What is Plantar Fasciitis? | Jacksonville Chiropractor
What is Plantar Fasciitis?
An injury we commonly see in runners, Plantar Fasciitis involves inflammation of a thick band of tissue that runs across the bottom of your foot and connects your heel bone to your toes. It is one of the most common causes of heel pain.Plantar fasciitis commonly causes a stabbing pain that is typically at its worst first thing in the morning. As the days goes on, the pain usually subsides, but might return after exercise or long periods of walking or standing.
What causes Plantar Fasciitis?
Your plantar fascia acts like a shock-absorber that supports the arch of your foot. If tension and stress on it become too great, small tears can occur in the fascia. Stretching and tearing over and over again will cause the fascia to become inflamed, hence why we see this as a problem so often in runners.
You're at an increased risk for Plantar Fasciitis if you are:
A Runner
A ballet or aerobic dancer
Overweight
Between the ages of 40-60
Flat-footed
High-arched
Someone who constantly stands or walks for work
Consistently wearing shoes with inadequate support
How Chiropractic can help:
Chiropractic care can have many benefits when it comes to plantar fasciitis, particularly by improving your posture and alignment.
Adjusting Posture
Chiropractic care can help you deal with one significant contributing factor to plantar fasciitis, which is bad posture. The way you walk and the amount of impact generated by your feet because of your body posture can worsen or contribute to plantar fasciitis. Chiropractic can help you improve your posture, which will, in turn, improve the way your feet feel as you walk or move!
Balanced Weight + Alignment
If you suffer from plantar fasciitis in one foot more than the other, it could be that your weight isn’t very balanced across your feet–which bear that weight. A chiropractor can help realign and balance your body so that the weight is distributed more evenly and isn’t falling more heavily on one foot versus the other, allowing the affected foot to heal more quickly and reducing the chance of symptoms recurring.Chiropractic care can also help to eliminate aches and pains in the back, neck, and shoulders, which can encourage you to be more active.
So, the bottom line is:
When a chiropractor adjusts the musculoskeletal system with gentle treatments, stress on particular parts of the body are reduced significantly. For patients with plantar fasciitis, stress would be removed from the bottom of the foot. Once stress, ongoing pain, and inflammation are reduced the body can begin to work normally to repair damage in the area on its own.