Plantar Fasciitis

Plantar Fasciitis is a term we have heard around, but we may not know what it is, what causes it, or how to get rid of it.  Are you ready to find out?

What is plantar fasciitis?  Plantar fasciitis is simply the inflammation of the plantar fascia.  What!??  Let's break it down to simpler terms... Fascia is connective tissue in the body.  It surrounds muscle tissue, thickens to create ligaments and tendons, and generally does a lot of support and structuring/organizing of the body. The plantar fascia is the connective tissue located on the bottom of the foot (the plantar surface, or the sole of the foot if you prefer).  The plantar fascia, along with the muscles that control positioning of the foot and the toes, is responsible for creating the arch of the foot (which is actually more like a dome or multiple arches) along with the springy nature of the foot (during activities like running, walking, and jumping).  When there are too many restrictions in the tissue, it gets irritated and inflamed (too much blood supply), and painful.  Many times the foot pain will be experienced either early in the morning (as one gets out of bed), or late at night (after work).  Sometimes waiting out the discomfort works, but usually not... and plantar fasciitis can become a chronic condition that plagues people for years.
What causes plantar fasciitis?  It can be caused by many different things, but usually it comes from either over working the foot (by too much activity), or from the foot being too bound up and not being able to move properly.  Let's tackle these, each in turn...
If you stand on your feet all day long, the muscles of the lower leg and foot as well as the fascia of the foot are active that whole time.  They are all working hard to not only move you around, but to provide a shock absorbing foundation on which to support the weight of the entire body.  They can do this for a period of time (days, weeks, months, or even years) without much rest, but eventually the fascia will take more work on as the muscles get overloaded.  If the fascia is over worked, it will get irritated and inflammation will occur.  Usually the fascia thickens as it takes on more of the work (to provide more structural support), and blood flow through thick fascia is even worse in regard to alleviating inflammation.
How do we get rid of plantar fasciitis?  The goal here is to soften, spread, and lengthen the tissues on the bottom of the foot, and the associated muscles that move the foot and toes.  There are many ways to do this, and treatment massage therapy is one of these ways.  Once the foot is soft and flexible again, it will be pain free.  The goal then is to keep it soft and flexible so that you never experience that pain again.

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