Plantar Fasciitis: The Most Common Cause of Heel Pain Revealed!
You wake up and crawl out of bed–only to feel a sharp, stabbing pain shoot up from your heel. No, you didn’t step on a tack. It’s likely plantar fasciitis, one of the most common causes of heel pain worldwide.
Plantar fasciitis is a painful condition that affects your plantar fascia, a band of tissue running along the bottom of your foot from your heel to your toes. When the plantar fascia becomes irritated or inflamed, usually due to overuse, it leads to foot discomfort (which then makes it harder for you to get around).
While plantar fasciitis is painful, it’s also easily treated with physical therapy. The team at Kleinpeter Physical Therapy will work closely with you to rehabilitate your injury, providing immediate pain relief and helping you uncover what caused your plantar fasciitis in the first place.
Today, we want to give you an overview of plantar fasciitis so you know what you’re dealing with. Already struggling with foot or heel pain? Call us to schedule an appointment so we can start helping you find relief!
How Do I Know It’s Plantar Fasciitis?
Many injuries can cause foot pain, from ankle sprains to tiny stress fractures. That’s why it’s important to pay attention to the location and sensation of your foot pain, as well as any mobility issues. To help you understand the signs and symptoms of plantar fasciitis, let’s look at an example case.
Sarah had recently taken up running after several years away. She loved going out every morning and jogging around her neighborhood. But after a few weeks, she started to experience discomfort on the bottom of her foot whenever she went for a run.
The pain usually started as a sharp, stabbing pain on the bottom of her heel, but she also noticed that the arch of her foot felt tender and restricted.
After experiencing the pain for the first time, she started to notice it more frequently, and not just after her runs, either:
- First thing in the morning, when she got out of bed
- While standing in a long line at the grocery store
- While spending a day walking around an amusement park
- After watching a long movie in the theater
When Sarah eventually visited a physical therapist to seek treatment for her foot pain, she made sure to carefully lay out all the times she experienced pain (and all the times she didn’t; Sarah noticed the pain tended to fade around mid-morning, then flare up in the evening). That, along with her detailed explanation of the pain’s location, helped her PT correctly identify her pain as plantar fasciitis.
Physical Therapy: Frontline Treatment for Plantar Fasciitis
The Kleinpeter Physical Therapy team’s knowledge of your body’s musculoskeletal systems means we can help you treat plantar fasciitis without invasive treatment methods (like surgery). While rehabilitation might take some time (usually a few weeks to a few months), you can resolve your pain through targeted foot exercises.
Here’s what you can expect when you visit us:
A thorough evaluation:
Besides reviewing your symptoms, we’ll conduct a comprehensive gait assessment and other movement screens to help us identify any biomechanical factors that might contribute to your plantar fasciitis.
Pain management:
We’ll help manage your acute pain through hands-on manual therapy techniques, foot taping, and other drug-free approaches.
Therapeutic exercise:
Stretching and strengthening exercises will help resolve your current bout of plantar fasciitis. We’ll provide you with a tailored exercise program, including simple exercises you can do at home to help maximize your recovery.
Prevention tips:
Plantar fasciitis is usually an overuse injury, meaning it develops gradually over time. A frequent cause of plantar fasciitis is starting an intense new workout program (as Sarah did). Faulty gait mechanics and other lifestyle factors can contribute to it as well. We’ll provide you with customized advice and strategies for avoiding future incidents of plantar fasciitis.
Got Foot Pain? Call Us Today!
If you’re experiencing foot discomfort or immobility, your best bet is to call the team at Kleinpeter Physical Therapy and schedule an initial consultation. Be prepared to discuss your symptoms in detail–and to receive a customized treatment program that will have you feeling footloose and fancy-free in no time!
Bounce Back Strong with Physical Therapy
Don’t let pain dictate your life’s story. Reach out to Kleinpeter Physical Therapy to learn how physical therapy can be the first step towards a pain-free life!
3 Tips for Starting a New Workout Routine Without Injury
As physical therapists, we’re fans of exercise. The CDC recommends that adults get 150 minutes of moderate physical activity a week, and regular exercise will boost your mental and physical health.
That said, you can’t immediately jump from a completely sedentary lifestyle to intense, hour-long daily workouts. For one, you’re likely to burn out and quit regular exercise altogether. But you also run the risk of injuring yourself.
Fortunately, there are a few strategies that can help you safely start up a physically active lifestyle:
- Talk to your physical therapist: Ever notice how workout videos tell you to consult with a medical professional first? If you’re new to exercising, this is crucial advice! Before you dive into a new routine, schedule an appointment with our PTs. We’ll perform a comprehensive assessment and help you guide you toward the right exercises for your needs.
- Start slowly and gradually build the intensity: If you’ve ever talked to marathon runners, they’ll tell you they spend months training. No one jumps off the couch and immediately runs 26.2 miles! Follow their lead and start with low-intensity workouts. Over time, you can add more time or more challenging exercises to your routine.
- Warm up and cool down: Make sure you begin every workout session with ten minutes of mobility exercises or light cardio and end each session with gentle stretches. Warm-ups prepare your body for movement, and cool-downs help bring your breathing and heart rate down to non-exercise levels.
At Kleinpeter Physical Therapy, we love helping our patients get active safely and at their own pace. Call us today for personalized advice about starting your new workout routine.
This Crock Pot Irish Stew is a hearty, comforting classic that’s perfect for celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. Slow-cooked and full of rich flavor, it’s an easy, cozy meal to enjoy with family and friends. 🍀
Enjoy This Seasonal Recipe!
Best St. Patrick’s Day Crock Pot Irish Stew
- 2 lbs beef chuck roast, cubed
- 2 large potatoes, peeled and diced
- 2 cups diced carrots
- 1 envelope onion soup mix
- 2 (10¾ oz) cans tomato soup
- 1 soup can water
- 16 oz frozen peas
- salt and pepper, to taste
- parsley, for garnish
- Combine beef, potatoes, carrots, soup mix, tomato soup, can of water, salt and pepper in Crock Pot.
- Cook on LOW 8 hours.
- Add frozen peas and ¼ cup water.
- Cook on LOW 1 additional hour.
- Garnish with parsley.
Direct Access
Did You Know You Have Direct Access To Physical Therapy?
Whether you want to come in for a check-up, suffered a recent injury, or want to improve your health, a physician referral is not needed. In the state of Louisiana, you have direct access to physical therapy!
You have the power to choose. Just as you can fill a prescription for medication at a pharmacy of your choice, you can choose where to receive physical therapy as well.
Taking care of yourself means taking charge of your healthcare, so remember that regardless of which physician you see, you have a choice when it comes to physical therapy.
Minor aches and pains are warning signals from your body to let you know something is not working properly. Don’t put off the pain until it’s too late. Come in today for a “Tune-Up.”
Exercise of the Month
TOWEL PULL
Sit or stand tall and place a rolled towel behind your head, holding each end with your hands in front of you. Gently pull the towel forward and downward to support your head as you slowly extend your neck backward, looking up toward the ceiling. Use the towel for support—not force. Return to the starting position.
3 Sets, 10 Reps. (Materials needed: towel)
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“I’ve had great service at Kleinpeter. They really help heal my shoulder pain. I would recommend them to anyone looking for a healing.”
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Our purpose at Kleinpeter Physical Therapy is to leave a greater impact on the community around us. In order to achieve our goal we want to change as many lives as possible as we become a beacon of positivity in our community.
