Plantar fasciitis. Symptoms, treatment, photos

Plantar or plantar fasciitis of the foot is an inflammatory and degenerative change in the plantar fascia. With improper distribution of the load on the legs, long standing, and intense sports, every tenth person on the planet experiences acute pain in the heel. The disease is treated with pharmaceuticals, physiotherapeutic procedures and traditional methods. At home, simple recipes are easy to prepare and do not require any money.

Plantar fasciitis affects many people, and it can develop in anyone. The risk group includes athletes, people with excess weight, flat feet, and “standing” work. Inflammatory processes in the heels occur in patients with diabetes.

Fascia is a connective membrane that covers organs, vessels, nerves and performs a supporting and trophic function. When inflammation occurs, the patient begins to experience severe, acute pain in the heel area. It gets worse in the morning and then goes away.

At the first signs of fasciitis, accurate diagnosis and mandatory treatment are necessary. There are many methods for relieving pain:

traditional medicine;
physiotherapy;
medicinal;
blocking the disease with injections;
surgical intervention.

Fasciitis is popularly called a heel spur. Calling the disease that way is not entirely correct. A spur is a bone growth, a consequence of plantar fasciitis that has not been cured.

Home remedies

At the first signs of fasciitis - acute pain in the heel area, you need to carry out the following procedures:

Give your legs more rest. The load on the feet should be minimal.
Conduct a shoe inspection. Avoid tight, high heels. Due to wearing uncomfortable shoes, boots, sandals, a person’s body weight is incorrectly distributed on the feet, and blood circulation in the lower extremities is impaired. Tissue elasticity is lost, and the first symptoms of the disease appear.
The pain will subside if you apply an ice compress to your feet.
Massage helps relieve acute pain. You will need a plastic bottle of water placed in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. It is used to massage the sole of the foot. Cold relieves pain, massage strengthens ligaments.
Make to order or buy orthopedic insoles and orthopedic shoes.
Simple foot exercises. It relieves tension in the leg and relaxes the ligaments. Stretch your lower legs and toes for 5 minutes. With the help of simple exercises, the muscles of the foot are strengthened.
Using a splint or plaster. If the pain returns and prevents you from living normally, it is recommended to wear a splint at night. With it, the sole takes the correct position. You can't put any weight on your leg with a cast. After removal, 2 weeks later you will need to undergo a course of physiotherapeutic procedures.

For acute pain, heating pads should not be used. Heat can provoke an increase in the inflammatory process. If a hot compress helps, it should be alternated with ice.

Pharmacy creams and ointments

The pharmacy offers a whole line of creams and ointments that effectively act on the heel tissue. Treatment of foot fasciitis is possible at home with the following medications:

Voltaren;
Diclofenac;
prednisolone ointment;
Viprosal;
Cotractubex;
Chondroxide.

External local drugs are well tolerated. May cause side effects. Before starting use, consult your doctor and read the instructions carefully.

Medicines

If inflammation bothers the patient for a long time, and creams do not help, the patient is offered injection therapy. The surgeon injects corticosteroids into the heel tissue with a needle, which temporarily block inflammation for up to 6 months. After the procedures, the patient quickly recovers.

For injections are used:

Diprospan;
Hydrocortisone;
Kenalog.

Traditional medicine recipes

Treatment with folk remedies is used by most people who have experienced acute heel pain. There are different ways to combat fasciitis: medicinal baths, homemade ointments, compresses. Components that relieve pain and inflammation are found in every home:

Baths of sea salt, ordinary rock salt, with the addition of chamomile decoctions, burdock leaves, plantain, dodder, elecampane, woodlice, nettle, celandine.
Baths with iodine. Add 4 tablespoons of iodine to 4 liters of water.
A compress of garlic cloves acts as an anti-inflammatory agent. Keep the bandage with the mixture on the sore spot for no more than 30 minutes.
Medical bile compress. Before starting the procedure, the foot is steamed and wiped dry. Bile is applied to a natural, preferably linen, strip of fabric and applied to the sore sole. The foot is wrapped in film and a sock is put on. The compress is left overnight.
Pharmacy Bishofite is known as a drug with a high content of microelements.
Rubbing sore spots with tinctures of pine nuts or red elderberry.
It is advisable to use a compress made from a mixture of laundry soap and chopped horseradish before bed. Leave the mixture on the heel until the morning, after wrapping the foot with film and putting on a sock.
A simple method for getting rid of heel pain is a compress of unsalted lard twisted in a meat grinder. Apply it to the heel and leave it overnight.
Propolis ointment has anti-inflammatory properties. The recipe is simple: melt 25 g of propolis and 200 g of butter in a steam bath, then apply warm to the heel. Put socks on your feet and leave the ointment until the morning.
A cake made from honey and wheat flour in a 1:1 ratio is used as a compress. With constant use, metabolic processes improve, pain goes away and swelling of the heel tissue decreases.
An ointment based on propolis with the addition of petroleum jelly and butter in a 1:2:2 ratio with an integrated treatment approach relieves heel pain, stopping tissue inflammation.

Folk remedies for plantar fasciitis help relieve pain, but require complex treatment and a mandatory course. Before applying an ointment or compress, baths are necessary. They soothe, relieve pain, and steam the skin of the feet. Thanks to the baths, the ingredients of the ointment or compress are lighter and penetrate the skin faster.

Contraindications to home methods

Treating plantar fasciitis at home is not suitable for everyone. Not every person will strictly follow the necessary stages of treatment. The inflammation will be blocked for a while, but at the first serious load on the ankle the pain will return. There is a possibility of allergic reactions to one of the components of the mixtures.

Practice and statistics on the number of people who have gotten rid of fasciitis at home indicate that it is possible to be treated effectively without visiting a doctor, using pharmaceutical drugs and folk remedies. In combination with ointments, compresses, changes in daily routine, and nutrition, most patients overcome the disease.

About 10% of patients did not achieve positive results for various reasons. The main reason: a heel spur is one of the symptoms of a serious disease. Treatment of heel fasciitis should include complex therapy of the disease that became the source of the spur.

Traditional medicine offers many ways, in addition to drug treatment, to overcome the disease:

electrophoresis;
laser therapy;
UHF, UVT therapy, ultrasound;
magnetotherapy.

If the fasciitis returns and the pain gets worse, your dermatologist may suggest a blockade method using corticosteroid injections. Their effect is assessed ambiguously; after the course, complications are possible in the form of suppuration, necrosis, inflammation of the tendons, and in extreme cases, rupture of the fascia.

Surgery is a last resort method to combat heel inflammation. It is acceptable in cases where all of the above methods have been tried and have not brought results.

The common disease “heel spur” also has another medical name – plantar fasciitis. Sometimes you can find another formulation of the diagnosis – plantar fasciitis of the foot. Patients experiencing this disease have an inflammatory process in the elastic tissues of the foot.

A few words about the structure of the foot

The foot is a huge mechanism that consists of many ligaments, bones and other parts. So, there are only 26 bones here, of which the largest is the heel. The largest concentration of all ligaments, blood vessels and nerve endings is concentrated on the heel tubercle. There is also a large ligament - the fascia (Achilles tendon), which is responsible for holding the heel in the required condition.

It is the main shock absorber of the sole and takes on the main load. It is not surprising that sometimes this ligament experiences overload. The weakest point of the fascia is the area where it is attached to the tubercle, and accordingly, problems arise most of all here.

Reasons

Since the main reason for the deterioration of the ligament tissue is overload, then, accordingly, all active people, both men and women, are most susceptible to the disease. But there are also risk groups, or provoking factors, which are discussed below.

Flat feet

Violation of the anatomy of the foot sooner or later leads to various joint diseases, in any part of the skeleton, from the foot to the cervical vertebrae. With congenital flat feet, fasciitis appears somewhat more often, and its therapy involves only reducing the manifestation of the acute condition. In other words, in this case, both flat feet and plantar fasciitis should be treated.

Overweight

The load that obese people carry every day can constantly undermine the condition of the ligamentous tissue in the foot. With the accumulation of provoking factors, the situation becomes more complicated and an inflammatory process develops in certain areas of the foot.

Professional sports activities

Athletes, like no one else, are familiar with diseases of the musculoskeletal system firsthand. Of course, their immune system is in excellent condition and constant monitoring by trainers gives tangible results. But even the most persistent give in under the pressure of a mind-blowing load, and the body simply cannot stand it.

Uncomfortable shoes

Usually we are talking about women, since only they are able to wear beautiful but tight high-heeled shoes for the sake of fashion. High heels are also a provoking factor, since the area of the foot decreases, but the mass (weight) of the woman remains the same.

The connection between heel spurs and heels is obvious. Experts never tire of repeating that shoes should be comfortable if a woman wants to lead an active life into old age.

Age

Over the years, all ongoing processes in the body worsen. Thus, blood circulation in the lower extremities is significantly reduced. This leads to a lack of nutritional components in the tissues of the joints of the lower extremities, and plantar fasciitis of the foot is just one of the possible problems that may arise.

Metabolic diseases

Fasciitis is often a secondary disease in people with diabetes, lupus, gout, or atherosclerosis. Such a patient must undergo treatment from several specialists at once.

Injuries

Fortunately, the heel area is extremely rarely injured (more often this happens in professional athletes), because the foot is protected from external influences by the shoe sole.

Symptoms

Plantar fasciitis can be diagnosed before going to the doctor. Such patients experience severe pain in the heel area in the morning, when the whole body and joints are rested. Gradually, as you move, the pain begins to subside, and by the evening it completely disappears. But as soon as a person rests a little longer, unpleasant symptoms appear again.

Gradually, the time when the pain disappears will begin to decrease, and it will become firmly established in a person’s life. Severe discomfort also occurs while walking, especially when going up and down stairs. In these situations, the fascia is stretched to its maximum, and the inflamed tissue manifests itself with pain.

You need to understand that osteophytes - bone formations - often occur with a heel spur. They bring excruciating pain because they touch the nerves running here. The situation can become critical, and it will be difficult for the patient to simply stand on his leg, not to mention everyday movements and walking. A person tries to lean on something, and gradually crutches appear in his life. Also, manifestations of fasciitis include a change in the gait of patients.

Diagnostics

Patients who complain of pain in the foot are most often referred by specialists for x-rays, the results of which will show abnormalities in bone growth. Osteophytes are also clearly visible on the x-ray. But x-rays are not a sufficient research method for foot diseases.

It is strongly recommended to also undergo an MRI to assess the condition of the soft tissues. So, only on MRI can you see internal swelling and localization of the inflammatory process, as well as pinched nerves, if any. And of course, MRI images make it possible to exclude or confirm other pathologies.

MRI for this disease is considered a more informative diagnostic method than x-rays. The pictures will make it possible to see the heel “in cross-section”, in several projections at once

Treatment

The sooner a patient begins treatment for plantar fasciitis of the foot, the greater the chance of a full recovery without consequences. When postponing a visit to the doctor, the patient will experience deterioration in the condition of the foot, destructive and destructive processes, and then the likelihood of disability increases significantly. So, all the recommendations and remedies prescribed by the doctor should be used.

What is the basis for effective therapy for plantar fasciitis of the foot:

Load limitation. This disease is so serious that it makes sense not only to give up routine housework that requires being on your feet, but also to take sick leave altogether. In other words, the legs, at least at first, need almost complete rest, as with fractures.
Medicines. Most often, experts prescribe anti-inflammatory drugs to patients, designed to reduce the activity of the pathological process in the tissues of the joint. The complex of oral medications may also include analgesics and antispasmodics, which also reduce the sensitivity of this area of the foot, and therefore improve the patient’s well-being.
Therapy with local remedies. Usually this involves the use of various ointments, gels and creams on the foot area. You should not neglect them, because they can significantly improve the condition of the soft tissues and ligaments in the foot. Sometimes they work even better than oral tablets because they are applied directly to the affected area. In addition, in this way only a small part of the active substance is absorbed into the blood, which means that the patient is unlikely to encounter side effects.
Physiotherapy. Physiotherapeutic methods for this disease will help not only speed up regenerative processes, but also reduce the size of osteophytes. For this effect, shock wave therapy is considered the most useful. The waves passing through the skin promote the splitting of bone formations, and gradually they will completely disappear.
Orthoses. Supportive orthoses are usually used at night. Their shape is different. Some look like a boot, with the foot in a slightly bent position. Others look like cut-off socks. This will help gently stretch the tendon and prevent pain in the morning.
Exercise therapy. Therapeutic exercise in this case is designed to improve the condition of tissues and blood circulation. This kind of gymnastics is not for muscles. The exercises must be demonstrated by a specialist. It is also better to undergo the first sessions of exercise therapy under his supervision, who will evaluate not only the correctness of execution, but also the patient’s sensations. Gradually, the load can be increased, but only with the consent and recommendation of the instructor.
Injections. If the above methods give little effect, then use corticosteroid injections directly into the inflamed ligament.

Surgical intervention

It is required in extremely rare cases. Thus, about 70% of all patients recover with the help of conservative treatment methods, and only with severe, persistent pain can the doctor raise the question of the need for surgery. What can a doctor do? So, the surgeon can slightly separate the tendon from the bone tissue, but this will weaken the arch of the foot, and some of the functions of this joint may be weakened or even lost.

The second method is a “calf release,” where the surgeon lengthens the calf muscle during surgery. Today, minimally invasive procedures are almost always used, meaning the surgeon gains access to the tissues of the foot through small punctures rather than completely cutting through the skin tissue. This method is less traumatic and speeds up the rehabilitation period.

This is what the simplest orthosis used for plantar fasciitis of the foot looks like. It does not need to be worn all the time, but several hours a day, more often at night.

Traditional methods of treatment

You should treat them as assistants, and not as the only true methods of treating heel spurs. Most often, such therapy involves the use of compresses and baths to help reduce inflammation and prevent micro-tears of the ligament, which often happens with plantar fasciitis.

The simplest foot bath recipe is this. You need to pour water into the container and add salt (at the rate of 1 tablespoon per liter of water). You need to soak your feet in salt water for 20–30 minutes. Salt not only helps to increase the elasticity of the ligament tissue, but also expands the pores, and therefore such a bath can be used before applying a healing cream.

There is another way to improve the condition of ligamentous tissue. To do this, take 2 handfuls of potato peelings and flax seeds, add 2 glasses of water and boil to a thick paste. Now you need to wait for it to cool to a warm temperature. You need to keep your feet in this paste for 20 minutes, and then rinse your feet and dry them. By the way, it is very useful to do this procedure before gymnastics or massage, since such a bath warms up all the tissues and increases their elasticity, preparing them for exercise.

Let's sum it up

Plantar fasciitis of the foot is a disease that can be easily treated, but if not seen by a doctor in a timely manner, it can leave unpleasant memories (complications) for life. Complex therapy for this diagnosis will speed up recovery and improve the prognosis for an active life.

Plantar fasciitis is a slowly developing disease, and in the initial stages, attention is usually not paid to it. If any unpleasant sensations arise, it seems that your legs are simply tired, and everything will go away as soon as they rest. However, over time, the pain only gets worse, especially after rest.

Heel fasciitis is more common in women, older adults, and athletes. According to the international classification of diseases, the disease is given the name plantar fascial fibromatosis. Popularly, plantar fasciitis is called a “heel spur”; the scientific name is plantar fasciitis. At its core, this is an inflammatory process in the heel bone. As the disease progresses, tissue compaction occurs, and a bony protrusion appears at the site of salt deposition.

Fasciitis of the foot causes a person’s gait to change, and permanent lameness may develop, and it is also very unpleasant, at first the pain is present only when walking, and then at rest too.

Causes of the disease

Elderly people often encounter a disease such as plantar fasciitis, the reasons for which lie in severe and regular overload of the ligamentous apparatus. That is why professional ballerinas and athletes often suffer from this pathology.

The disease has an inflammatory onset, but after some time the disease progresses, and as a result, degenerative processes begin to develop. This can be caused by:

excess weight, as obese people place increased stress on their feet;
the presence of osteochondrosis in the lumbar spine;
wearing tight shoes and high heels;
inflammatory processes in the joints;
flat feet;
poor blood supply to the lower extremities.

In order to cure this disease, it is necessary to find out for what reason it developed, since fasciitis is only a consequence, if you try to treat it, you may not achieve the result.

It is necessary to eliminate the root cause of the pathology, and after that you can begin to treat heel fasciitis using conservative methods.

Clinical picture

The symptoms of plantar fasciitis cannot be ignored or confused. The clinic is quite bright:

pain in the heels or entire feet;
burning sensation when placing weight on the heel;
swelling of the ankle and ankle joint;
pain in the Achilles tendon area.

To confirm the diagnosis, you need to do an ultrasound (the photo shows what it looks like), but you can begin to suspect plantar fasciitis on your own. Severe sharp pain in the morning is the main symptom of the disease.

During the day the pain becomes less intense, but gets worse towards night. It may intensify after prolonged sitting and sudden rise. Also a striking symptom is flabbiness of the arch of the foot. Since the symptoms of plantar fasciitis are more than typical, there are usually no difficulties with diagnosis.

Therapy for fasciitis

When the cause of the disease has been identified and, if possible, eliminated, treatment can begin. It is primarily aimed at reducing pain.

For plantar fasciitis, treatment is prescribed by an orthopedic traumatologist or surgeon. To relieve the inflammatory process, homeopathic or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are prescribed. Provided that the ligamentous apparatus has not lost its elasticity, even the resulting bone growth will not cause pain. But if there is severe pain, anti-inflammatory drugs must be taken for a long time. As for local treatment, compresses and...

The use of physiotherapy gives positive results:

If conservative treatment of plantar fasciitis is ineffective, then the question of surgical intervention arises, but according to statistics, only 70% of operations can be considered successful.

The operation is performed under local anesthesia - it is injected into the spine, thereby blocking sensitivity. The operation can be traditional (open) or endoscopic (minimally invasive). The latter is naturally less traumatic, and the recovery process is easier and faster.

The following complications are possible after surgery:

the nerve may be injured during the operation;
the postoperative wound takes a long time to heal and it may fester;
pain may intensify;
nerve cells can form a benign tumor.

Treatment with traditional methods

How to treat plantar fasciitis at home? The beneficial properties of ginger relieve inflammation and relieve pain. Grate the ginger root, take 1 tbsp. l. the resulting mass and fill it with water (glass). Boil the product for 2-3 minutes, remove from heat and let stand for 10 minutes, then drink throughout the day.

Turmeric is also a fairly strong pain reliever. For a glass of warm milk you will need 1 tsp. turmeric, mix it well in milk and drink. If you don't like the taste, you can add honey.
Fish oil will help relieve muscle stiffness and inflammation, and it also contains beneficial omega-3 fatty acids that help reduce pain. Eating fish or drinking fish oil is very helpful for plantar fasciitis.
Cayenne pepper is also a good pain reliever and you can use it to make foot baths. Just add a pinch of pepper to a bowl of water. Make sure that the water is not hot, otherwise it may cause skin irritation. The bath should be taken for 10 minutes, then be sure to rinse your feet with warm water. If your feet have cuts or inflammation, you should not use pepper. If the bath causes discomfort and causes severe burning, you should immediately stop the procedure and rinse your feet with clean water.
The “king” of all home remedies is apple cider vinegar; it perfectly relieves pain and treats inflammation. Take a glass of warm water, add 1 tsp to it. honey and 1 tbsp. l. apple cider vinegar, stir and drink. Important: do not drink apple cider vinegar without diluting it with water - this can cause various gastrointestinal diseases. Apple cider vinegar can also be used for baths: add 2 tbsp to a bowl of water. l. and soak your feet for 5-10 minutes.

Folk remedies (like medications) are also aimed at relieving pain. However, to treat plantar fasciitis, the main thing is to eliminate its cause.

Disease prevention

To prevent fasciitis, you must follow these guidelines:

watch your weight;
before training, stretch, warm up your calf muscles and feet, especially for runners;
increase the mileage for the race once a week and by no more than 10%;
if you run on asphalt, choose good running shoes with springy soles;
do not wear shoes that are too narrow or loose, they should support your feet well;
Take a stop regularly in the evenings;
Once a week, relax your feet in a bath with ginger or any medicinal herbs that have an anti-inflammatory effect.

Remember that a progressive and protracted disease is more difficult to treat. Therefore, at the first unpleasant symptoms, consult a doctor for diagnosis.

Understanding the etiology of the problem and directing treatment accordingly is the key to successfully treating plantar fasciitis. Careful attention must be paid during the examination and physical examination to ensure that other possible causes of heel pain are not missed. A step-by-step, evidence-based approach to treatment will help achieve good results. In this article we will look at how to treat plantar fasciitis.

If your first few steps out of bed in the morning cause severe pain in the heel of your foot, you may have plantar fasciitis, an overuse injury that affects the bottom of your foot. A diagnosis of plantar fasciitis means that you have inflammation of the tough, fibrous bands of tissue (fascia) that connect your heel bone to the base of your toes.

You are more likely to develop this condition if you are female, overweight, or have a job that requires you to walk a lot or stand on hard surfaces. You're also at risk if you walk or run if you have tight calf muscles, which limit how far you can bend your ankles. People with very flat feet or very high arches are also more prone to plantar fasciitis.

The condition usually begins gradually with mild tenderness in the heel bone, often called stone bruise. You're more likely to feel it after (not during) your workout. The pain classically occurs immediately upon rising in the morning and after a period of sitting.If you don't treat plantar fasciitis, it can become a chronic condition. You may not be able to maintain your activity level, and you may develop symptoms of foot, knee, hip, and back problems because plantar fasciitis can change your walking conditions. .

Stretching is the best treatment for plantar fasciitis. It may help to try to keep weight on your leg until the initial inflammation goes away. You can also apply ice to the sore area for 20 minutes four times a day to help relieve your symptoms. Often, your doctor will prescribe non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen or naproxen. Home exercises to stretch the Achilles tendon and plantar fascia are the mainstay of treatment and reduce the likelihood of recurrence.

In one exercise, you lean forward against a wall with one knee and heel on the ground. Your other knee is bent. Your heel ligament and arch of your foot are stretched when you bend over. Hold for 10 seconds, then relax and straighten up. Repeat 20 times for each painful heel. It is important that the knee is fully extended on the stretched side.

In another exercise, you lean forward onto a tabletop with your legs spread, one leg in front of the other. Bend your knees and squat down, keeping your heels on the ground as much as possible. Your heel ligaments and leg arches will be stretched. Hold for 10 seconds, relax and straighten up. Repeat 20 times.

About 90% of people with plantar fasciitis experience significant improvement after two months of initial treatment. You may be advised to use shoes with shock-absorbing soles or to have a ready-made device inserted into your shoes, like a rubber heel pad. Your leg can be glued in a certain position.

If your plantar fasciitis continues after several months of conservative treatment, your doctor may inject your heel with a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medication. .

If you still have symptoms, you may need to wear a cast for two to three weeks or a positional splint while you sleep. In some cases, surgery is necessary for tissues with chronic tightness.

How to treat plantar fasciitis with medication

1. Take non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Pain relievers such as ibuprofen, naproxen, and aspirin can help reduce inflammation and provide some relief to your foot. Choose tablet or cream form. If you decide to take the pill, be sure to eat something beforehand. When using the cream, simply spread it on the affected area and let it soak.

2. Visit a physical therapist. Before moving forward with surgery to relieve the symptoms of your plantar fasciitis, consult with a physical therapist to determine if your condition can be treated with a stretching and rehabilitation program. An appointment with a physical therapist should be scheduled after exhausting all non-drug treatments listed above and before resorting to invasive medical procedures such as surgery.

3. Corticosteroid injections. Corticosteroid injections can relieve the symptoms of plantar fasciitis by temporarily reducing pain. However, these injections are not a long-term solution to the problem. Keep in mind that although they are much less invasive than surgery, the shots can still be painful. Excessive needling can also cause heel damage.

4. Take a course. This procedure sends sound waves into the painful area to relax the muscles in your leg. Shockwave therapy is usually prescribed for people who have not seen any results from home treatments for more than six to twelve months. Side effects include bruising, swelling, pain and numbness.

5. How to treat plantar fasciitis with surgery. Surgery to release the plantar fascia. If none of the above methods have helped relieve your symptoms within a year, plantar fascia release treatment may be needed to cure your symptoms. This surgical process ultimately releases tension and inflammation in the plantar fascial ligament by cutting off part of the ligament itself.

Be patient with non-surgical procedures before choosing surgery. Allow yourself at least six to twelve months trying non-invasive treatment before you decide to proceed with surgery.

There are several risks associated with plantar fascia release surgery. These include: nerve breakdown or tunnel syndrome, development of neuroma, persistent heel pain and swelling, infection, long recovery time, and delayed ability to heal.

Stretching program

Place your sore leg on top of your other leg.
Using the hand on the affected side, grasp your affected leg and pull your toes back toward your shin. This creates tension and stretch in the arch and plantar fascia.
Check the correct position of the stretch by gently rubbing your thumb on the side above the arch of the affected leg. The plantar fascia should be as hard as a guitar string.
Hold the stretch for up to 10 seconds. 10 reps.

Perform at least three repetitions of stretches per day. But don't stretch too often. The most important times to stretch are before you take your first step in the morning and after a period of prolonged sitting.

Anti-inflammatory drugs:

Anti-inflammatory medications can help reduce inflammation in the arch and heel of your feet. .
Use the medicine as directed on the package. If you tolerate it well, take it daily for two weeks and then stop for one week. If symptoms worsen or return, restart for two weeks, then stop.

Arch support:

The inserts provide additional arch support and a soft cushion.
How to Treat Plantar Fasciitis Based on the individual needs of your foot, you may need custom inserts.

Additional stretch, Achilles tendon stretch:

Place a shoe rest under the affected foot.
Place your affected leg behind your unaffected leg with your toes pointing back toward the heel of your other foot.
Lean against the wall.
Bend your front knee, keeping your back leg straight and your heel firmly planted on the ground.
Hold the stretch for 10 seconds. Repeat 10 times.
Stretch at least three times a day. ?

Plantar fasciitis refers to an inflammatory process affecting the plantar fascia. This formation is a dense tissue bundle that provides smooth cushioning of the foot when walking. Plantar fasciitis in the foot area causes a person a lot of problems and discomfort, accompanied by pain and gait disturbance.

The human foot experiences constant dynamic and static load. That is why it is so important to diagnose and treat this disease in a timely manner.

In most cases, the cause of this pathology is trauma to the plantar fascia. Other causes of the disease include:

Staying in the same position for a long time. People whose work activity involves prolonged sitting or standing on their feet are at risk. Also, professional athletes (weightlifters, track and field athletes, bodybuilders) are susceptible to plantar fasciitis.
Having flat feet. The flat arch of the foot receives uneven load, as a result of which the fascia of the foot suffers.
Wearing shoes without arch support. This type of footwear includes sports sneakers, flip-flops and flip-flops.
Excess body weight. If a person has excessive body weight, the load on his feet increases several times.
Presence of sports activities. Intense training has a damaging effect on the foot apparatus. Plantar fasciitis is a common pathology among people who play sports professionally.
Congenital weakness of the ligamentous apparatus of the foot.
Age-related degenerative-dystrophic changes in the soft tissues of the foot.
Disruption of metabolic processes and blood circulation in the sole area. People suffering from diabetes, gout and atherosclerosis are susceptible to this condition.

How fasciitis of the foot occurs, its symptoms and its treatment will be discussed in detail below.

Symptoms

A characteristic symptom of this disease is pain, which tends to intensify with load on the foot. The pain is most often localized on the plantar side of the heel, as well as along the back surface of the heel bone.

Pain syndrome with fasciitis makes itself felt in the morning. The intensity of the pain often forces a person to stop moving and put his feet on a hill. The inflammatory process with fasciitis affects both feet, but can also be unilateral.

The main symptoms of this disease include:

discomfort and pain in the heel area;
limited movement;
burning sensation in the heel area;
deformation of the foot due to thickening of the plantar fascia;
forced flexion of the toes (characteristic sign);
the formation of a compaction center on the plantar side of the heel.

A potential complication of fasciitis is a heel spur, which develops as a result of increased pressure on the foot. If a person discovers signs of a heel spur, then in 85% of cases we are talking about the formation of an inflammatory process in the plantar fascia.

Diagnostics

The primary link in diagnosing this disease is the collection and analysis of complaints that a person makes. In this case, the doctor takes into account the nature of the pain, its duration, location, and the presence of other symptoms of the disease. Also, it is important for the medical specialist to obtain information regarding the patient’s lifestyle and work activity.

After this, the doctor will conduct a visual examination and palpation of the feet. An important point is the presence of flat feet or other pathologies of the musculoskeletal system. The following studies are used as additional diagnostic methods:

X-ray examination;
ultrasound diagnostics;
magnetic resonance or computed tomography.

An X-ray examination may reveal a bone growth in the heel area (spur), as well as pockets of calcium deposits.

Treatment

Therapy for this disease includes medication, physiotherapeutic techniques and surgery. However, the latter method is a last resort and is used when conservative therapy is ineffective.

Drug therapy

Drug therapy for plantar fasciitis includes the following groups of medications:

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). These medications are mandatory to take, since the basis of the pathological process in this disease is the inflammatory process.
Painkillers (analgesics) drugs. If a person experiences severe pain during physical activity or at rest, he is prescribed painkillers.
Ointments and creams for topical use containing an anti-inflammatory component.

Physiotherapeutic treatment

Methods of hardware physiotherapy are widely used as part of the complex treatment of this disease. The following methods are highly effective:

Shock wave technique. This type of hardware physiotherapy involves the impact of high-frequency acoustic waves on the soft tissues of the foot area. As a result of this effect, local blood circulation improves, the intensity of the inflammatory process decreases, and pain and discomfort are eliminated.
Magnetotherapy. The effect of the magnetic field has an anti-edematous, anti-inflammatory and restorative effect.
Phonophoresis. This technique is complex and involves the simultaneous influence of physical and chemical factors. With phonophoresis, hydrocortisone ointment is administered using ultrasonic waves. This combination ensures deep penetration of the ointment components into the soft tissues of the heel area. Hydrocortisone ointment has an anti-inflammatory, anti-edema and analgesic effect.

Recommendations regarding each technique are given to each person individually. A pronounced therapeutic effect is achieved only with the simultaneous use of medications and physiotherapeutic procedures.

Surgical treatment

If conservative therapy does not bring the expected result, the person is recommended to undergo surgery. Surgery for fasciitis is performed under local anesthesia. For this purpose, spinal anesthesia is used, causing temporary loss of sensation in the lower extremities.

Modern technologies and the latest equipment allow medical specialists to perform short-term and high-precision operations. Endoscopy techniques are used for the surgical treatment of this disease. During the operation, the doctor carefully crosses the plantar fascia and, using a special instrument, removes the bony outgrowth in the heel bone (spur).

The duration of the rehabilitation period after this intervention varies depending on the severity of the pathological process. Some people who undergo surgery for fasciitis may experience complications such as:

traumatic damage to nerve trunks during surgery;
increased pain syndrome;
formation of a benign nerve tumor (neuroma);
prolonged healing of the surgical wound or its suppuration.

If one of the complications develops, the person will need additional drug therapy and additional rehabilitation.

Prevention

It is much easier to prevent any disease than to deal with its consequences and complications. In order to prevent the occurrence of fasciitis, it is recommended to follow these tips:

use comfortable orthopedic shoes that have arch support or good shock absorption or insoles.
It is recommended to change sports shoes at least once every 2 seasons;
fight excess body weight;
do not jog on asphalt surfaces;
train the flexibility of the ankle ligaments.

Treatment of fasciitis, especially if it has become chronic, becomes more and more difficult every year. Requires massive drug therapy in combination with physiotherapeutic procedures. If a person’s leg begins to hurt and discomfort in the foot area begins to bother him, he is recommended to immediately seek medical help and undergo a comprehensive examination.