Planter fasciitis: A pain in the heel

This week both myself and Jane, one of the footcare practitioners at the centre, have been inundated with people asking about planter fascitiis and heel pain.

Planter fascitiis is where the thick connective tissue layer on the bottom of the foot that is designed to protect the tendons becomes painful.

Classically the pain is worse in the morning making people hobble getting out of bed. Being on the feet makes the pain worse but in bad cases the pain can be present even when not weight bearing.

Research has suggested that although the condition is an 'itis' (suggesting inflammation) there is no actual inflammatory cells present. The condition, it seems, is more likely due to degeneration in the connective tissue which is the same as other tendon problems such as 'tennis elbow'. 

This time of year is rive with foot pain as people walk around in flip flops which provide next to no support. Even those that are designed to provide some support are not as good as wearing proper shoes.

What's the solution?

Osteopathy and other manual therapy can help with massage and manipulation to the foot. We can identify any mechanical cause for the problem ie./ if you over pronate or supinate in the foot or ankle this can have an effect on the tendons and planter fascia. 

Also because the calf muscles blend into the connective tissue of the foot we also work away from the source of the problem addressing any issues present there.

Planter fascitiis can be tricky to resolve so sometimes we recommend gentle arch supports or gel heel pads to help allow the tissues to recover whilst treatment is being done.

Stretches to the planter fascia and calf work well too.

Is swimming the best form of exercise?

With all this lovely sunshine and holidays coming up patients this week have been talking about wanting to go swimming. Quite often the believe is that swimming is the best form of exercise especially if you have problems with the back. This may not necessarily be the case.

For most people the breast stoke swimming technique is the first choice when swimming. A common problem with this technique is that people have the head lifted out of the water. This places huge amounts of compression on the base of the neck. This overtime can cause joint and disc problems and even lead to nerve pain in the arm and headaches. The extension of the neck also puts the lower spine (the lumbar spine) out of line causing similar problems here. If you suffer from pelvic problems then the action of the 'frog-legs' places a large amount of rotation through the joints which can cause further problems and pain.

If however you have good technique, strong abdominal muscles that support the back and use goggles especially if swimming breast stroke then swimming is ok.

Just as a note if you have been advised that your bones need strengthening eg./ that you're at risk from brittle bones or osteoporosis then swimming will not, unfortunately, help. You need an exercise that is weight bearing and for that walking would be good to do.