantar fascia. The plantar fascia is a connective tissue all the way from your heel to your toe on the bottom of the foot. Most commonly plantar fasciitis will present with symptoms at the heel. Symptoms of plantar fasciitis typically will cause a stabbing pain in the bottom of your foot near the heel. The pain is usually the worst with the first few steps after awakening, although it can also be triggered by long periods of standing or when you get up after sitting. The pain is usually worse after exercise, not during it.

As much as we want to pinpoint down the cause of symptoms to one specific thing, it’s really more of a multifactorial situation. Common risk factors include:

• Age. Plantar fasciitis is most common between the ages of 40 and 60.
• Certain types of exercise. Such as long-distance running or activities placing a lot of stress on your heel and attached tissue may contribute to developing symptoms.
• Foot mechanics. Flat feet, a high arch, abnormal pattern of walking or increased force with steps, and shoe type can affect the way weight is distributed when you're standing and doing activities.
• Obesity. Excess pounds put extra stress on your plantar fascia.
• Occupations that you spend many hours on your feet. Factory workers, teachers and others who spend most of their work hours walking or standing on hard surfaces can develop symptoms on the plantar fascia.

Most young runners experience symptoms of plantar fasciitis due to overtraining. For those individuals consider making a few modifications to training plans. Did your training significantly increase recently? Maybe dial back the training and avoid sprinting and uphill running temporarily and avoid running on hard surfaces for the time being to help reduce pain.

So, do you have eight minutes?

Eight minutes to address your symptoms, restore your joint and muscle and tissue health and get back to your exercise routine pain free! As mentioned earlier there are many factors that can play a role in the onset and symptoms of plantar fasciitis, but starting with the following steps can help reduce pain, help healing and prevent it from happening again. To address your symptoms you will need to restore motion of the joint of the big toe (first metatarsophalangeal), stretch and restore adequate movement of the calf muscles (gastrocnemius-soleus complex) and mobilize the plantar fascia and intrinsic muscles of the foot.

Restore Motion

2 minutes with a tennis ball or lacrosse ball rolling out the plantar fascia to tolerance
2 minutes of the big toe extension stretch and mobilization

Change the Input to Your Body

2 minute/leg foam rolling the calf musculature
1 minute each leg calf stretch

Most people don’t know how to stay healthy and fit without getting hurt. At Inside Out Strength and Performance we provide a clear plan to get you in the best shape of your life, without getting injured, so that you can be active and confident that you’ll feel your best for years to come.

We help North County San Diego’s active adults and runners dealing with pain or injury get back to living a pain-free, strong, and confident life.

We are the Strength Docs who help active adults and runners live a strong, confident, and pain-free life. Fill out our contact form here to get a clear plan and get started.