If your first few steps each morning are painful, your plantar fascia likely has small tears and inflammation. When the plantar fascia becomes inflamed, the condition is known as plantar fasciitis.
It’s a common overuse injury that often affects runners, dancers, and aerobic enthusiasts.
Whether you’re an athlete or not, plantar fasciitis can quickly affect your mobility. Our board-certified podiatrists at Advanced Foot, Ankle, & Wound Specialists are experts at diagnosing and treating plantar fasciitis.
If your feet hurt, we encourage you to visit one of our seven southeastern Florida locations.
While you wait for your appointment, we’ve created this guide to help ease plantar fasciitis pain at home.
Just because a shoe is marketed for athletes or looks good with your favorite outfit doesn’t mean it’s the right fit for you. Your best bet to prevent and reduce symptoms of plantar fasciitis is to choose shoes with the right support for your feet.
When deciding which shoes to wear:
And above all, if they’re not comfortable, don’t wear them.
A tight plantar fascia is more prone to developing micro-tears. Stretching elongates your plantar fascia, helps improve your mobility, and promotes healing. Don’t focus just on your feet. Stretch all of the muscles that support your feet too, including those in your calves and ankles.
If you step out of bed and are greeted with a sharp pain, try this simple massage to soothe your feet. Press your thumbs into the arches of your feet. Then, keeping firm pressure, move your thumbs from the balls of your feet up toward your heels.
While you can’t easily massage your feet while you’re at work, you can roll a frozen water ball, a racquetball, or a tennis ball under the arches of your feet. This massage technique reduces tension and elongates your plantar fascia.
Massaging your feet reduces pain by relaxing the muscles in your feet, distracting your pain receptors (referred to as “closing the pain gate”), relieving stress and improving blood flow to the area to promote healing.
Applying ice eases plantar fasciitis pain by targeting inflammation. When using cold therapy:
You may also consider specially made cold compresses designed for feet. These ice pack slippers are convenient cold compresses that strap into place.
Plantar fasciitis can be triggered or exacerbated by a sudden increase in physical activity. Training too hard too quickly can make the inflammation worse. Your feet may need a break from the intense, high-impact activity, and that’s OK.
If you participate in high-impact sports, consider cross-training or alternating low-impact activities with high-impact ones. Low-impact activities include swimming, no-jump HIIT workouts, Nordic walking, yoga, and Pilates.
If you’ve changed your shoes and rested your feet for a few days but can’t eliminate the pain, we’re just a call or click away. Our comprehensive treatment options for plantar fasciitis include:
Don’t let plantar fasciitis pain keep you from living life on your terms. Explore your treatment options today and request an appointment at any of our locations in Tamarac, Fort Lauderdale, Coral Springs, Boca Raton, and Hollywood, Florida.
