How to manage Plantar Fascitis? - Dr. Rajkannan Pandurangan

There is no one best treatment that can fit in well with all the patients. Different patients will respond to different forms of treatment. But people who are having acute plantar fasciitis pain, for example the pain that is existing for about one to two weeks. It is better to take conservative treatment which includes rest and wearing of soft heeled slippers and slippers should be worn inside the house as well. Application of ice should be in such a way that the heel part is in contact with the ice and it should be done for 7 to 10 mionjutes,3 or 4 times a day. That will help in reducing the inflammation in this part. People who do not get benefited with that can also try with some anti-inflammatory medicines by consulting your doctor but if the pain is persisting for say even after 1 month it does not subside, then physiotherapy can play a major role in subsiding the pain. So in the physiotherapy perspective, we can identify the source of the pain. Is it the inflammation that is causing the pain or is it the plantar fascia that is tight which is pulling eh bone that is causing the pain, or the hypermobility in the joint that is causing the pain or is it the collapsed arch that is dealt in making the bone in contact with the ground in causing the pain or is it the myofacial structure that is the tight calf muscles or tight hamstrings that is causing pain. The physiotherapists will try to identify the biomechanical source of the pain and then he will give adequate treatment. Treatment will be plantar fascia release or your fascial release. Sometimes we even do dry needling technique in order to loosen the muscles of the foot as well as the calf. Apart from this there is one more technique called as stepping technique where the arch will be supported if the alignment of the foot will be corrected in order to reduce the stress levels over the plantar fascia. The exercise that the patient must do at home is the regular stretching exercise in order to loosen this fascia as well as the calf muscles. Simple ankle toe movement like moving the toe up as much as possible and letting it go, thereby the fascia will get stretched and I can get loosened. So this they have to do every now and then for about 5 to 6 days continuously. Adding to that the patient must also do the calf sitting exercises by standing at the edge of the steps and letting the body weight to go down and thereby the calf muscles can get stretched and thus the calf muscle relaxation will give the pain relief over this region. So the calf stretch and the plantar fascitis are the two basic stretching exercises that they must do at home.